In the same way, a bankrupt startup shall be spared the implements of its husbandry and its ping-pong table, if it falls upon the mercy of a court.No town or person shall be forced to build networks except those with an ancient obligation to do so.
A conservative, Diocletian was concerned with the preservation of the ancient virtues: the obligation of children to feed their parents in old age; of parents to treat their children justly; of spouses to respect the laws of marriage; of sons not to bear witness against their fathers, or slaves against their masters; and of private property, creditor's rights, and contract clauses to be protected.
This involves the ancient maxim "Noblesse oblige". That meant, roughly, that social privilege demanded social obligation.
There are many parallels in the work to the Sanskrit Kāma-sūtra, the treatise on erotic love, to Manu-smṛti, an ancient treatise on special obligation and religious law, and to Artha-śāstra, Kauṭilya's treatise on politics.
He pledged to "restore [the] temple to the ancient truths," including "honesty," "honor," "the sacredness of obligations," "faithful protection," and "unselfish performance".
Yet, much of our foundational thinking about morality, obligation, and duty stems from the imprints of ancient moral philosophy.
Necessary for the continuation of ancient priesthoods, patricians had few privileges other than reduced military obligations.
Early societies, such as the Babylonians and the ancient Egyptians, were static, with a fixed hierarchy of social obligations.
What Weatherford means is that ancient society worked on a shared memory of mutual cross-obligations, continuously adjusted and revised.
Philosophers after Kant have offered myriad arguments endeavoring in different ways to ground moral obligation to others in rigorous logic rather than ancient narratives.
