The Storm Before The Storm-The Beginning Of The End Of The Roman Republic  

                         THE STORM AFTER THE STORM—The Beginning Of The End of The Roman Republic

By Mike Duncan Copyright 2017

Public Affairs Hachette Book Group, ISBN 978-1-61039-721 (Hardcover)

            Just as many current historians now view the geo-political results of WWI as seeding WWII, Mr. Duncan, a popular history podcaster (“The History of Rome”), illustrates how the Roman “social” civil wars between 130 and 79 BC sowed the ground for the “caesarian” civil wars of 44 to 27 BC which resulted in the end of the Roman Republic and the creation of the Roman Empire.

            This book is obviously intended to answer Mr. Duncan’s podcast participants most pressing, and frequent, questions:  “While producing The History of Rome I was asked the same questions over and over again. Is America Rome? Is the United States following a similar historical trajectory? If so where does the US stand on the Roman timeline?”

            We can say “obviously” because Mr. Duncan’s book is replete with historical parallels between the decline of the Roman Republic and what we have witnessed here in the United States since at least the 1980s:

                          Two parties—in the Roman republic the Plebians who controlled the popularly elected Roman Assembly and the Optimates who controlled the Roman aristocratic Senate—constantly using whatever legal means, and sometimes illegal means—to repeal or block the other parties legislation resulting in an accumulation of grave socio-economic problems that are never resolved—particularly the constantly increasing gross inequality in the distribution of the wealth accumulated by the Roman Republic between plebs and optimates:

                        The afore mentioned gridlock over decades “provoking populare demagogues” who surrounded themselves with armed “gangs” of supporters ostensibly “for protection” but routinely used for intimidation of opponents;

                        The aforementioned gridlock resulting in the Roman executive  branch—the Consuls—ruling by decree—i.e. the Roman republic equivalent of “executive orders; “

                        Mob assaults on Senators and Assemblymen—including in the Forum and Senate and Assembly chambers;

                        Gerrymandering of the Assembly (organized like an electoral college in which each geographically and ethnically defined “tribe” cast its vote in the Assembly as a unit, each tribe with one vote) by manipulating who qualified to be a member of each tribe:

                        Continuous engagement in “foreign wars”—particularly in Roman “Asia” (our Near East) and the Middle East which constantly drained the Republics financial resources and attention from addressing its socio-economic problems;

                        Only the wealthiest Romans (or those willing to accumulate massive debt) held public office as over time campaigns for office became more fierce at all levels and consequently more expensive;

                        In the final decades of the Republic roman politics being dominated by powerful families whose members over decades held or competed for high office—e.g. the families of The Marius’s, The Gracchi, The Pompeans, The Scipios, the Sullans, etc.

            Sound “all too familiar?”

            And just as scary as all of the aforementioned historical parallels between the last decades of the Roman Republic and recent decades in American politics is Mr. Duncan’s answer “where does the US stand on the roman timeline”—especially since at this time 85% of our nation’s wealth is owned by just 20% of its population?

            The answer is the Roman “social civil wars” commencing around 130 BC occurred at just about the 250 year mark of second roman republic (counting from 390 BC when the first republic was reconstituted after the Gauls sacked Rome.)

            And what year is 2023 since the founding of the United States republic in 1788?  235.

            A common current trope now—particularly among audiobook historians—is that history cannot actually repeat itself because time is like a flowing river in which one can never step into the same water.

            But as we all know a river also cuts a permanent “bed” and pathway through the land over which the river flows.  And humans in general, and American politicians in particular, can, and do, step into the same spot in the river bed of time with profoundly disappointing frequency,