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Explanation: A bit inaccurate in the details - Roman city traffic was godawful. Julius Caesar laid down restrictions on when carts could enter the city of Rome to cut down on the grotesque amount of traffic, and there was a dizzying array of traffic laws and one-way streets in the convoluted metropolis that was Rome. Or, in the words of the Roman poet Juvenal...
Who but the wealthy get sleep in Rome? There lies the root of the disorder. The crossing of wagons in the narrow winding streets, the slanging of drovers when brought to a stand, would make sleep impossible for a [Emperor] Drusus - or a sea-calf.
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Newly-patched tunics are torn in two; up comes a huge log swaying on a wagon, and then a second dray carrying a whole pine-tree, towering aloft and threatening the people. For if that axle with its load of Ligurian marble breaks down, and pours its spilt contents on to the crowd, what is left of their bodies? Who can identify the limbs, who the bones? The poor man's crushed corpse disappears, just like his soul.
The ancient equivalent of driving behind a truck with a large and improperly secured load. That depiction is insane to think about.
Who can identify the limbs, who the bones? The poor man’s crushed corpse disappears, just like his soul.
is such a raw fucking line too.
And it still kinda hits home, after a couple thousands of years, and a couple centuries with ongoing progress. I really hope the day comes when this reads like the descriptions of naked slaves on auction.
Hmm, I wonder if there were actual safety regulations, in some form. There definitely wasn't 400-1850 or so.
There were, in fact! If I get the ambition I'll try to dig up a paper I read on it a while back.