I’ve recently been rereading “Caesar and Christ,” historian Will Durant’s 1944 classic which traces the history of Rome and Christianity from their beginnings into the 4th century. The similarities of the decline of the Roman Republic and the current state of affairs in the U.S. are striking.
The Republic, built on extraction of commerce by threat and force of war, teetered on the brink of destruction for centuries. It came to be ruled by increasingly corrupt oligarchies and tyrants, to whom an infighting and ineffectual Senate ceded power.
These tyrants imposed moral strictures on everyone but themselves and taxed everyone but themselves. The republic enslaved both its own people and those it conquered.
To keep the lower classes from revolt, the oligarchs gave them brutal entertainments in the arena and terrorized and slaughtered those who showed the least sign of rising up or even speaking out against tyranny. The famous orator and enemy of tyrants, Cicero, was slain and his head and hands [were] cut off and nailed to the rostrum of the Senate to remind everyone of the perils of speaking out against tyranny.
This week, Christian’s around the world mark the death of Jesus of Nazareth. Innocent of any crime except speaking out loud that tyranny and oppression are the opposite of God’s kingdom of love, Jesus was just one of scores of thousands Rome crucified to maintain its hold on power.
Ultimately the corrupted Republic collapsed the Empire arose and it too collapsed. Is their history ours?
Paul Garrett
Bayfield
