We have improved some in 2,000 years...in regards to ethical matters such as slavery, universal suffrage, the status of women, our grasp of science and medicine, and any number of other areas.

The primary way in which we find ourselves in a worse condition than 2,000 years ago is that the world population has grown enormously and our technological prowess has badly damaged global ecology, and spawned terrible weapons. Morally, we've probably improved overall, but materially we face unprededented problems.