Posted on 12/10/2015 4:13:10 PM PST by Clintonfatigued
It didn’t take all that much to tip a great civilization into the shackles of empire.
Rome holds a special place in the popular imagination. Cast as a culture steeped in myth, with values reminiscent of our own, it is often treated as the forebearer of our own political system, an ancestral democracy that provides a republican link between the present and the ancient past. From architecture to literature to political system, Rome is where it all began.
But in his latest book, Richard Alston wants us all to think a little more critically about our beloved Rome.
Alston is a Professor of Roman History at the University of London’s Royal Holloway, and the inspiration for Rome’s Revolution: Death of the Republic and Birth of the Empire came from his own dissatisfaction with the existing body of work on Roman politics. He saw how the idealized vision of Roman culture that these works present influenced the way his students thought about Rome. “Somehow,†Alston writes in the preface, “it was all too nice … but the Roman accounts of their revolution are anything but nice. They were shocked and shocking.â€
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
This is not a topic I have much knowledge about. It would probably be useful reading for Freepers.
Slavery, paganism, cruelty and debauchery?
Not MY values.
Here’s another excellent read:
https://www.theobjectivestandard.com/2015/11/ten-steps-to-end-jihad-against-the-west/
Though not a perfect analogue, the kenyan anti-christ is our Julius Caesar. He crossed the Rubicon. Whether we elect our very own Augustus Caesar to consolidate the rule of emperors in our land, or return to our republican ways with another candidate is the question before us.
The Romans elected a tyrant, just like the Germans in 1938. People in the US are perfectly capable, and apparently willing, to do exactly the same thing.
When they allowed lower and lower classes to vote, politicians found they could "buy" their vote by directing the government to give stuff to the poor. This was often done in the form of "Bread" (free bread, i.e. Welfare) and Circuses. (Entertainment, like Television.)
The poor would then vote for the candidates that promised them the best shows or the most leisurely life.
They also accepted immigration from non-loyal parts of the empire, and when it came time that the Empire needed defending, many of them joined the invading rabble.
More or less what destroyed them is exactly what is currently destroying us.
The non-producers and the Wealthy are in an alliance against the middle class which produces everything. As part of this alliance, they are importing third worlders so as to weaken their political opposition by swelling the ranks of voters they control. ed when they gave they gave voting rights to the poor.
“The Romans elected a tyrant, just like the Germans in 1938. People in the US are perfectly capable, and apparently willing, to do exactly the same thing.”
Tell me about it, and TWICE actually. Hopefully Trump can reverse the damage from Obama.
ping
The Germans didn’t elect a tyrant in 1938.
Your correct, it was 1933 I believe.
More Judeo-Christian than Roman in our values. At least it was once.
That Rome was considered a Republic during the accession to power of Octavian/Augustus and quite for some time afterward was an artifact of Augustus' pure political genius. Primus inter pares he was most certainly not, and if the fiction was maintained by mutual agreement it was still fiction. By the time Caligula popped up it was no longer even that.
The Roman ideals popularized by such authors as Livy and Machiavelli were changing cultural norms spaced out over a period of around 500 years; one suspects that some at least are as "idealized" and distilled as the story of Washington and the cherry tree: illustrative but not entirely historical. And yet some of them - Cincinatus, Horatio at the bridge, a host of others - were not merely heroic but acted upon. One can dismiss either too little or too much in this sort of characterization.
But it's human history: an imperfect monarchy giving way to in imperfect Republic giving way to an imperfect Empire that was in reality the monarchy redux. If we're careful with the parallels we can learn a lot from them.
Also, written law, property rights, established (at least in principle) currency values, legislative process and formal education
1. Rome was not a democracy. It was a republic. The fall of the republic started before 100bc.
2. The fight between Sulla and Marius accelerated the fall, as did the corruption ofthe Senatorial ranks.
3. Caesar was a brilliant political and military mind. He had no constituency among the nobles so he championed the cause of the plebs.
4. Do not forget that Pompey, Crass us and Caesar.
You can probably date the fall of the Republic from any of these spots.
And concrete that can be poured underwater.
But none of those are values.
I think the decision to write the law instead of vesting it in the whim of a tyrant speaks to a value. I think the respect for Property rights does too. I think the idea that a coin ought to have a reliable exchange rate reflects a value as well
Pick up a copy of “How the West Won” by Rodney Stark. Heard him on Prager. Couldn’t put it down!
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