The US: From Roman Republican Ideals to Imperial Ambition



The Roman Empire is not dead, it still exists. As a British friend of mine said: "We owe it all to the Romans, Britons were waring tribes before the Romans came and civilised us and gave us central government." His comment was part of a discussion we were having about the British Raj as a civilising and stabilising force in India, the price of which was for the natives to submit to British exploitation. That Roman instinct, i.e. to Romanise the world, has long since been passed on by the British to their rebellious cultural offspring, the United States of America. 

Washington DC was once called Rome, its architecture and monuments borrowed heavily from the eternal city. It was fashionable at the time, during the birth of this new nation (late 18th early 19th centuries), to mimic Rome. Empire Style, born in Napoleonic France, was all the rage and it was reflected in the architecture, furniture design and fashions of the era. But the New World Rome was more, it aspired for more, it naively sought to put on the garb of Republican Rome in the hope of avoiding the fascist taint of Imperial Rome. It hoped to follow the same path but without ending up off the democratic rails, mired in the morass of imperial ambition and hooked on the nasty habit of subjugating lesser, weaker nations to its will. 

Unfortunately, history often repeats itself and the saddest thing to watch is the decline of a democratic tradition in favour of a stronger State that can keep out the barbarians. The US today is a stronger imperial force to be reckoned with, but a weaker democracy as a result. Its weakness is not in law, as free speech and freedom to hold and express ideas and the right to due process are legal protections still deemed sacred and inviolable. Its weakness lies in the application of laws designed to protect the many against the tyranny of the few, now the application of law is mostly aimed at preserving the privileges of the patrician class. Its weakness also lies in the apathy shown by the many and their paralysing cynicism regarding the political process all of which stem from an inherently unequal and labyrinthine system that favours money over the lack of it and favours the white race over all others. New world or old, the Roman tradition is alive and well and its inevitable trajectory will take the new world to as ignominious an end as befell its ancient name sake.

The emblems of the Roman world can be seen in some remarkable places around the US Capital, most striking is the use of the old Roman Fasces or Fascio symbol, a sheaf or bundle of wooden sticks with an axe head protruding out one end. This emblem can be seen on the back of the ten cent coin as well as on the wall of the US House of Representatives just behind the podium, in addition to the Throne of the Lincoln Memorial. The Fasces was a symbol of power and authority in ancient Rome, it was also the emblem of the magistrate as well as the dictator, a Roman office. The dictator was chosen by the Roman Republic to lead the State in times of emergency for a limited time and would have ultimate power over life and death. The Fasces was also a symbol of the Italian Fascists under Mussolini.

The founding father's seeming obsession with or mere admiration of the ancient Romans may have been quite innocent, but if the current trajectory of the United States is anything to go buy there are clear signs that this world power, that has inspired aspirants to freedom and democracy the world over, is fast sliding towards a veiled dictatorship, one in which ultimate power does not rest with elected officials but with dark sinister powers that manipulate people's representatives and push them to making decisions that serve the power needs of the few.

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