What is the Roman zeitgeist?

Answer 1

Possibly the idea of moderation. The Romans inherited this idea from the Greeks yet misinterperstted it slightly. The Greek virtue of Sophrosyne (temperence and moderation) is something that comes from within, much like a 'jihad' in Islamic religions. This means the motivation to moderate comes from inside one's self and is expressed through self-control. The Romans, however, thought that this meant that their population was to be moderated, this would be an outside force imposing or forcing moderation which is, in a sense, a sort of cultural tyranny.