THE RISE OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC
THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
The Decline Mantra
Decline has always seemed a psychological state. Rome had as much territory
and as many people in AD 450 as it did in 30 BC. What was different was that
millions no longer followed Roman protocol or felt themselves to be Roman —
a fragmentation brought on a by a corrupt governing elite, and a sense that
Latin, habeas corpus, transparent courts and taxation were to be no longer part
and parcel of being a civis Romanus.
Too many were outside the system and too few inside to make up for them. In
our age, the problem with tax-cheating, shooting up the neighborhood and then
rushing to the emergency room for free healthcare for injured gang-bangers,
moonlighting while on disability, getting an insider private tax exemption from
Congress, revolving-door influence peddling, rigging something like AIG or Countrywide,
and perpetuating voting fraud — is, well, that the equilibrium of the
society requires millions of others in recompense to go to work, pay all their
taxes on time, buy health insurance, work when sick, participate fairly in elections,
and not game the system for a free anything. So decline begins when the former
outnumber the latter, as they did in Rome by the late 5th century, and as we
are starting to see in Europe and the United States today.
Spiraling public debt, a sinking currency, and a bankrupt popular culture are
simply symptoms when the body politic no longer adheres to a time-honored protocol
of proven success. Ask ourselves — are we more hard-working, more lawful,
more prudent, more independent — or less — than our grandparents?
Can we say that we have on average lived more upright lives, both more productive
and moral, than our grandparents? If in 50% of the cases, the answer is no,
then we can begin to see the problem.
When schools cannot guarantee that their graduates are literate, know basic
math, and have some sense of being American — the rights and responsibilities
of citizenship — then those, rich or poor, who seek government assistance
and violate the protocols will grow, and those able to pay sufficient taxes
for them and who follow the letter of the law will shrink.
Obama as Roman emperor -- the rise and fall of the propaganda master
What
the Romans do for us
The head of MI5 is in good company when he admits to being inspired by the classical
stories, says Harry Mount.
Mary Ann Glendon, "Cicero Superstar", First Things (January 2010).
Virgil P. Nemoianu, "Cicero in Rome and in Early America", A Review of Bradley J. Birzer’s American Cicero: The Life of Charles Carroll (ISI Books, 2010).