When in Rome….
The point is not to suggest that Rome and the United States are in identical positions. Rather, that there are similar structural problems. In the United States today there are durable public policy problems that everyone agrees are indeed problems – deficits and debt, the entitlements crisis, lack of infrastructure investment, educational shortcomings, the erosion of U.S. manufacturing and the challenge of international competitiveness. But we can’t do anything about them because there is a rump of opposition to any structural reforms, not always from Republicans, and a large number of veto points.
Another structural similarity is that the one – or at least most – effective institution in the country is the military. In the 1st Century BC, the Romans fought at least five civil wars (as many as seven depending on how one chooses to count), and yet was able to expand their colonial empire. Their Army was occasionally bested in battles, but never in this period in a war. Over time, Roman politics came to be dominated by successful generals, and men without a martial record often sought to establish one even later in life.
It was in this context of persistent structural problems, a dysfunctional political system riddled with veto points, and a highly effective and respected military that the Roman Republic collapsed. But before it collapsed, it was given one last opportunity to save itself. This occurred with the formation of the First Triumvirate in 59 BC.
I suggest that you read Dr. Finel’s post in full.
A few comments on my part….
A commendable summarizing of the Late Republic’s dysfunction on Dr. Finel’s part. For those readers interested in the subject, I’d recommend Tom Holland’s Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic
A minor quibble is that Finel left out Sulla’s brutal attempt to “re-set” the political system, decrease public corruption and “restore” many older political customs by scraping away more recent innovations involving tribunican office by the fiat of breaking Roman tradition and launching a murderous purge to kill off and thoroughly terrorize those members of the senatorial elite who would object to his version of political reform. Sulla’s bloody precedent made future recourse to violence more likely after Sulla passed from the political scene. Caesar consciously used Sulla’s memory as a foil, making great political show of his generous treatment of beaten opponents, ultimately to his cost.
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