Writes Clay Rossi: “Today Wikipedia marks the anniversary of the assassination of the Roman emperor Caracalla. I wasn’t familiar with him so I clicked and got this:
“‘He was one of the most psychotic of Roman emperors. Caracalla’s reign was notable for:
* the Constitutio Antoniniana, granting Roman citizenship to freemen throughout the Roman Empire in order to increase taxation;
* debasing the silver content in Roman coinage by 25% in order to pay the legions; and
* the construction of a large thermae outside Rome, the remains of which, known as the Baths of Caracalla, can still be seen today.
“If his perverting citizenship to increase the tax base, debasing currency to pay for the military, and large public works projects is psychotic for a Roman emperor, what will history write about our ‘leaders’?”
8:35 am on April 8, 2008
