“Never?”

“Rome was destroyed,Greece was destroyed,Persia was destroyed,Spain was destroyed. All great countries are destroyed. Why not yours? How much longer do you really think your own country will last? Forever?”

-Rise Against, “Survivor Guilt”

          When looking back through the chronicles of history, one may notice many parallels between civilizations as well as many of the same problems occurring again and again throughout the centuries. One case where this is most evident is between Rome and theUnited States. The same problems that led to the Western Roman Empire’s demise are present in American society, including large division between the rich and the poor and unemployment. There are also many similarities in the organization of Roman government to the way the American government is organized. If the phrase “history repeats itself” is indeed true, the disastrous fall of Rome may have some serious and unfortunate implications as to where America is currently headed.

The Roman republic began with the overthrow of the previous overbearing government, the Roman monarchy, like America’s overthrow of King George III.  Roman government was primarily based on the concept of checks and balances and the division of power, two ideas incorporated into modern American government. While these similarities on their own did not lead to Rome’s demise, they left a certain impact on Roman culture, such as the strong opposition towards the idea of a monarchy and of a single individual being in charge. These beliefs, imbedded deep within Roman society, affected the development of the Western Roman Empire post-monarchy greatly. The two leaders were called consuls and were in charge of enforcing laws.  Rome’s Senate was made up of three hundred Patricians, wealthy landowners. The Senate had the power to elect a dictator who would have total control in times of war, and be forced to resign once the war ended. Society was divided between two classes, the Patricians, an elite group of nobles, and the plebeians, the majority of Roman people under them. This set up the scene for rebellions, especially since Senate membership was restricted to Patricians, so reforms were made early on in order to satisfy the plebeians, though the plebs still remained on a lower level than the Patricians above them. Included in the reforms was the power awarded to the plebeians to elect Tribunes to vote on laws. Measures were also taken to keep the plebs informed, like having twelve tablets with the official Roman law inscribed in them set up in the Forum, a public gathering area.
Rome’s struggle for power began against Carthage for control of the Mediterranean Sea. This launched a series of battles called the Punic Wars. In the first war, Rome won and received the islands of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia. Rome’s position as an empire grew after its second victory against Hannibal (Carthage’s leader) which came with the acquisition of almost all of Carthage’s Mediterranean holdings. After these two victories, Rome revealed itself as a brutal foe when it opted to entirely eliminate the threat Carthage may pose in the future by pouring salt on the land so as to make it permanently infertile and enslaving its people. Overall, this resulted in enhancing Rome’s position as a world power and its reputation as a frightening enemy, as well as the growth of its economy (Carthage’s holdings also included important trade routes).
Despite Rome’s victory over its external enemy, problems remained with its domestic affairs. Within Rome, the gap between rich and poor was rapidly growing. The rich built Latifundia (large estates) while angry mobs of unemployed farmers rioted. The Gracchus brothers wanted to narrow the division between the rich and the poor by giving land and grain to the plebeians. They presented themselves as revolutionaries on the side of the people. This caused the Senate to have much contempt for them, and to eventually conspire to murder the brothers Tiberius and Gaius through orchestrating riots and hiding their killings within.

After the death of the brothers, chaos broke out, leading to civil war. This opened the door for Julius Caesar to come into power, with promises to solve Rome’s problems and stop the civil war. In 59 BCE, Caesar became consul. In 58, he went to Gaul (modern-dayFrance) to fight. By 52 he had conquered France, parts of Germany, and Britain. He was then ordered by the Senate to return home without his army. Caesar disobeyed the Senate and instead conquered Rome itself, having it totally under his control by 48. He then declared himself “Dictator for Life” and created the title “First Citizen”, or princeps. While the status he granted himself was quite similar to that of a monarch, Julius was careful not to call himself “king” for fear of stirring up the wrath of the public. After Caesar’s assassination on March 15 (Ides of March), 44 BCE, Octavian, his nephew, teamed up with his head general Marc Antony to capture his assassins. This alliance to capture Julius’s assassins quickly turned into a struggle for power between Antony and Octavian. Octavian eventually defeated Antony inEgypt, where they had teamed up with Cleopatra to exact revenge on Caesar’s assassins. This defeat left him truly in control of Rome and its people.

Taking advantage of this newly gained power, Octavian named himself Augustus, meaning revered or respected one, and ruled Rome from 31 BCE through 14 CE, with his power resting entirely with his army. This time period was called Pax Romana and involved prosperity and the acquisition of territory, as well as the growth of Rome in the amount of citizens. Sophisticated aqueducts and arches were seen as symbols of Rome’s dominance and power, especially since as yet no one else had perfected the technique of building an arch. But, in the time period between 180 and 284, the threat of barbarians, invading outsiders, grew increasingly more serious. Once again the great division between the rich and poor came into focus, and the government tried to keep the public distracted through the use of mass entertainment. The lack of faith and patriotism in Roman citizens became evident when the army was forced to hire mercenaries, paid soldiers, to fight against the barbarians. Even with mercenaries, though, Rome could not hold back the invading outsiders for very long.

