Our 16 year old daughter is reading Roots of American Order and writing a daily essay. Here's her third essay on the book, regarding Roman government forms evident in America's founding:
The United States is a country like no other. Founded on ideals and principles to uphold it for an age. But, as we have already partly seen, none of these ideas are original. With the creation of our nation, its fathers were at liberty to choose from history the most excellent ideas, and blend them together to form a new government. A quilt of the best colors. A collection of the finest stock in the world. And there were plenty of examples to learn from, negatively or positively. For a religious foundation, our fathers embraced the Christian faith, that Truth which was born in Israel. They knew that no nation could survive without religion, and without religious freedom. They looked to men of Greece as masters of indispensable arts such as rhetoric and writing. But in constructing the infant government, they turned their minds to Rome.
Countries rise and countries fall. But surely no country before the United States had ever experienced such a glorious rise as Rome. The nation began as a Conqueror, eclipsing nearby countries at first, and then sweeping out to cover a wider expanse of land than had ever been united under one banner. And under that banner, justice and peace and virtue ruled supreme. The golden age of Rome seemed to surpass the glory of the morning sun. It is after the Roman government (at this time) that the United States government is largely modeled. Our president fills much the same role as theirs did. (Except they didn't call him a president.) And our Senate is very similar to the Roman Senate. There are many differences between the two governments, but when the United States was being formed, Rome was the rough pattern to be followed.
Sadly, Rome's golden age of about 13 years is the only part we wish to emulate. Because in the lull that followed such a grand world conquest, the government and the people began to slide down the road to the fall of the country. This was brought about by desire. Desire of two particular things.
The first is power. Thirst for power was the fatal sin committed by the governing officials, and it brought the country to its knees. Corrupt emperors made themselves out to be gods, and demanded fear, instead of trust. Distrust reigned supreme in the Roman courts, and assassinations were not uncommon. The emperors and the senators distrusted each other and the other officials, and the good that could be wrought by good government was effectively stalled.
Rising parallel with this thirst for power was the desire for pleasure among the People. Bored with peace, they created their own immoral activities, which shoved the old Roman Virtue out of the picture, and murdered the honor of the nation. There was nothing to hold them together- no religion other than the worship of Jupiter and his accomplices (and that was swiftly giving way to worship of the emperor), no regard for each other, no regard for the nation as a whole. With these two vices growing stronger, Rome was doomed to eventual destruction. The desires for power and pleasure fed each other steadily, working in a circular motion. For with the people getting harder to control, the government became harsher. With the government grasping more power, the people did nothing, since they only cared for their personal comfort. It was a sad, slow decline. And the methods sound familiar to us in this day and age.
But when the United States was crafted, Rome lent its best example to our aid. And the systems we follow today are due largely to its influence. The modern world would be nothing without the ancient world. We know more now, because we know history. Examples are there for us to emulate or scorn. The founding fathers knew this well, and put their knowledge to good use, setting up a country to forge a new course, while honoring and learning from the history of man.
