Reliving Rome: The Societal Gambit
/“Divide and rule, the politician cries;
Unite and lead, is watchword of the wise.”
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), Gedichte (1886)
With the recent battle cries from African Americans for justice, it seemed more than appropriate to discuss the growing threat against all races, genders and ethnicities in the United States. However, as a politician would desire: divide to rule. Certainly prejudice is a living entity in the United States, and as long as there are humans ruling this planet we will forever cope with the ignorance of this plague.
{image} Video Footage of Officer Michael Slager planting evidence at the shooting of walter scott (2015)
First, to address my own opinions on the current turmoil across the country of unarmed black men being killed without conscious, this is a dangerous time of volatile actions. It serves no purpose in killing police officers in retribution for lives already tragically lost. Blood only leads to further blood and little can be mended thereafter. The lessons of the great American Civil War have been clearly lost in our educational systems and the only lingering memories of this Great War are found in the bitter hatred kept quietly in the slumbering American consciousness.
Just because African American slavery ended, woman got the right to vote or own property and Native Americans can open casinos and facilitate their own governing bodies; does not institute automatic societal tolerance. If only it worked that way, but for so many of the arrogant if it’s ignored it’s not an issue. Similar to public school textbooks on the subject of Vietnam, good luck finding transparency.
Secondly, I do not buy into either political party because they are both equally irresponsible in their words, actions and causes. Meaning I listen to individuals not groups or larger entities, there are simply too many flies in the political soup. Often we lump all these stooges together, where there may be a voice or two of reason. But I do not buy into the religion of politics, they can sell their backbiting elsewhere. The need the opposition is vital to the political machine, otherwise they wouldn’t hold so much influence over our country and lives as they have for so many decades. Dividing us is valuable for many reasons.
Figure 1: Pastis, Stephan. "Pearls Before Swine." GoComics. January 9, 2015. Accessed January 20, 2015. http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine/2015/01/09.
Moving forward let’s address the topic question, what is a police state exactly?
Is it the images of heavily armored and armed local police, standing menacingly over unarmed civilians? Or is it perhaps the militarized police tanks or military grade weaponry? Not entirely, although it is a product of a deeper and more sinister agenda.
Reading from Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary there are two running definitions of a police state. They are as follows:
Police State
: a country in which the activities of the people are strictly controlled by the government with the help of a police force
: a political unit characterized by repressive governmental control of political, economic, and social life usually by an arbitrary exercise of power by police and especially secret police in place of regular operation of administrative and judicial organs of the government according to publicly known legal procedures[1]
The reach of a police state is far beyond simple men in armored vehicles or trained professional killers, it is in the laws and in the fine print of our governing bodies. The secret lists, suspicion of guilt without due process and the wiretapping of American citizen communications. It is in the sections of legislation that deny citizens the right to choose their paths, something as juvenile as attempting to ban extra-large cups of soda to the seriousness of safely parenting our children as we desire without state infringing upon us. How about a government who can step in and force your child, despite their age or personal wishes, into Chemotherapy for their health care?
These are only a few examples of what the power a government can yield when it becomes corrupted, given too much power. The fear is no longer of the people by the government but of the governing body by the people.
In the beginning the “…American constitutions and federal constitution of 1787 incorporated what elite Federalists such as John Adams and the authors of the Federalist Papers considered to be the features that gave the Roman constitution a stability missing from the faction-ridden city-states of ancient Greece and medieval Italy: a strong chief magistrate and a bicameral legislature with a powerful senate.”[2]
However, as time went on the constitution took on traits of the “Ancient Saxon Constitution” of England, such as limiting terms of men in office. With the oversight of populists and radicals of the time, the U.S. constitution took on a hybrid of traits soaked in the Roman views of senate and constitutional values. Borrowing from the Roman Empire’s earlier beginnings, prior to the transference to a democracy, the United States was then born as a republic. “The very name republic was a version of the Latin res publica.”[3] Other countries also borrowed from the Roman Empire, such as France focusing on similar aspects of the legendary fallen empire.
Figure 2: "Gold Aureus Commemorating the Consecration of the Emperor Hadrian. Rome, Italy. AD 138."[4]
The interesting part of this historical insight is also of Rome’s notorious police state they acquired over the course of their reign. During Emperor Publius Aelius Hadrianus (AD 76 - AD 138), the empire flourished for a short time. Hadrian was considered an enlightened leader, graciously forgiving national debt and temporarily halting the previous economic crisis brought forth by former leaders. However, things turned rapidly sour for the reign of Hadrian.
“Under Hadrian we also see the development of a system of secret police and informers. This system functioned in much the same way as the Gestapo and kept going until it was changed by Diocletian. The fact that an emperor as enlightened as Hadrian introduced this system speaks volumes about the state of the empire at this stage and the inevitability of the system coming about.”[5] The militarization of local police forces also established themselves under Hadrian’s reign and the growing control of the people took precedence over the Roman society. The further deteriorating empire had just begun to fall, and little could be done to stop it.
“The over-consumption and pampering of the Roman citizens during the imperial period also created other problems. It has often been suggested that the increasingly materialistic and greedy lifestyles that many Romans lead began to affect them ‘spiritually’ and intellectually. A sense of futility seemed to be permeating society. The Roman ‘spirit’ which had conquered the world was becoming increasingly lethargic. During the “pax romana” it seemed that peace, comfort and security took priority above political freedom and trying to solve the problems which were blighting their civilisation.”[6]
Closely it can be compared to our current state of mind here in the United States, of a sleeping giant awaiting the final straw to break. The continuing disillusionment of our people and the blind eye that has been turned to the recklessness of our government is both ignorant and dangerous. As we continue into this series regarding the growing police state in the United States, will review and study the warning signs of a dying civilization.
Whether or not it’s popular or leaves the reader with a warm and fuzzy feeling, neither matter. History is necessary: to know where we have been, where we are headed and where we desire to be.
[1] "Police State." Merriam-Webster. January 1, 2015. Accessed January 19, 2015. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/police state.
[2] Lind, Michael. "The Second Fall of Rome." The Wilson Quarterly 24, no. 1 (Winter, 2000): 46-59, http://search.proquest.com/docview/197237060?accountid=12085.
[3] Lind, Michael. "The Second Fall of Rome." The Wilson Quarterly 24, no. 1 (Winter, 2000): 50, http://search.proquest.com/docview/197237060?accountid=12085.
[4] "Gold Aureus Commemorating the Consecration of the Emperor Hadrian. Rome, Italy. AD 138." British Museum. 2015. Accessed January 20, 2015. http://www.britishmuseum.org/learning/schools_and_teachers/resources/all_resources/resource_roman_empire.aspx.
[5] Fenner, Julian. "To What Extent Were Economic Factors to Blame for the Deterioration of the Roman Empire in the Third Century A.D?" Economic Deterioration of Rome in the Third Century AD. 2015. Accessed January 20, 2015. http://www.roman-empire.net/articles/article-018.html.
[6] Fenner, Julian. "To What Extent Were Economic Factors to Blame for the Deterioration of the Roman Empire in the Third Century A.D?" Economic Deterioration of Rome in the Third Century AD. 2015. Accessed January 20, 2015. http://www.roman-empire.net/articles/article-018.html.