Many of us have seen the movie "Ben Hur". For those not familiar with the story, it
deals with a Judean prince who has been sentenced by his former friend to the
Roman galleys to be a galley slave until he dies for not agreeing to help root
out Jewish anti Roman partisans. For
purposes of our example, we will deal only with his time spent in the galleys.
The Imperial Roman fleet held sway over the vast majority of
the Mediterranean during the time of our story
(about 30 AD). It was, in fact, a "Roman Lake",
disturbed only by the occasional fleets of pirates preying on trading ships and
the like. The warships of the fleet were
many oared vessels manned by groups of slaves funneled into the system as a
result of conquest in the far flung territories of the empire, criminal
activity, or for other unfortunate reasons such as what befell our hero, Judah
Ben Hur.
Judah
has spent three years in the galleys, not an unprecedented period, but
surprising nonetheless. Conditions
aboard a slave galley were not designed to promote longevity. A new commander has come on board, Quintus
Arrius. Arrius is a Roman consul and has
been charged with sweeping the seas of the latest Pirate threat. He arrives on board Judah's galley and immediately asks
to inspect the rowers. This is
expected. It would be the modern
equivalent of taking a tour of the engine room.
As he looks them over, he notices the defiant look of rower number 41, Judah Ben Hur. He ascertains Judah's experience in the galleys
and then turns and slashes him across the back with his whip. Judah reacts quickly, but says and
does nothing. The Consul decides to use Judah as an object lesson.
Quintus Arrius: "You
have the spirit to fight back but the good sense to control it. Your eyes are full of hate, 41, that is
good. Hatred keeps a man alive." He then addresses the remaining rowers, "Now
listen to me, all of you, you are all condemned men. We keep you alive to serve this ship. So row well, and live."
This is the consul's version of a motivational speech. However, one thing Quintus Arrius has done is
identify a purpose that can keep a man alive in the dreadful conditions of the
Roman galley. Hate. He feeds and stokes this hatred, knowing that
the slaves can do nothing to harm him and also realizing that hatred of the
oppressors can be a powerful motivator to drive the engine of the warship. He does not attempt to delve any deeper into
what will possibly make each of the 200 rowers aboard his ship more
effective. He is uninterested in valuing
them beyond their ability to move the ship and the gratitude they presumably
feel for the consul allowing them to live beyond their time. That is enough.
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