Diocletian foresaw that Rome was headed for collapse, so he split Rome between the Eastern and Western empire with the idea that if one side fell, the other may be able to stay strong. The most troublesome group of barbarians was called Huns,  fierce nomadic warriors. These warriors were greatly feared by many nations, so much that their leader received the title Attila, meaning “scourge of G-d.” Attila launched a full invasion of Europe which was only halted temporarily by his death in 453. In 476, a Germanic leader overthrew the Western Roman Empire.

The parallels between Rome and America have not gone unnoticed, especially as unemployment rates rose and the economic situation worsened in the first decade of the twenty-first century. Many predict the worst and see only turmoil and collapse ahead. NPR featured in their morning show a segment drawing parallels between specific quotes from Roman leaders and George W. Bush. Famous author Cullen Murphy elaborates in his book Are We Rome?: the Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America on specific political strategies to avoid ending as Rome ended. Even punk rock band Rise Against has taken notice of the similarities, featuring in their song “Survivor Guilt” the dialogue shown above (pg.1) which accurately sums up the main idea of this essay.

The similarities begin with government. The aforementioned overthrow of the tyrannical King George III left Americans with a disdain towards governments or countries with one all-powerful leader that has survived to this day. Our government is called a representative democracy (where people don’t vote directly on laws but instead elect representatives to vote for them, thus making a politician a separate job) since it has a Senate consisting of a few hundred elected politicians, like the Roman government. While a position in the Senate is technically open to everyone and not restricted to an elite group like the Patricians, it is more difficult for a person not born to an influential wealthy family to gain a public office. The reason for this is that campaign funds are needed for advertisements, public relations, booking of venues for speeches, etc. There is also a wide gap between the rich and the poor, with studies showing that 1% of America share the top amount of wealth (being part of this elite group is usually defined by having an annual income of more than $250,000, though the most wealthy do not earn a regular income but rather acquire fortunes through investments and stocks) while the lower 99% live in relative poverty.

America has been through multiple conflicts and wars in the struggle for power. The country emerged from WWII as one of the world’s main superpowers besides Russia, which kicked off a turbulent, competitive time period known as the Cold War. American leaders such as Joseph McCarthy stirred up mass hysteria and fear towards the Communist country. America was especially disinclined to make peace with Russia due to the fact that Russia had one all-powerful leader named Joseph Stalin. Both countries tried to outdo each other, whether with the construction of atomic bombs or space travel equipment. Previously, during the war, America had revealed that it was not hesitant to completely devastate its enemies with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, comparable to Rome’s pouring salt on Carthage’s ruins. Later, it got itself tied up in the civil wars between Communist and democratic forces inVietnam and Korea, expending much lives and money in an attempt to insure that Russia and the Communists would not gain more power than the USA. More recently, America invaded Iraq attempting to “spread democracy abroad.”

While America was fighting inIraq, problems with socio-economic divisions remained within, just like the gap between the rich and the poor that widened as Rome was fighting in Carthage. A movement emerged like the one the Gracchus brothers attempted to start called Occupy Wall Street in September 2011. Motley groups of people protesting financial inequality gathered in Zucotti Park in the financial district of Manhattan. The movement grew until it was suppressed by Mayor Bloomberg in November, same as the Gracchus brothers being murdered by the Roman government.

The chaos that broke out after 9/11,America’s invasion ofIraqandAfghanistan, and the recession left the door open for a different kind of leader than George Bush. Obama became the modern-day Julius Caesar, promising hope and change and becoming the first black president. Despite his promises, Obama has met with much opposition, specifically from Republicans. This leaves the results of the next election hanging, possibly opening the door for an all-powerful leader such as Octavian ifAmericawill truly follow inRome’s footsteps, and later leading toAmericabeing forced to take desperate measures such as those taken by Diocletian in order to salvage some ofRome’s empire.

The same lack of patriotism and overall negative feelings about the future is present inRomeandAmerica. Perhaps radical terrorist groups are comparable toRome’s barbarians. Readily available TV programming serves to distract American citizens from the current harsh economic climate and insecurity, likeRome’s “bread and circuses.” The army was forced to continually lower its enlistment standards, allowing felons to serve in the military due to the low number of enlisters despite the problems this can cause. Looking at all the similarities, one can conclude that ifAmericadoes not change its ways or take steps to differ fromRome, our future may be as negative as theWestern Roman Empire’s.

Leave a comment!!! What do think is right???

i think if we all just help a little, then these problems will become managable. Because really, there is a lot more good people than corrupt ones. But i just don’t know what we can do. i mean, i’m twelve, i’m shy and i want to help, but i’ve never gone farther than that.  Do any of you have ideas? Do you think that if kids came together, we could make a difference, even if it’s a small one?

Please comment!!!!!

I have teeth, I am strong I can get the ball before other side makes it. I am smart. I will not argue. I can fly very high.

This is why you should pick me!!!!!