We All Need to Think About the Roman Empire More often
We will be at our peril if we ignore the valuable lessons of Rome’s rise, particularly its fall.
Please feel free to click the ❤️ or 🔄 button so more people will read it. Thank you!
A viral video last year sparked a trend: women asking their boyfriends, husbands, brothers, and fathers, or any men in their lives, how often these men thought about the Roman empire.
While some men professed that they didn’t think about the Roman Empire at all, surprisingly, many men admitted that they not only thought about the Roman Empire but also thought about it quite often. When I presented that question to my husband, he said he thought about the Roman Empire several times a day! Then he added, “I have a long commute.”
I have been thinking about the Roman Empire quite a bit lately. My thoughts were initially prompted by one of my favorite podcasts, “The Rest is History,” hosted by British historians Tom Holland (not the actor of Marvel’s “Spiderman” films) and Dominic Sandbrook. They recently released a series on Carthage vs. Rome, and I highly recommend you give it a listen.
When the Roman Empire was still in its infancy, Carthage was already a significant Mediterranean power based in Northern Africa. How did Rome defeat Carthage in 146 BC and become one of the greatest empires in human history? On the surface, Rome’s great power came from its military, which was a disciplined and ruthless war machine. But Rome’s military wasn’t so fearsome from the beginning. It grew out of a humbling and painful experience.
In July 390 BC, the Gauls defeated Rome and then went on to sack and burn the city. To get the Guals to leave the city, the Romans had agreed to pay 1000 pounds of gold. The story goes: “When the gold was weighed, the Gauls produced heavier, false counterweights. The Romans complained, whereupon Chief Brennus replied, “Woe to the vanquished,” and threw his own sword on the scales.”
The Romans were utterly defeated and humiliated. This traumatic experience helped forge a common destiny and shared civic identity among Roman citizens, from the lowest social class to the aristocrats. Vowed “never again,” Rome rebuilt its army. Unlike many of Rome’s rivals, the Roman legions were composed of only Roman citizens (in the early days of the empire). The word “legion,” according to Tom Holland, means “levy.” Whenever Rome was about to go to war, every male citizen was expected to take his weapons and armor and report to the forum. Every citizen understood that he must pay his dues and fight for Rome. With a shared collective sense of civic identity and destiny, Rome’s citizen army was “committed to protecting and furthering the interests of Rome.” This was why Roman legions were so lethal and fearsome.
In contrast, Carthage’s army was made up of mercenaries, who didn’t share any civic sense of belonging or loyalty to Carthage. They would fight for whoever was willing to pay more for their service. Not surprisingly, Carthage was doomed to fall when it ran out of money to pay its mercenary army while Roman legions were at its gate.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Confucius Never Said to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.