Comparing Ancient Rome And The United States

I seem to see it more every time I look at what we have become. We are more like the ancient Romans than we suspect.  The first and most obvious thing we have to admit to is Rome was the most powerful and dominant power of its time and so are we, even though we seem to be slipping somewhat in this area. There weren’t many countries who wanted to take on the Romans and with good cause. There are many cases of superior forces attacking the Romans only to be destroyed. One of the advantages the Romans had was their weapons. They had the most advanced weapons of their time and they had uniformity in their weapons. Their soldiers were all trained using the same weapons so if one lost a weapon he could pick up one on the battle field and use it the way he was trained. Most other armies had an assortment of different weapons. The U.S. Army overall has the best weapons, with a few exceptions here and there and probably has even better weapons than we know about which it would use if necessary.

 In a book about ancient Rome the author mentions the fact that the Roman Empire was about the same size as the United States is now. This is rather an odd coincidence. The ancient Romans were a global power which influenced the world just as we are today. One of the things we both seem to share is embarrassing public figures. The Romans used to read out loud things famous people and public officials did which were wrong. We do the same thing with our scandal sheets and news reports. Both societies seemed to enjoy humiliating those in the public spotlight. If we were to examine this trait from strictly a psychological view point we might have to conclude both cultures enjoyed watching the important people being taken down a peg, because it made them feel superior in some way. The Romans felt they were destined to rule the world. They went out and conquered countries, but for the most part absorbed them into the empire which improved them. We also seem to feel we should rule the world but not necessarily by military force, but by financial force.

The Romans were probably the most advanced country in the world in medical advances at the time. Roman medical books were still being used a thousand years later. Roman doctors had learned how to perform certain types of brain operations and their doctors became so good that many of the medical hand tools doctors use today look almost exactly the same as the Roman ones. Roman hospitals were the best in their day and the Romans recognized the fact some patients with communicable diseases had to be quarantined and had special areas in the hospital to keep them in. The United States is a country where the medicine is so advanced people from all over the world come here for serious operations. We have the most advanced medical devices and are on the cutting edge of new techniques in operations. We are the modern equivalent of ancient Rome when it comes to medical care.

The Romans had a welfare system. They would distribute bread to the needy and baked many thousands of loafs of bread every day. We have a welfare system where we distribute food stamps and sometime food and cash to the needy.

Rome started out as a kingdom, but King Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was overthrown and Rome became a Republic. When it was a republic it was led by two consuls who were elected by a senate. Rome became an Empire when Augustus Caesar took over as dictator. The United States started as part of a kingdom but gained its independence and became a democracy which is close to being a republic. As years have gone by the United States has become very secretive and many things are going on which the public is not privy to. Are we on the verge of becoming an empire?

The ancient Romans were big on slavery. Anyone who could afford to have a slave had one. The southern part of the United States had slaves and still had them when most of the western world no longer did. The difference between the Romans and us is we fought a war to do away with slavery and did.
The Romans were great builders and engineers. Some of their accomplishments are outstanding. Their use of aqueducts and the engineering that went into them which allowed water to be transported many miles was incredible. There are many stories of Roman engineers starting tunnels through mountains from both ends and meeting in the middle and only being off an inch or two. We have a hard time doing this today. We are incredible builders and built the world’s first skyscrapers. Some of the dams we have built are marvels. Mount Rushmore will still be there hundreds of thousands of years from now when everything else in this country is gone.

Just about everyone knows about the moral decay in Rome and many blame it for the downfall of the empire. Many people all over the world are saying this is what is happening to us. There is no doubt we have done some terrible things such as starting wars by making false statements, but most Americans are good people. Unfortunately it is hard to say the same about some of our leaders. While most of the Romans became decadent and collapsed. The vast majority of Americans are ordinary hard working people so if we collapse someday it will not be the fault of the average American, but of our leaders and lobbyists who steer this country not considering the welfare of its citizens, but the enrichment of those in power both in the government and in business.