21st Century America: Echoes of 5th Century Rome?

The English historian Edward Gibbon’s classic work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chronicled the factors that led to the fall of the Roman Empire. History records that the western (classical) Roman Empire came to an end in the late 5^th century A.D.
The empire’s fall is generally attributed to a series of events: Rome’s sacking in 390 by the Gauls after the Battle of the Allia, its sacking by the Visigoths in 410, then again in 455 by the Vandals, and, finally, the ouster of Emperor Romulus Augustulus by the barbarian, Odoacer, in 476.

Rome was a glorious sight to behold and phenomena to be experienced for almost a thousand years. The historian Tacitus records that Romans generally believed that the Roman Empire represented the apogee of human civilization; the closest that mankind would ever come to perfection in its synthesis of power, domination, law, language, architecture, and art into man’s greatest idea ever: “Rome”.

Like America has been for well over two centuries, Rome was more about an intangible set of ideas and ideals than it was about its armies, its grand temples, its coliseum games or its ubiquitous culture. Rome was considered the light in a world dominated by darkness, man’s best hope against the lawlessness, the ignorance, and the cruelty embodied by the Barbarians that lived and warred beyond the Empire’s borders.

People were proud to be Romans. It was an honor to fight for Rome, to help it build its majestic edifices, to lay its roads to every corner of the empire. The Caesar was worshipped - as was the culture, if not in as direct a way. Rome was the most militarily powerful force the world had ever seen, its capital city the most beautiful, its economy the most abundant, and its citizens the most pampered. With so much going for it, how could Rome have fallen so far so fast – in a matter of only 70 years?

What caused Rome to fall is the same thing that is in the process of causing America to fall. Consider some of the things Edward Gibbon said about Rome’s decline and ask yourself if it applies to America today. He said “Human freedom is the first wish of our heart; freedom is the first blessing of our nature.” Ok, the parallel to what motivated America’s founding is obvious. Gibbon went on to explain that we lose that freedom – Rome did – when liberty becomes licentiousness, when people stop taking responsibility for their actions and for their own governance; and when they embrace a nanny state (my paraphrase). What happens next? Tyranny and despotism.

According to Gibbon, in Rome’s final years, Romans “. . . no longer possessed that public courage which is nourished by the love of independence, the sense of national honor, the presence of danger, and the habit of command.” Gibbon continued, “They received laws and governors from the will of their sovereign, and trusted for their defense to a mercenary army.” (I would suggest that America’s “mercenary army” is the technology that enables us to kill from a distance without having to experience firsthand the horrors of war – with the notable exception of a very small minority of men and women who care enough for our country to put their lives on the line for it.)

If you are not already convinced we are looking at present day America, consider what British scholars C. M. Joad and C. Northcote Parkinson said about declining/collapsing empires. Joad said that great empires in decline all have several things in common: decadence, weariness, and irresponsibility. Parkinson pointed to over-centralized government, oppressive taxes, and excessive bureaucracy as portends of collapse. Still don’t see the parallels? In Rome’s last years, bureaucracy became so huge, government so powerful and taxes so burdensome that personal ambition, the drive for personal excellence, and the work ethic of the average Roman declined to the point that civic vitality in Rome became non-existent.

With a huge army and fantastically large government to finance, Rome ran out of money. It had to raise taxes so high that many landowners fled to Barbarian territories to avoid them. (Ever wonder why “publicans” (tax collectors) were so despised in New Testament Palestine?) Not only were taxes terrible, corruption was rampant. Times became so hard that class warfare ensued. Everyone seemed to have a beef against someone else, particularly the peasant class against the rich.

So not to beat a dead horse, I will stop here with the evidence. The parallels are too great and too many.  Twenty-first century America is 5^th century Rome – or at least late 4^th century. Does that mean it is too late to turn our country around? Absolutely no! Does that mean we have little time left to do it? Absolutely yes! How are we going to do it? You and I must, let me repeat MUST , not let ourselves become infected by apathy, responsibility shifting, a sense of entitlement, hatred of others who have things we want and can't afford, an obsession with ease and luxury, and a post-modern humanism that leaves no room for God in our lives – personal and national.

We MUST fight for our country – not just on the battlefield of war, but on the more important battlefield of ideas: God back in the center of our national life; personal responsibility; less emphasis on what we have or how we look and more on what we are: people of integrity, hard work, creativity, and selfless service to others; less government; less debt; lower taxes; and much higher standards for our elected officials in all levels of government.

If these ideas ultimately win the day, we will avoid Rome’s fate. And for perhaps the first time in history, a great empire will have learned from history and avoided catastrophe.