It is not surprising that Donald Trump holds the law in contempt. That is what happens when you have a criminal as President. His treatment of Harvard University is an example: he has cancelled a very large grant, saying Harvard is guilty, as charged, of doing nothing about student riots, on the back not of evidence, but simply a collection of opinions.
For nearly 250 years, the Roman plebs (about 99 per cent of the free population) fought a battle to have some say in the way Rome was governed against the wealthy elite who made up the Senate, Rome’s ruling body. Under the kings (753-509 bc), they had no rights at all, but with the inception of the Republic, the real battle began.
The story is told by the Roman historian Livy. Whether his account is accurate or not, Livy is very fair in judging the rights and wrongs of the conflict. The main weapon that the plebs use, he tells us, is the strike i.e. refusing military service when Rome is in danger and signing up only when they have rung a concession out of the Senate to protect their interests (e.g. agreeing to tribunes of the plebs, who could veto all Senate laws). Equally, he disapproves of their lawlessness and violence. But he also condemns senators’ rejection of perfectly sensible and productive proposals becoming law and their ruthlessness when they feel own power and status are at risk.
Livy acutely summarised the situation as follows: ‘True moderation in the defence of political liberties is very difficult to achieve: everyone claims to want equality but makes every effort to come out on top.
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