There is no real parallel between the late Roman Republic and contemporary America because the methods and means of production are completely different. The American empire is a technocratic empire whose power is based primarily on it’s (now declining) ability to technologically and financially overwhelm it’s opponents using multi-pronged attacks, where a military intervention may fail, bribing internal officials may work, where both those fail, years of propaganda may do the trick, etc.
The Roman Republic was, at it’s rise, successful due to it’s ability to marshall manpower from the massive surplus driven by it’s small holding citizen farmers, who had fought for and won their rights in previous civil conflicts. This more equitable than previously seen before distribution of wealth led to success on the battlefield, as the Romans were able to continue to muster capable armies even after catastrophic defeats. However, their practice of slavery would do them in, as the very free holding farmers that the Republic relied on for it’s tenacity and surplus, would slowly be replaced by slaves brought back from conquests and expansion of the frontiers, thus changing the mode of production from one of primarily farmers to a slave economy, which was much more inefficient from a calorie per acre standpoint, but much more profitable for the noble class of slavers.
This very contradiction is what propelled the political rise of Caesar, as he was able to learn from Cincinnatus and Sulla, both elected dictators who were unable or unwilling to consolidate power, to recognize and play both sides of this political-economic divide. To the slavers, he would promise slaves from his conquests, and to the now dispossessed farmers he would promise land reform and bread. These two are things are, of course, at political-economic odds with each other. One way to temporarily resolve this contradiction then, was to assume a permanent dictatorship and use the military to dictate terms to both classes. This, of course, then eventually lends to its own set of contradictions, and the history of Rome after the Republic is primarily one of inequality, technological stagnation, hardship, and perpetual civil war between different military factions. Imperial Rome spends much more time fighting Romans than it does anyone else.
The U.S. has toyed back and forth between being openly imperialistic or not. However, it has much different material forces at play, with significant bureaucratic and technological investment. Imo, we have already been at a point where Congress essentially defers to the Presidential agenda since about 2000.
However, until we actually fight a war with a near-peer power, the affects of these contradictions will be suffered primarily by the poor. The primary contradiction clearly is between our manufacturing power and financial power, and if we are no longer able to maintain the technological edge that contradiction will have to be resolved one way or another, and that is where America will, at the moment, likely break towards an imperial system.
No problem. I am personally not a huge fan of cross-societal historical comparisons when they aren’t of the same time period, as political forces that seem similar are ultimately different based on their methods of production.
There are certainly lessons to be learned from understanding the end of the Roman Republic, but part of the reason that it went the way it did was to solve the political-economic contradictions that existed within Roman society particularly. Alot of the same historical forces are certainly at play in the U.S. but how they manifest themselves and play out will be particular to our own political-economic contradictions, which differ significantly from that of the Roman Republic, as we are (to a 4th or 5th degree) historical downstream inheritors to their solutions.
An interesting pair of videos to watch regarding the economics of the late Roman Empire, particularly the nucleus of industrialization and mass production:
There is no real parallel between the late Roman Republic and contemporary America because the methods and means of production are completely different. The American empire is a technocratic empire whose power is based primarily on it’s (now declining) ability to technologically and financially overwhelm it’s opponents using multi-pronged attacks, where a military intervention may fail, bribing internal officials may work, where both those fail, years of propaganda may do the trick, etc.
The Roman Republic was, at it’s rise, successful due to it’s ability to marshall manpower from the massive surplus driven by it’s small holding citizen farmers, who had fought for and won their rights in previous civil conflicts. This more equitable than previously seen before distribution of wealth led to success on the battlefield, as the Romans were able to continue to muster capable armies even after catastrophic defeats. However, their practice of slavery would do them in, as the very free holding farmers that the Republic relied on for it’s tenacity and surplus, would slowly be replaced by slaves brought back from conquests and expansion of the frontiers, thus changing the mode of production from one of primarily farmers to a slave economy, which was much more inefficient from a calorie per acre standpoint, but much more profitable for the noble class of slavers.
This very contradiction is what propelled the political rise of Caesar, as he was able to learn from Cincinnatus and Sulla, both elected dictators who were unable or unwilling to consolidate power, to recognize and play both sides of this political-economic divide. To the slavers, he would promise slaves from his conquests, and to the now dispossessed farmers he would promise land reform and bread. These two are things are, of course, at political-economic odds with each other. One way to temporarily resolve this contradiction then, was to assume a permanent dictatorship and use the military to dictate terms to both classes. This, of course, then eventually lends to its own set of contradictions, and the history of Rome after the Republic is primarily one of inequality, technological stagnation, hardship, and perpetual civil war between different military factions. Imperial Rome spends much more time fighting Romans than it does anyone else.
The U.S. has toyed back and forth between being openly imperialistic or not. However, it has much different material forces at play, with significant bureaucratic and technological investment. Imo, we have already been at a point where Congress essentially defers to the Presidential agenda since about 2000.
However, until we actually fight a war with a near-peer power, the affects of these contradictions will be suffered primarily by the poor. The primary contradiction clearly is between our manufacturing power and financial power, and if we are no longer able to maintain the technological edge that contradiction will have to be resolved one way or another, and that is where America will, at the moment, likely break towards an imperial system.
Thanks for the write up. Lots to take in
No problem. I am personally not a huge fan of cross-societal historical comparisons when they aren’t of the same time period, as political forces that seem similar are ultimately different based on their methods of production.
There are certainly lessons to be learned from understanding the end of the Roman Republic, but part of the reason that it went the way it did was to solve the political-economic contradictions that existed within Roman society particularly. Alot of the same historical forces are certainly at play in the U.S. but how they manifest themselves and play out will be particular to our own political-economic contradictions, which differ significantly from that of the Roman Republic, as we are (to a 4th or 5th degree) historical downstream inheritors to their solutions.
An interesting pair of videos to watch regarding the economics of the late Roman Empire, particularly the nucleus of industrialization and mass production:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5uqPlOAH85o
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E5HDQUuI6_E
I found YouTube links in your comment. Here are links to the same videos on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Link 1:
Link 2: