Part 1 in a series
By Katie Kieffer
Katie Kieffer in front of the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II in Rome. Image copyright Katie Kieffer. All rights reserved.
Our founding fathers were obsessed with the Roman Republic. They studied it meticulously and their goal was to form a democratic republic in the United States of America that would replicate and mirror the Roman Republic’s strengths while avoiding Rome’s mistakes.
In the first and second centuries AD, Rome was governed by a balanced constitution. The Roman Republic was a decentralized government. There were checks and balances on power, which our founding fathers liked. There was a Senate and three law-making citizen assemblies that had the power to influence and guide the decisions of the consul or the commander-in-chief. Rome held popular elections for the offices of chief magistrates.
Roman jurists like Ulpian, rooted the law in the belief that all men were created equal and they had inalienable rights like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The taxes were so low that the average Roman citizen only had to work two days a year to pay his taxes. Consequently, the Roman Empire experienced great economic growth, peace and prosperity during this time. Rome herself was free from foreign domination and expanded geographically.
Like the United States, the Roman Republic was also successful because it was united by a strong bond of spirituality and common values. The Romans adopted many of the cultural values of classical Greece and, consequently, they were united by common values and a common spirituality. Jupiter Optimus Maximus was Rome’s imperial divinity. The Roman law upheld the values of the culture and protected individual freedom.
Rome’s influence on America goes beyond our constitution. Even America entertainment and culture, still, to this day, reveal Rome’s influence on America. Take the Colosseum, for example.
Colosseum – Rome. Image copyright Katie Kieffer. All rights reserved.
This elliptical amphitheater in the heart of Rome is where gladiators fought. It could seat 50,000 roaring fans and it was the largest amphitheater in the entire Roman Empire.
Now, think about the comparisons between gladiator games in the coliseum and football, which is America’s most popular sport. In American football, you have that gladiator style of play and the loud and enormous crowds. There are even some football teams that refer to their stadiums as coliseums. And there’s the Super Bowl, the biggest gladiatorial-style game of them all – which is always denoted by Roman numerals.
Why does Rome’s rise and fall matter to the U.S.?
So, if Rome was so prosperous and peaceful during the first and second century AD, why did she eventually fall? You’ve probably heard people say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Well, Rome also did not fall overnight. It took repeated corruption and poor governance over time for Rome to reach a point of such weakness that she was eventually able to be conquered by the German Barbarians.
In this series, I will share the story of how Rome rose to success as a world super power. I will also showcase the actions Rome took that brought on her own destruction. Given how similar America’s balanced constitution is to that of the Roman Republic’s and given America’s similar respect for equality and freedom before the law, it is very important for us to understand why Rome fell so that we do not make the same mistakes she did. Stay tuned for more.
Primary Sources:
HERITAGE LECTURES: The Lessons of the Roman Empire of America Today by J. Rufus Fears, PhD.
The Cato Journal: Vol. 14, Number 2, Fall 1994, “How Excessive Government Killed Ancient Rome,” by Bruce Bartlett.
