Let’s examine connections between the empires of Rome and modern US/UK/Israel to discover possible solutions to restore republic from empire in our world of the present.
Roman Empire: History teaches that the Roman Republic devolved into psychopathic dictatorial empire; characterized by oligarchic families competing among themselves for power and wealth within vicious inner-circles.
This occurred while proclaiming to the public that their government still upheld the highest ideals of their Republic, and proclaiming expanding empire was only and always in “self-defense.”
[amazon asin=0307267504&template=*lrc ad (left)]Emperor Domitian’s assassination in 96 AD (among ~22 murdered emperors), allowed historian Tacitus to write The Agricola, a biographical text of his father-in-law contrasting claimed virtue of Roman military and citizenry with the emperor’s utterly corrupt despotism.
Importantly, this text describes the problem of virtuous Romans within a psychopathic government, with responses between extremes of martyrdom to sycophantic servility. Tacitus describes Agricola attempting to uphold virtue; but without recognition of any evil in serving an expanding dictatorial empire. Tacitus seems to assume the ideal of mos maiorum, “custom/virtue of Roman forefathers” will eventually triumph over the evil of [amazon asin=B006JY3OHW&template=*lrc ad (right)]present “leadership.”
In Agricola’s campaign as military and political leader of Roman Britain to expand the empire to modern Scotland from 78 – 84 AD, Tacitus records a speech he attributes to Scottish rebel-leader, Calgacus, to voice how those of virtue characterized Roman empire under corrupt emperors:
[amazon asin=B005S28ZES&template=*lrc ad (left)]It is no use trying to escape their arrogance by submission or good behavior. Robbers of the world, having by universal plunder exhausted the land, their drive is greed. If the enemy be rich, they are rapacious; if poor, they lust for domination. Neither rule of the East nor West can satisfy them. Alone among men, they crave with equal eagerness poverty and riches. To plunder, slaughter, seize with false pretenses, they give the lying name ‘empire.’ And where nothing remains but a desert, they call that ‘peace.’ – Tacitus, The Agricola and the Germania (analyses here, here)
Roman imperialists called Calgacus and those who preferred independence from evil empire a name:barbarus. This is translated today as “barbarian,” but its context for using unconventional warfare to oppose the most powerful military in its day is better translated in today’s language with a different word:
Terrorist.
Indeed, Obama combines these terms to call ISIS “barbaric terrorists.”
