"free" people

Considering the idea of "free", and the recent learning of the Battle of Thermopylae both from "historical" points as well as dramatic....something has come to my mind about the Romans of B.C.......were they actually "free".

I understand compared to many many people they were surrounded by, the people of the Roman Empire were "free" rather than enslaved. This, however, is not a born-into freedom. The history of the Roman people, as well as who was allowed to maintain life, is based on choice-someone else's choice-for someone's life. This is not freedom, indeed, it's a form of life-control, and I believe a form of slavery. EVERYTHING in a person's life during the times of the Roman Empire was about the "state". Decisions were made, lives were ended, and everything revolved around the state of the Roman Empire. If not only in their minds'. Women were handed over to men, children-if not abandonded at birth-were stripped from their families and put through what we would consider horrific training-through adult-hood. Dying for the "state" was one's greatest gift, and they lived accordingly. Is this actually freedom? Is brainwashing patriotism not slavery? Perhaps life was better for these slaves than for those within other cultures, but none the less, it was slavery.

As found on Wikipedia and correctly noted there "The head of the household had great power (patria potestas, "father's power") over those living with him: He could force marriage and divorce, sell his children into slavery, claim his dependents' property as his own, and even had the right to kill family members (though this last right apparently ceased to be exercised after the first century B.C.).[71] Patria potestas even extended over adult sons with their own households: A man was not considered a paterfamilias, nor could he truly hold property, while his own father lived"

Looking at the cultural background of the Roman people, they are not much different than those of that area today-with some exceptions of course. This leads me to view what some of us take as "religious" practices as actually being passed down through cultural. (another post though)

I guess I noticed this the most recently, because of how often the terms "volunteer army" and "free fighters" were used in my readings and viewings. We understand the Roman Empire as having brought about many many of the current ways of living, from architecture to government-but, as usual, we don't pay attention to where the priorities really were. It's indicative of the human race, isn't it....to look to human examples for their way of life rather than to look to God and what he says is truth. Throughout many (I would dare say most), the very ingredient that would disable so many of these ways of life for people is simply love. Although not every culture has a religon that teaches love as Christians know it to be in the Bible...that's sort of my point. How the world, without God by choice or by culture, is a very very sad place. I am curious as to how mankind (as a whole) has missed this from culture to culture....living without truly loving one another, even from a non-relious motivation.