Rome-usa Comparisons

[Guest Londiniumishome]

hi everyone this is my first post on this forum so here goes...

 

I'm interested in the parallels between the roman empire and the american empire (US)

History does appear to repeat itself.

for example the US has defeated its rival soviet union like rome defeatd Carthage.

 

US is currently at war against "barbarians" who do not share its culture, religious views etc.

president bush has declared that america will bring light to the darkest corners of the world (sounds familar dosen't it?) Just as Rome wanted and did as its time as the worlds only superpower.

 

Bush perhaps delclaring himself a dictator for life? Though i don't believe hes a Julius caesar whatsoever

 

whatdoes everyone think about this?

please discuss

[roman wargamer]

although there is many parallel.

Rome history can not be repeated.

it is to simple,the US constitution have term limit on president.

and the coup de etat is next to impossible.

but in many aspect they have many simillarity.

[Fafnir]

While it is easier to compare Napoleon's Empire to Hitler's, or the Mongol Empire to the Czar's Empire (Russia), there may be several instances where history repeats itself in the United States from Rome. Perhaps our Manifest Destiny to reach the Pacific Ocean while we were in our exapansion era could be compared to the exapansion of the Romans?

 

And as primuspilus would say, welcome to the forum Londiniumishome.

[DanM]

There are some similarities. Rome was big on sharing the Roman government with the rest of the world. GWB wants to give the rest of the world an American-style democracy.

 

Durings its rise, the Roman Empire had an unmatched military. Their discipline & professionalism set them apart from any army they faced until they fought the Parthians. Ditto for the USA right now. Due to American technological superiority, the armies of many nations can be effectively destroyed before they engage the American army.

 

The Romans looted the newly won provinces they won. Leading citizens would govern provinces and loot the populations without mercy. America has big multi-national corporations that promote slave labor wages and pollute the environment so we can buy 6 dollar shirts and cheap televisions at Wal-Mart.

 

Still, I think the similarities are more symbolic. The Romans were brutal on a scale not comparable to anything in the USA. The Romans did not have the ACLU or Amnisty International. They did not have live telecasts and a public that could become outraged and ruin the careers of its political leaders. The Romans did more than pay slave wages too. They actually bought and sold human lives as if they were cattle. Massacres were an acceptable strategy. Decimation of local populations was an acceptable tool in foreign policy. The poor died of neglect, disease and starvation. The poor would abandon babies they could not feed. Etc.

 

If civil liberties were suspended, the government was turned over to dictatorship and America became intensely militaristic, then maybe we could be a modern day version of Rome. Until that time, however, I think any comparison is a reach.

[longbow]

Does the USA have any auxilliary troops?i know the British Army still have a Gurkha regiment,anything like that in American Army?of course u could call the whole British Army a USA auxilliary.lol.L

[Octavian]

well there is the active military...then some branches have reserve units from all over the country which amount to a very large force...on top of that there is the national guard from every state, both of which can be activated at any time to serve full time.

[Fafnir]

I suppose you could call our mercenaries in Iraq auxiliaries... though the government calls them "Volunteer Troops" now. Heh.

[longbow]

I think mercs are illegal in Britain not sure

[longbow]

But no foreign troops as part of USA military?

[Jimbow]

Not mercenaries as such, just bodyguards, security specialists and consultants (ahem ) Roughly 150,000 of them. In fact, so many they outnumber any coalition force aside from the US.

 

Security Companies Doing Business in Iraq

 

Article

 

But I guess you could call hired commandos from Chile 'auxilia'? Actually, technically, no. They're privately hired, not government hired. Oh, there are/were also ex-secret police from the South African apartheid days there. Lovely

 

Chilean commandos

[Adelais Valerius]

I think the comparision between Rome and USA isn't simply the fact that they both fought Barbarians(which I believe is quite harsh to call the Iraqi people, which I believe are victims of an oppressive region in general..but thats for another forum).I think the style of government is quite similar in terms of the Republic and its use of senators and consuls. Parliament in Britain uses more of the debate aspect, which was used in the forum between senators. This seems more effective is my opinion, because senators in the US government tend not to get equal say in Legislation. Topics aren't debated by all, just the top senators of each party, and parties generally vote together, leaving the "ingenious person with a great idea" factor out of the equation. Long gone are the days where a person can bring a groundbreaking idea to the senate floor and be heard with an honest ear, which I so greatly miss from the Roman Empire(I'm not saying that everyone had an equal say, but from the standpoint of how things are SUPPOSED to be run, there was room for things such as that).

[Ursus]

I find most of the comparisons a bit overstated. Usually they are advocated by those who see Rome as an immoral imperialist menace and who would like to paint modern America as such.

 

I find parallels with Carthaginian history and international economic strategy a little more compelling, but only a little.

 

As far as American government, there are a lot of parallels drawn to ancient Rome. But the American colonials were ex British whose immediate experience was with the British system of government. And so we have an upper house and a lower house like the British parliament, and our president a median between a king and prime minister. Our legal system is very much part of the English speaking common law tradition as well.

[M. Porcius Cato]

I'm not a fan of the game where we find random similarities between the US and Rome. BUT, I think there are clear influences of Roman literature and civilization on the American republic.

 

For fun, here's a bit of real graffiti from Philadelphia (story HERE):