The petition calling on the UK to remain in the EU has garnered 8,000 votes from Jacob Rees-Mogg and 700 from Idi Amin. Ho-ho, what wits these Remainers are, could be one response. But Romans knew all about this sort of game-playing, and there could be a different explanation.
We have records of about 180 jobs of one sort or another across the Roman world. These include tinkers, tailors, soldiers, sailors, entertainers, artists, designers, clerks, lawyers, engineers, cobblers, shoemakers, weavers, lace-makers, porters, dye-sellers, launderers, plasterers and butchers to teachers, builders, cooks, farmers, merchants, fish-sellers, goldsmiths, muff-makers, labourers, carters, hairdressers, and more. What united them all was the person appointed to the post of aedile annually up for grabs in a town council’s elections. The reason was very simple: the aedile was responsible for street order, public buildings, water supplies, positions in the main town market, local taxes and leasing municipal properties.
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