Here's a thing that hasn't changed.
In the search for pleasure, many Romans remained unmarried, numerous marriages remained childless, divorces were common, and the great host of slaves, both men and women, presented a constant temptation to immorality.
So what to do about it? I gather David Cameron's proposing various taxbreaks. Here's how Augustus dealt with the matter:
In order to stem this development, laws were issued for the protection of the Roman family: all men between twenty and sixty years of age and all women between twenty and fifty years were to be obliged to marry. In order to promote families, it was decreed that unmarried people could not inherit property, married people who were childless could inherit only a half of estates, and fathers with numbers of children were to be preferred in the competition for offices.
Go on, David, I dare you.
From, E. Lohse, The New Testament Environment
23/07/07 @ 22:53