Mos is one of the latin words the Roman used for constitutional tradition. One of the curious natures of the Roman Constitution and legal system was how unwritten it was. Much of it was ius , which me might call customary, to mos which Lintott describes as 'the way things were done at the time'. (more)
Where do the analogies between Rome and an Australian Republic coincide. Pax Romana was real, and Italy did benefit from the Roman commercial and civil view of citizenship and half-citizenship. Prior to Roman dominance of Italy there was constant warring between city-states, tribes, towns and the immigration of Gauls from the north. Rome's military extension halted the incursion of this violence - this is the Roman Peace or pax Romana.
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davidtbath : Read Gibbon: Actually, the relevance of Roman History to Australia probably comes from the consideration of the relations between client-states and hyper-powers, as well as an analysis of hyper-powers and the dangers of over-militarization.
I\'d recommend everyone read the first half of Gibbons 3-volume works - at least until the end of Justinian. His analysis (from the 1700s) is amazingly modern, his prose is gorgeous, and his humor vicious.
cam : I am slowly working my way through: the different histories and autobiographies. I will get to gibbon eventually.
cam
In parallel to the military campaigns of the early republic, the constitution during that time was largely class based. H.H. Scullard argues that early republican Rome was two states; a plebian state and a patrician state. These states did not become unified until after the Gauls seized Rome; when the patricians and plebians became a unitary Roman state. (more)
