A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities Quotes

“The laws are like spiders’ webs: just as spiders’ webs catch the weaker creatures but let the stronger ones through, so the humble and poor are restricted by the laws, but the rich and powerful are not bound by them (Valerius Maximus Memorable Deeds and Sayings 7.2 ext. 14).”
― J.C. McKeown, A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the World's Greatest Empire

“occidit miseros crambe repetita magistros Rehashed cabbage is the death of wretched teachers. Juvenal Satires 7.154, criticizing the repetitive dullness of the highly conservative and unimaginative school curriculum”
― J.C. McKeown, A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the World's Greatest Empire

“Magistrates often condemn criminals to be kept in prison or in chains. They ought not to do this, for such punishments are forbidden: prisons are for restraining people, not for punishing them (Justinian’s Digest 48.19.8.9).”
― J.C. McKeown, A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the World's Greatest Empire

“In the late 2nd century A.D., a senatorial decree allowed for the granting of a bonus of five hundred sestertii to a victorious gladiator if he was a free man, and of four hundred if he was a slave (Select Latin Inscriptions 5163.29ff.), the amount that a schoolteacher might make in a year (Juvenal Satires 7.242).”
― J.C. McKeown, A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the World's Greatest Empire

“Lucius Orbilius Pupillus [literally, “Student,” a fine cognomen for a famous teacher], who published a book titled On Stupidity, in which he complains about the injustices suffered by teachers because of parents’ negligence or interference.”
― J.C. McKeown, A Cabinet of Roman Curiosities: Strange Tales and Surprising Facts from the World's Greatest Empire