There
are a lot of possible connections one can draw between Roman times and
modern-day banking, but perhaps the most important of them is memento mori. At
the peak of Rome’s power, Roman generals who had won significant victories
marched through the middle of the city displaying their spoils. The marching
generals wore purple-and-gold ceremonial robes, a crown of laurels, and red
paint on their face as they were carried through the city on a throne. They
were hailed, celebrated, and admired. But there was one more element to the
ceremony: throughout the day a slave walked next to the general, and in order
to prevent the victorious general from falling into hubris, the slave whispered
repeatedly into his ear, “Memento mori,” which means “Remember your mortality.”
If I
were in charge of developing a modern version of the phrase, I would probably
pick “Remember your fallibility” or maybe “Remember your irrationality.”
Whatever the phrase is, recognizing our shortcomings is a crucial first step on
the path to making better decisions, creating better societies, and fixing our
institutions.
