"It is in
the very nature of things human that every act that has once made its
appearance and has been recorded in the history of mankind stays with mankind
as a potentiality long after its actuality has become a thing of the
past."~ Hannah Arendt (1906—1975) Philosopher and Author[1]
When thinking deeply on the fall of Rome, I feel it is
important that one understand that Rome's largest failure was from within.
Rome's issue's began when the empire overstretched it bounds in military
spending’s, relied too highly on geographical conquest to fuel an ever
expanding economic need, and inflated the currency to such an extent that the
state's denarius was eventually worth next to nothing. In 476 A.D, the final
Roman emperor of the western half of the Empire was renounced from rule,
concluding the western half of the Roman Empire and the unification of a single
power in western Europe.
[1] Tim Case, “Barbarians at the Gates, Lew Rockwell, accessed November 14, 2012,
http://www.lewrockwell.comcase/case16.html.
As a result of Rome's demise, it is natural to long to
find some lessons in this tale of failed monetary policy and internal downfall.
In his lecture on the Fall of Rome, Professor Joseph R. Peden gives us an
interesting take about this historical situation when he states, "Now the
Roman state survived, the liberty of the Roman people did not. When freedom
became possible in the west in the 5th century with the barbarian invasions
people took advantage of the possibility of change. The Roman people, the mass
of the population, had but one wish after being captured by the barbarians;
that they would never again fall under the rule of the Roman beaurocracy. In
other words, the Roman state was the enemy. The barbarians were the
liberators."[2] He
goes on to surmise that if war becomes the central strength of the state then
it also becomes the central toxin of the monetary systems stability. [3]We
live in a country today that is currently left sprawled by astounding military
expenditures, but what will this really cost us? We can learn further lessons
from the rulers of ancient Rome who sought to fix broken systems within Roman
government. Constantine and Diocletian sought to preserve the monetary system
with monetary reforms and sought to create unity between the military elite and
the ruling class by supporting the troops. Because the system was two-tiered
and we are looking at it through the hourglass of history, it is easy to see
how and when it went wrong; but in light of current issues in which we are so
physically as well as emotionally entangled, could we be so clever?
[2] Joseph R. Peden, “Inflation and the Fall
of the Roman Empire,” Mises, Monday
September 07, 2009, http://mises.org/daily/3663.
The United States of America, born in 1776, is a country with a heritage of liberty under the law. With great resources and a history of a pioneer people, our nation has grown to be strong and prosperous. It is no wonder that America has come to be the refuge of many of the worlds tired, hungry and poor. Many in past decades have been willing to stake everything on a new chance of life in this country. Presently, our nation seems to be stronger than ever. New technology has transformed our society and splendors once only available to the extraordinarily wealthy are now made readily available to even the common classes of our country. Nevertheless, it would be naive to think we have accomplished all this and borne no blemishes. Our citizens and businesses have increased underneath a system of densely strained political, social, and economic complications. To understand the origins of our country and visions of our forefathers, it would be wise to return to the basis of their hard-won arguments.
