Re:The History of Greco-Roman Vegetarianism (2010)
by maze-le on Tuesday August 21, 2018 @10:04AM
(#17809622)
>> The average Greco-Roman was impoverished and had a life expectancy of around 35-40
This is more a problem with statistics than anything else. If anything, the median life expectancy should be measured. The reason that the average life expectancy is so low, is that infant mortality was very high (and the procedure of childbirth was extremely dangerous). This means an unusual high percentage of humans, that die very early in their lives. So the 'average', while being a correct average, skews the number downward and thus gives the false impression that the average person only got 30-40.
If a peasant survived into his 30ies, chances were high he would get into his 50ies.[0]
For the rest of your post: Yeah, I concur, the last thing any roman would have had in mind are animal rights. Not only was slavery the norm, this was a society where you could kill your slaves without repercussions. Human sacrifices in the form of gladiatorial games were not only common but THE social event. And the army had a punishment known as decimation (every 10th of a unit was selected by lot and killed). So, all in all a society with very little regard for human life, never mind the life of an animal...
This is more a problem with statistics than anything else. If anything, the median life expectancy should be measured. The reason that the average life expectancy is so low, is that infant mortality was very high (and the procedure of childbirth was extremely dangerous). This means an unusual high percentage of humans, that die very early in their lives. So the 'average', while being a correct average, skews the number downward and thus gives the false impression that the average person only got 30-40.
If a peasant survived into his 30ies, chances were high he would get into his 50ies.[0]
For the rest of your post: Yeah, I concur, the last thing any roman would have had in mind are animal rights. Not only was slavery the norm, this was a society where you could kill your slaves without repercussions. Human sacrifices in the form of gladiatorial games were not only common but THE social event. And the army had a punishment known as decimation (every 10th of a unit was selected by lot and killed). So, all in all a society with very little regard for human life, never mind the life of an animal...
[0]: https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-evolution-human-origins...