CEO MESSENGER ON OCTOBER 2015
Let’s become creative master artisans pursuing singular beauty value to make the world beautiful!
Autumn is here and the weather has grown cooler. Last month, we had the chance to look back upon our past through a series of events including the 70th anniversary celebration. Today I'd like to travel back about 2,000 years in time with you to see what we can learn from the past in order for us to go forward over the next five and ten years – and beyond.
Our destination today is Rome. Though now a city in Italy, it represented a country in the past. The country of Rome was born on the Palatine Hill in 753 BC. It united several tribes and gained sole control over the Italian peninsula. Rome took down the general Hannibal, the Carthaginian god of war by achieving three victories in three Punic wars over the control of the Mediterranean, which was then believed to be the center of the world. Rome’s power extended far and wide. Later, Julius Caesar came into the picture and conquered Gaul, which covers France, the Netherlands and Germany today. Later, under Emperor Trajan, Rome extended its domains to Egypt, Mesopotamia and north of the River Danube. It became the ruler of the entire Mediterranean basin, but eventually lost its western region to the Germanic tribe in 476. And a thousand years later, in 1453, the Eastern Rome Empire crumbled under the Ottoman Turks and fell into ruin. Nonetheless, Rome was a great empire which lasted over 1,200 years for Western Rome and 2,200 years for the Eastern Roman Empire.
Rome first began as a monarchy and later became a republic under the leadership of the Senate. As its dominance extended, the best way for Rome to keep the control over its vast domain was to accept imperialism. Rome achieved significant political progress and, above all, it had an advanced city system. It had an open public space called the forum, which housed clusters of important facilities. The most famous one is the Forum Romanum at the foot of the Palatine Hill. It is Rome’s biggest and oldest forum as well as the center of Rome, housing the Senate of Ancient Rome, which is similar to Korea’s National Assembly today, as well as various prominent temples and markets. Various ancient ruins can still be seen there today, including the venue for public speeches and the Arch of Constantine. When you think of a memorial arch, you may think of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, but that was in fact modeled on the Arch of Constantine.
Next to the Forum, there is a large oval amphitheater called the Colosseum. This three-story structure is capable of holding up to 50,000 spectators. From the perspective of someone living 2,000 years ago, it would have seemed huge and, indeed, from a modern viewpoint, it is still a sizeable building, particularly given that it is built of stone. Moreover it has a roof to shield the sun and with over 80 archways with multiple sets of stairs connecting each level of the amphitheater 50,000 spectators could easily come outside in less than 15 minutes. Many recreational events used to be held at this Colosseum, such as concerts, poetry readings and gladiator matches. It is interesting to note that gladiators ascended up to the arena from the basement.
What is even more surprising about Rome is that it was so well-equipped in terms of sanitation and water facilities. Roman people were supplied fresh water through a supply channel located about 20-30 km away near Tivoli where the river precipitates to form a large waterfall
There was about 2-3 cm head of water and the consequent pressure was used to supply water to public fountains, personal mansions and throughout the city. The plentiful supply of clean water helped Rome enjoy a thriving bathing culture. The public baths of Rome were large enough to hold thousands of people and even had a dry steam bath. Plus, there was an open exercise area around the bath, much like a modern bathhouse.
Everyone at that time wanted to be a citizen of Rome thanks to its abundant supply of water, facilities, food and beverage. It was a place offering its people with a whole new lifestyle that couldn’t be found elsewhere. As the empire extended, Rome continued to build cities fully equipped with a forum, clean water, food and wine, baths and exercise facilities. It built 50 hub cities and about 500 small cities. Even today opera festivals and other events continue to be staged in Verona Arena, Italy in an arena which was built some 2,000 years ago. Though it is smaller than Rome’s famous Colosseum, it was still able to accommodate up to 30,000 spectators. Ostia, an old harbor city near Rome, also has well-preserved old forum theater, residence and accommodation, and the flush toilet was impressive in particular. Rome truly developed a dream city of which everyone aspired to be a citizen.
