Can't figure out how to edit posts, so I'm just posting this as a comment.
Harris' article centers around drawing parallels between Roman and American reactions following terrorist attacks on major market centers.
Following a well planned, highly coordinated attack on the Roman port at Ostia by a non-governmental alliance of "pirates," Pompey the Great used this as an opportunity to both illegally consolidate an illegal level of power, as well as commit most of the republic's resources to an unprecedented military build up. The "pirates" were eliminated swiftly, but Pompey's military power and special privileges remained. Pompey elected to linger in the colonies, establishing puppet regimes he used to great measures personal wealth. Using similarly manipulative and illegal tactics, Julius Caesar would overcome Pompey in a struggle that effectively ended the the republican tradition in Rome.
Harris makes the argument that the increasing levels of executive power following 9/11 mirror the process by which Rome's republic crumbled into despotism. He specifically points to the "temporary" suspension of long held rights and ideals (with popular consent) as the most foreboding parallel.
Can't figure out how to edit posts, so I'm just posting this as a comment.
ReplyDeleteHarris' article centers around drawing parallels between Roman and American reactions following terrorist attacks on major market centers.
Following a well planned, highly coordinated attack on the Roman port at Ostia by a non-governmental alliance of "pirates," Pompey the Great used this as an opportunity to both illegally consolidate an illegal level of power, as well as commit most of the republic's resources to an unprecedented military build up. The "pirates" were eliminated swiftly, but Pompey's military power and special privileges remained. Pompey elected to linger in the colonies, establishing puppet regimes he used to great measures personal wealth. Using similarly manipulative and illegal tactics, Julius Caesar would overcome Pompey in a struggle that effectively ended the the republican tradition in Rome.
Harris makes the argument that the increasing levels of executive power following 9/11 mirror the process by which Rome's republic crumbled into despotism. He specifically points to the "temporary" suspension of long held rights and ideals (with popular consent) as the most foreboding parallel.