# Why did Mathematics and Philosophy not flourish in Ancient Rome **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 21, 2015, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mathematics-and-philosophy-not-flourish-in-ancient-rome/735411 "2015-10-21T23:34:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mathematics-and-philosophy-not-flourish-in-ancient-rome/735411/21 "2015-10-23T11:01:39Z")
Lucretius, Cicero, Seneca and in the Christian Era, St Augustune, of the top of my head each wrote far more interesting and better treasties than any Greek. So I dispute the OP’s theory. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mathematics-and-philosophy-not-flourish-in-ancient-rome/735411/22 "2015-10-23T23:51:50Z")
> [@Glazer](#): > > Ever try to add in Roman numerals? That’s actually quite easy, since position of the ‘digits’ doesn’t matter at all. Just write the numbers down, then move the digits around so all the X’s, V’s, I’s are together, then upscale (2 V’s become 1 X, 5 I’s become 1 V, etc.), and you have the result! Note that this requires an extra step for the later Roman numerals where ‘subtractive’ forms (IV instead of IIII for 4, etc.) – those have to be converted to the normal additive form first. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mathematics-and-philosophy-not-flourish-in-ancient-rome/735411/23 "2015-10-24T00:06:15Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Pondering about the origin of beauty was not going to get those aqueducts built. So what you are saying is that the Romans were better in the [concrete](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete#/media/File:Pantheon_dome.jpg) than in the abstract? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mathematics-and-philosophy-not-flourish-in-ancient-rome/735411/24 "2015-10-24T01:24:50Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > So what you are saying is that the Romans were better in the [concrete](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete#/media/File:Pantheon_dome.jpg) than in the abstract? I am not angry just very disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mathematics-and-philosophy-not-flourish-in-ancient-rome/735411/25 "2015-10-24T21:12:57Z")
I would certainly object to the notion that the Romans did not philosophize, and in fact they produced an enormous amount of text on the subject, including some innovative ideas. One thing is that elite Roman culture had a bit of an inferiority complex: “conquered Greece conquered its conquerors” was a cliche of the time. Greek was essential to an education, and there was a lot of slavish respect for Greek ideas. “Originality” was not a highly prized aspect of something in ancient Rome. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-mathematics-and-philosophy-not-flourish-in-ancient-rome/735411.md?page=1)