Are We Rome?: The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America - Cullen Murphy

A meditation on the decline and fall

This book compares contemporary America to the Roman Empire. In asking whether we are Rome, Murphy is really asking whether we are doomed to decline and fall, as Rome did. When I began this book I was thinking of Rome at its peak. However, its focus is really on the decline of the empire. With the focus on the negative aspects of the (mostly late) Roman Empire and of America, it gradually becomes clear that the author does not much like either Rome or America. Two examples from the text will explain what I mean. The author takes exception to the plaque left by Neil Armstrong on the moon that says "We came in peace for all mankind," apparently on the grounds that Americans should not be speaking for all mankind. The second refers to the famous `line in the sand' episode from Roman history. In 168 BC, the Roman Consul Gaius Popillius Laenas drew a line in the sand around King Antiochus IV of the Seleucid Empire who was about to invade Egypt, saying, "Before you cross this line I want you to give me a reply for the Roman Senate". The implication was that Rome would declare war if the King stepped out of the circle without committing to leave Egypt immediately. Weighing his options, Antiochus wisely chose to withdraw. This would seem to be a triumph of diplomacy since armed conflict was averted without any loss of life or an arrow being fired. Murphy holds this up as an example of Roman arrogance. Arrogance or not, the responsibility that comes with power is such that great nations cannot be spectators and do have to show leadership.

In general the book consists of a series of musings about the similarities between American and Roman governments, militaries, industry, etc. The chapter on privatization of government services is more polemic than scholarly discussion. Unfortunately there seems to be no strong underlying thesis. That there are many similarities between Rome and America should come as no surprise because the imperatives of governing a large nation state are as universal as gravity. In keeping with this idea, most of the similarities between America and Rome would as well apply to the British Empire. Early on, the author tells us that the school history class cliché about those who forget history being doomed to repeat it is not particularly true. This is disconcerting, because what then is the point of this book?

The question posed in the title is of course rhetorical. All empires rise and fall. Murphy reminds us that in some sense Rome never went away completely. Many of our institutions today, not to mention our language, are direct descendents of their Roman counterparts. That America faces many of the same challenges as Rome did is a given. Certainly there are many similarities between the body politic of both Rome and America, but no more than with other large nations. There are also some of the same failings. Yet there are differences as well. America has many strengths, and Murphy does mention some of them at the very end, though only in passing. The entrepreneurial spirit that beginning in the late nineteenth century would power America to global prominence is not mentioned. Obviously Murphy is not happy with the America he sees around him. He makes a strong case for America being Rome at its worst and suggests some ideas to turn things around. Unfortunately, he makes a much poorer case for America NOT being Rome.

Are We Rome?

This book provides a fascinating parallel between the fate of the Roman empire and the probable end of our present efforts to become the world's superpower.
It is very well written and provides extensive notes and documentation.

America and Rome - a flawed analogy

I have never bought the argument that the United States' eventual decline is an historical inevitability and perhaps even now underway. Those who use this argument love to hold up Ancient Rome as their analogy - a great and seemingly indestructible empire eventually destroyed through internal decadence and a failure to adapt to external changes.

Well, the United States is not the Roman Empire and as author Cullen Murphy points out early on, the real lesson of history is that it rarely repeats itself, at least not in such a way that what has happened in the past can act as a blueprint for what is happening now, or may happen in the future.

Imperial greatness does tend to blaze and fade and it is possible to find parallels in the disappearance of Rome to that of Spain in the Americas, the Ottomans and even the British Empire - parallels but not exactitudes. The American Empire is like none of the above in that it one of projection rather than occupation. This empire's expansion, in progress since World War II, is founded on ideas and influence. It may stall or even be rolled back, but there will be no effect on the territorial integrity of the US itself. There will be no sack of Washington or Fort Knox's gold being carried off by triumphant foreign invaders.

It is the parallels and the differences that Murphy addresses in this book, taking a concept that has been so glibly asserted in public debate and subjecting it to some rigorous academic analysis. In doing so he has linked a challenging outline of where the US may be heading with some fascinating thumbnail sketches of the politics, economics and social condition of the Roman Empire which will delight history buffs and those interested in the laws of cause and effect.

