The Gist on the lifestyles of roman emperors, and an unusual Facebook privacy problem.
Would You Trade a Roman Emperor’s Life for Air Conditioning and Soap?
Who’s Better Off: A Roman Emperor, or You?
The Gist weighs the value of imperial spoils against air conditioning and soap.
How good did the Roman emperors have it?
Photo Illustration by Slate. Oil painting by Thomas Couture, via Wikimedia Commons.
How good did the Roman emperors have it? The Gist asks UCLA history professor Ronald Mellor to compare a ruler’s bounty in the ancient world with life in modern America. Plus, Kashmir Hill from Forbes explains the latest tarnish on Facebook’s reputation for dubious privacy practices. In today’s Spiel, another botched execution and what it teaches us about the death penalty.