Are We Rome?

I take more than a passing interest in the Roman empire. As a student of the Christian scriptures, much of which came about inside the confines of the Roman empire's zenith of power, I have spent some time reading about things Roman. That reading, combined with a couple of decade's exposure to voices decrying the United States of America as another Rome, provides me with a filter through which I take in much of current events. I do ask, with more than academic interest, How is the United States similar to Rome?

Cullen Murphy takes up this question in his 2007 book Are We Rome?: The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America. Before beginning the read, I took in the back cover, where we are told that Murphy served as managing editor of the Atlantic Monthly. The bread and butter of the Atlantic (which has shed its adjective of late) is the cross of journalism and historiography. The magazine (to which I have a subscription, given by a friend) attempts to dig deeper than present phenomena to get at the significance and effect of diachronic patterns on current events. It caters to hyper-educated yuppie elites, who use words like "diachronic" and "historiography" without looking them up. It assumes that the reader will be equally familiar with names like Cicero, Sagan, and Schwarzkopf.

I walked into Are We Rome? with expectations that the book would, with suitable punctuation of Ivy League humor, offer a clear but thorough comparison of America and Rome. I expected that it would refrain from the trite conclusions of the talking heads (e.g. since both have the strongest military forces of their times, they are equal) and pursue deeper similarities and differences. And I assumed, as I have come to expect from the Atlantic, that it would shy away from instructing us to do anything, and remain happy just to describe the landscape with academic distance.

On all three counts I was pleasantly surprised. Murphy displays his exhaustive research without exhausting the reader. He cuts through the normal accusations and platitudes about imperial powers and gets to the marrow of both empires. And in the epilogue he makes a few suggestions for how Americans can use the comparison with Rome to avoid what might become a similar fate.

Had I read them on their own, I would have objected that Murphy's lessons smack of familiar liberal hobby-horses. But my cynicism has been stayed by his compelling arguments and generally tight logic. In fact, I think they're worth hearing, even if one doesn't pick up the book (spoiler alert!). What can Americans learn from the example of Rome?

1. Become aware of the wider world, and start by learning another language (and stop wringing your hands over "English as the official language" concerns).

2. Recognize what government can do well, and use it for that; recognize what the private sector can do well, and use it for that (don't absolutize one or the other).

3. Think in terms of centuries rather than the next episode of American Idol.

4. Assimilate immigrants by affording them every opportunity (don't make them the dreaded Other).

5. Give the military fewer tasks and theaters (don't micro-police the entire globe).

If you're convinced that the United States could never diminish, fade, or fall, then move on to the next thing on your reading list. But if you wonder whether America could follow in the footsteps of Rome, the Ottomans, the Mongols, and the Brits, I recommend Cullen Murphy's book.

Thanks to Megan for recommending this book to me.

~ emrys