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Ed Brenegar's avatar

As I read this, I wondered if there is any connection between the Society and the drafters of the US Constitution. Your last paragraph points to the importance of "freedom of speech" which is really the core belief of the Constitution and has always been under threat.

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CleverBeast's avatar

While I am no expert, this seems somewhat similar to the claims Mary Beard makes about the Romans in SPQR. Namely, that legal innovations to mos maiorum were always disguised as a return to some ancient standard which had lapsed. I believe she (and Mike Duncan) specifically cite that Gracchi land reform as one such example of radical innovation labelled as a return to the true way of the ancestors.

I imagine it is often politically convenient to charge that the defenders of the status quo are in fact revolutionaries, who destroyed a (possibly fantastical) more just past. This though, is far purer speculation.

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