He notes that in the past Americans themselves have seen links between their republic and that of Ancient Rome in its more idealised forms, one only has to look at the architecture of many of Washington's great public buildings to see that, and today Washington is just as much the centre of the universe, the place to be to see history in the making, as Rome was 1800 years ago.

The US dominates its world as Rome did at its height; Rome assimilated the people it conquered into the empire and many of them became proud Roman citizens; the US has its `melting pot', Hollywood and McDonalds, but above all there is America's military might, as impressive as in the days when the Legions turned the Mediterranean Sea into an imperial lake.

Yet in the end Rome could not keep this up, and in one very definite parallel Murphy notes the reason as a persistent threat on the borders coupled with the vast expenditure required to keep deterrent forces permanently in the field - increasingly onerous taxes on the one hand and deficit spending on the other.

Other links Murphy suggests stimulate the imagination: the Romans' use of barbarian mercenaries to defend the later empire is compared to the civilian contractors that perform an increasing number of services in Iraq and Afghanistan once reserved for the military; the movement of political authority away from the Roman centre to outlying provinces or military commanders linked to privatisation; the failure of both to see the warning signs in initial reversals (Rome - Teutoburg Forest; US - Vietnam).

Did Rome in fact fall or did it just fade away? Rome was sacked in 410AD, but the empire limped along in the West for at least another 50 to 80 years and in the East for another 1000. Might it not be possible for the US, preoccupied with its internal difficulties, to imperceptibly surrender its superpower status to China, India, or even, as Mark Leonard has provocatively argued in his 2005 book, the European Union?

Murphy concedes this is a possibility but in the end rejects the Rome-and-America analogy as flawed:

"Rome accepted and bestrode its destiny. Americans don't yet agree that an empire is what we've become, much less agree that we ought to be one. The political gulf between Rome and America is wide, morally and procedurally. America's democratic form of government looks to us like a flawed and tarnished thing and we lament its grave deficiencies. But it's more adaptable, just, and robust than anything Rome came up with in a thousand years. Elections remain a check on power, a crude and clumsy but as yet sacred way to reorientate the compass."

Murphy loses his way on occasions. His suggestion that the US could rekindle the militia ethic of the past with a program of national service for all young people is political suicide and a logistical nightmare. Yet his fundamental proposition that America has the tools to reinvent itself and adapt to changing conditions in a way Rome never had, is sound.

This is a concise, tightly argued book that deserves the attention of everyone interested in international current affairs and the world their children and grandchildren will live in.

provacative and enjoyable

Cullen Murphy's book "Are We Rome?" is an engagingly erudite, yet very accessible read. Wisely sidestepping the generalizing tendencies of the historians, Murphy poses many questions for the readers' consideration. He has intimate knowledge of the Roman ruins and is steeped in much of the history and archeological studies regarding the Romans. The writing is lean, tight, and for the most part enjoyable - he does a fine job of bringing the reader into his thinking processes.

If there is any structural aspect of this book, it would have to be the six parallels between the Roman and American empires. He discusses each in broad terms, with convincing regard for the current American stance (such as the privatization of government functions and the ongoing political gridlocks). Murphy makes a case for the ongoing reinvention of ourselves as Americans as one quality that the Romans in their smug self-satisfactions never possessed. He points out that America has been through more social transformations in two centuries than Rome did in a thousand years.

One very interesting topic Murphy discusses has to do with the current issue of immigration into the United States. For the Romans, it was the inexorable assimilation of the "barbarians"; the incorporation of other cultures into the Roman orbit became indispensible as the centuries rolled on. But it was also the primary reason why Rome did not "fall" either; it just kind of faded away. Murphy at this point quotes the Roman historian Livy: "An empire remains powerful only as long as its subjects rejoice in it".

Towards the end, the "Are We Rome?" question is posed - and Murphy vaguely replies: In a thousand ways no; in a handful of ways, yes. His final point is: We are Rome in that we are making many of the same mistakes (military over-expansion, etc), but the antidote is that we are American, and as such, we will make the necessary changes (like taking more interest in other cultures).

This read is entertaining and highly recommended for the thoughtfully inclined.

Parataxis

The Cloud Reckoner

Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts

Lessons from our shared past ..

Since this is a commonly shared comparision it will not due to comment . However the book is well written and thoughtfully compiled. History and insight are hallmarks to a interesting subject. Enjoyable read.