It was the highly held belief of the Founders
of our country that it was not what government did that made our nation great
but rather what our government was kept from doing. Many citizens would be
taken aback to grasp that the word "democracy" never appears in the Declaration
of Independence, our Constitution, or the Constitutions of the fifty states. James
Madison speaks to why our system was designed the way it was in Federalist
paper No. 10, stating: "Democracies have ever been spectacles of
turbulence and contention, have ever been found incompatible with personal
security or the rights of property, and have in general been as short in their
lives as they have been violent in their deaths." [4]
Alexander Hamilton followed close
behind when he stated, "We are a republican government. Real liberty is
never found in despotism or in the extremes of democracy." [5]The
Founders looked on the system of democracy with contempt because of the
examples of Greek city states who formed around democracy coming to mob rule,
anarchy, and oligarchy. Rome was in fact the exception, choosing Solon's
counsel over that of ancient Greece and creating a system in which government
was regulated from underneath the law.[6] This
in turn made Rome highly prosperous, as we view from history, and contributed
to its people's freedom of production and it's envied status in the ancient world.[7]
Nevertheless, even Rome was not immune to the plunge of superpowers that echoes
throughout history. As a result of Rome forgetting the basis of their origins,
the state began to be ruled by power seeking politicians. Powers given them in
the Roman Constitution were continually exceeded, agriculture sub-cities were
reproduced, taxes rose, productivity declined and inflation prevailed.[8] The
system folded into itself with the example of a republic turned democracy
ending in oligarchy under the advancement of Caesar's and an army who increasingly
played kingmaker.[9]
[4]“Federalist No. 10,” Founding Fathers, accessed November 14, 2012,
http://www.foundingfathers.info/federalistpapers/madison.htm.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Lloyd Duhaime, “530 B.C. - Solon’s Laws
(Greece),” Duhaime, last modified
Monday, September 20, 2010, http://www.duhaime.org/LawMuseum/LawArticle-306/530-BC--Solons-Laws-Greece.aspx.
[7] N.S. Gill, “Pax Romana,”About, accessed November 14,2012, http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/romeempire/g/paxromana.htm.
(Damen n.d.)
[8] Mark Damen, “Section 8: The Fall of
Rome,”Usu, accessed November 14,
2012, http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320Hist&Civ/chapters/08ROMFAL.htm.
[9] Mary Beard, “The Fall of the Roman
Republic,” BBC, last modified
03-29-2011, http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/fallofromanrepublic_article_01.shtml.
Stephen Bertman remarks in his article on "The
Perils of American Progress,"
"Since the days of Rome's Golden Age under Augustus,
two thousand years have passed. Today, though it is not technically an empire,
the United States stands as the world's preeminent superpower, both militarily
and economically. But how long will that preeminence last? It would be naive to
imagine that America will be exempt from the universal law of history that to
date has dictated the decline and fall of every great power, including Imperial
Rome. The only relevant questions are these: when will that fall take place,
and for what reason or reasons?" [10]
The amount of correlations between these two is alarming. In light of this, one might ask, "If it was excessive
government that killed Rome, could it be excessive government that is killing
America?" This is a common topic of debate amongst many politicians and
engaged citizens and it can be argued either way. Nevertheless, the only thing
that can be surmised for certain is the clearly demonstrated path given us
throughout history. Perhaps rather than debating with one another, we should be
turning within and asking ourselves questions. Could it be argued that
democracy itself is not a stable form of government, but is instead shown throughout
history to be a progressive transformation from restricted government to the
unconstrained rule of either the people or an oligarchy? Could Benjamin
Franklin be cited in our thoughts as being one to question whether or not
America will "keep" her republic or in fact gradually fold into an
oligarchy as the Roman Empire?[11]
And what of our founding principles? Are these to be expounded in an organic
way or did our Founders mean for us to follow every jot and tittle of the words
they wrote for future generations within their documents? What is it that
"We the People" need to do? Although I know a large part of this is
being left to question, I will not hesitate to state that it is my belief that
it will be up to "We the People" to take these questions to heart and
read the examples of history. Perhaps these correlations could aid us in
preventing another collapse. Perhaps we've forgotten the central truths of what
made us as a people jointly free. Perhaps rather than debating our left and
right wing principles, we should instead focus on pumping the lifeblood back
into the heart of our nation; remembering the liberties that made us great,
denouncing the theories of everlasting sovereignty that have become so dominant in our present day and age, and learning to read the examples of
history in hopes to create a more secure future for succeeding generations.
[10] Stephen Bertman, "The
Perils of America's Progress." Modern
Age 48, no. 1 (Winter 2006): 22-27. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost
(accessed November 14, 2012),
doi:
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=20847091&site=ehost-live
[11] John Hoeful, “Ben Franklin Was Correct: A
Republic If We Can Keep It, Larouchepub, February 13th, 2012, http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2009/3607franklin_right.html.
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