"All things atrocious and shameless flock from all parts to Rome"
- Tacitus
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Tacitus’s observation, penned over nineteen centuries ago, remains a succinct commentary on the magnetism of power. Rome, at the pinnacle of its empire, was not merely a geographic capital but a symbolic heart of influence, opportunity, and, inevitably, vice. The phrase condenses a profound social critique: where the world’s center draws people, it attracts not only artists, visionaries, and statesmen but also those seeking fortune by ignoble means. The phrase “all things atrocious and shameless” suggests that immorality knows no boundaries; wrongdoing is universal, but finds particularly fertile ground where oversight is weak and rewards for cunning are greatest.
Large centers of power and prosperity historically become magnets for outsiders, not all of whom have scruples. The “atrocious” are those capable of great evil or violence; the “shameless,” those unbound by decorum or honesty. Tacitus, though often critical of imperial Rome, grasped that the city’s unparalleled wealth and opportunities were a lodestone for opportunists, criminals, and scoundrels from the far reaches of the empire. The phrase “flock from all parts” intensifies the sense that Rome’s allure was irresistible, and the migration had an almost migratory, rolling inevitability. As much as Rome was a crucible of civilization and culture, it was also a haven for corruption, decadence, and moral decay. Ambition and cupidity, when unleashed in such an environment, could thrive unchecked.
Underlying this assessment is a broader warning about the nature of power: the brightest centers attract the darkest shadows. Any society, when it becomes the epicenter of economic, political, or cultural gravity, must contend with the influx of both the best and worst humanity has to offer. Tacitus’s remark endures as a lens through which the complexities and paradoxes of cosmopolitan centers can be understood, exploring the tension between greatness and depravity that characterizes human civilization at its peak.
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