One of the most interesting tidbits in this lecture was the contrasting of Greek virtue/morality versus Roman. Professor Birzer says that Greek arete (virtue) valued winning no matter what, even if it occasionally meant violating conventions or “breaking the rules.” In contrast, Romans thought you only truly won if you did it in the right way—a kind of stubbornly noble way of “doing what’s right, let the consequence follow.” That’s a very interesting difference. I love concrete comparisons like that between cultures; it gives one something to chew on.
