Lessons From the Fall
One modern historian tallied 210 explanations for the fall of Rome. Some would say that a good number of those theories would apply to the United States today. U.S. News talked with Cullen Murphy about his new book, Are We Rome? The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America. Pointing out a few of the parallels between America and the ancient Mediterranean state, Murphy, the editor at large of Vanity Fair, says there are lessons that we can learn to avoid Rome's seemingly ineluctable decline.
Why do Americans compare themselves to Rome?
The first moment comes before the Revolution, when the colonial elite, all of whom are steeped in Roman history, begin to see themselves as the embodiment of a Roman republican ideal. They contrast that ideal with the tyranny of the Roman monarchy before the republic-and of course they equated that tyranny with Britain's. With the image of a virtuous Roman republic in front of them, they pursued the dream of an American republic. They had Roman governance on their minds: the idea of checks and balances, certain notions of Roman virtue, what it meant to be a citizen and an upright person.
How did that change?
In the 19th century a different notion of Rome develops-a vague fear of what happens to the country if it becomes too powerful. You can see this in Thomas Cole's series of paintings from the 1830s called Course of Empire, which shows an idyllic state of nature, then a glorious imperial present, and finally a civilization in ruins. In the meantime, of course, we were too busy spreading across the continent and then reaching out into the world. But the same fears crop up again in the "American Century," when the nation shouldered what look very much like imperial responsibilities. And sometimes harbored what look like imperial ambitions.
Are current comparisons completely negative?
Actually, until a few years ago there were a lot of people who were making the comparison with Rome in optimistic and assertive ways. In other words, the Pax Romana lives anew as the Pax Americana, providing worldwide cultural benefits and worldwide security.
But this is not the dominant take on the Rome-America comparison right now, is it?
Right. The other camp is probably dominant-the one that worries about American decline, not just in terms of power but in terms of basic social health. On [one] level, we don't live in Jefferson's America any longer. On [another], America possesses characteristics that ought to give us pause: the hollowing out of government. The mismatch of ambitions and resources. The growing inequality.
One feature of this pessimistic comparison has to do with a dangerous reliance on the military. Can you explain?
A key issue for Rome then and America now is manpower. Rome in the end did not have enough people-or enough money, or enough will-to do all the jobs that needed doing, and at the same time to keep the Army as strong as it needed to be. The United States finds itself in a similar situation.
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