Another distinct feature of Rome is that it had well-constructed roads connecting the various cities within its empire. Rome itself was a network-type city consisting of different quarters connected through a well-developed road system. People of Rome constructed 150,000 km-long roads to connect cities to cities and harbors to cities, and used these networks to transport the resources necessary to support their advanced lifestyles. They put mileposts across the whole empire to show how far away they are from the city Rome and other hub cities. These mileposts also notified other important information such as what facilities, hotels and hospital would be available and where. The reason behind this well-developed road network was Rome’s military system. Every citizen of Rome had the obligation to serve in the military. Soldiers marched about 30 km per day and they spent 1-2 hours on building a camp at around 4:00 p.m. The camp was not merely for sleeping. They built walls with wood, barriers and a place for cooking as well. Building camps, sleeping and eating there and then disassembling it in the morning to go on their march was their routine. At the time, military units of other countries marched until they were tired down, slept anywhere they could and sometimes were ambushed, rather than moving in a regular manner like Roman armies. As barbarians often used to sleep in awkward positions, it was difficult for them to walk for sustained periods. Roman armies, on the other hand, had a very effective and important system of building a camp on the march.
Soldiers returned as qualified citizens of Rome again after serving for a defined period in the military. And because they had built camps every day for several years, they were masters in construction engineering, such as roads and building structures. Rome had a singular unique system that no one else in the world had – and what made Rome the most livable and well-connected city was the way its citizens fulfilled their obligation to serve in the military.
Dear Asian Beauty Creators,
The driving force behind the prosperity of Rome was its culture of openness and tolerance. As it grew and extended, Rome embraced other good cultures. It adopted the advanced culture of ancient Greece and Persia and adapted the ideas for strengthening their weapons from the Germanic people. There is an impressive structure named the Pantheon in Rome. As its name suggests, the Pantheon is a building dedicated to all gods (pan mean all, theon comes from theus, meaning god). It is said that anyone could serve and worship their god and have celebratory events upon appointment. As such, the Pantheon is an example of the Roman spirit of openness and tolerance.
Here is another example showing the Roman spirit. In the early stages of the Roman Empire, all the emperors were Romans, but three of the five famous emperors were not in fact originally Romans. During the second Punic War, Rome struggled against the great Carthaginian general Hannibal. While Hannibal was breaking Rome into pieces, Roman armies found that the supplies for the Carthaginian armies were coming from Spain. The most elite Roman troops were then sent to Spain. They built a city named Italica in Spain, which is about one-hour’s walk from Seville, encamped there and eventually won the war. This city was the birthplace of the Roman Emperor Trajan, who presided over the greatest military expansion in Rome’s history, as well as the birthplace of the Emperor Hadrian, who succeeded in building the most stable government system Rome had ever seen. Antoninus Pius, the successor to the Emperor Hadrian, had a family heritage originating from southern Gaul, and the Emperor Septimius Severus, known for bringing an end to military campaigns, was originally from North Africa. In other words, any capable person was able to stretch themselves and make a success of their career, regardless of their ethnic or social background.
People of Rome also placed a high value on virtues of character. They believed in the virtues of courage, dedication, honesty and dignity and lived up to their beliefs. They also talked about and endeavored to keep their word and act in moderation, while continually remaining unbiased. Leaders of Rome acted in a fashion that conformed to their position with a deep sense of noblesse oblige. The spirit in which they acted became the life-force sustaining the Rome Empire. Such virtues of Ancient Rome are represented by the acronym SPQR, which stands for Senatus Populus Que Romanus, meaning the Senate and People of Rome. It means that Rome is not a mere land, but the Senate and People of Rome. It is found all over the city today – even on manhole covers.
The leaders and citizens of Rome believed that they had the ownership and should do their best to make a better life for every member of the community, and that their true vocation was to work together in order to improve the quality of human life. Their vocation was held up in a spirit of openness, tolerance, generosity and the other virtues they believed in. Lea