comes the next augustus?
america’s fate?
You hear it all of the time. “The end of America as we know it is here.” “This country is not what it used to be.” “America will not be the superpower it once was.” “The age of America is over.” “We are too deep in debt ever to get out.”
Has the next Augustus come? Is America a retiring superpower, a bit player on the world stage now? And if the next Augustus is here, who is that, or what is it? How long will it take to know they are truly here?
But Who Was Augustus?
Caesar Augustus was the first.
Emperor of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire succeeded the Roman Republic, a republican form of government upon which our country’s founders modeled the United States of America.
Biographies argue that Caesar Augustus was one of human history's most influential and controversial leaders. He waged massive wars and won. He was a diplomat, an autocrat, and a reformer. Widespread political slander used to discredit and demean political opponents helped Augustus to establish the Roman Empire. His wife so loved him that it is rumored (unconfirmed, of course) that she ultimately fatally poisoned him.
The parallels between Augustus’ time and ours today are remarkable. Senatorial investigations of obvious crimes (Octavian’s misuse of public funds) ultimately did not take any real action against the perpetrators. Tensions grew and flourished among once strong allies (Mark Antony) through the proliferation of speeches that denounced other leaders as “the enemy of the Republic” and the division of once united territories (read Red & Blue States today?).
The Roman Republic failed because of a series of civil wars that lasted over 450 years, a weakened economy marked by significant economic failures, and prolonged military campaigns that bankrupted farms, which were eventually purchased by aristocrats at significantly discounted prices.
Weakened by these civil wars, a few Roman leaders came to dominate the Roman political arena so that they could exceed the limitations of the Republic and eventually form a new imperial monarchy. These limitations included the ability to command military forces in Rome to obstruct political opponents who previously had been guaranteed freedom from “coercion” while in Rome itself. Maintaining public order was the excuse of the day. Over time, constitutional government was dissolved or suspended for extended periods, often under the auspices of a military emergency.
Citizens who now had nothing and suffered economically from losing their jobs and assets voted for those candidates who offered them the most but delivered even less.
Widespread indebtedness by the average Roman citizen became so severe and pervasive that the citizens, in open revolt, demanded relief from their Senators, who refused and failed to address their economic plight. These Senators were replaced by regional dictators who took control of the state at the expense of democratic voters.
Attempted laws that would have limited the amount of land anyone could own led Tiberius Gracchus to impeach his fellow tribune, Marcus Octavius. In turn, Tiberius was assassinated when he stood for re-election but was succeeded by his brother, Gaius. Gaius Gracchus sought to weaken the Senate, which his brother opposed, to strengthen the democratic forces of Rome. To expand his numbers, Gaius proposed giving citizenship to Rome’s Italian allies and was himself assassinated in the process.
In the succeeding years, Roman armies would be sent to put down competing governments, only to lose those wars. A constitutional movement, using peaceful means initially, rose to improve the plight of the various classes. After several failures, the movement’s leaders chose to use any means necessary to accomplish their goals. Small towns became hotbeds of agrarian agitation.
Violence, led by Julius Caesar, ensured the passage of desired legislative initiatives. More trusted alliances failed, and more political corruption and violence swept Rome, which by then had become the capital of a world empire.
Julius Caesar wanted to guarantee his control over Rome’s government. He did so by increasing his authority while diminishing the authority of Rome’s other political institutions. He filled the Senate with his partisans and imposed censorial powers. Representatives of the dictator replaced representatives of the people.
Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, stabbed by Marcus Brutus in the Senate Chamber, witnessed by Senators who resented Caesar for depriving them of their power and prestige. The Senators were fearful that Caesar could soon become invulnerable to their influence and was rapidly becoming the absolute ruler of Rome.
Despite Julius Caesar’s assassination, the powers of the Senate and the Assembly remained diminished under the successor leadership of Caesar’s adopted son, Octavian, and his friend Mark Antony of Cleopatra fame. Octavia and Antony would come to battle each other in a tremendous and legendary naval battle that Antony would lose. When Antony committed suicide with Cleopatra, Octavian became the new ruler of Rome. As he was not called to his face, Augustus, the Exalted One, thus became the first full-fledged and unchallenged ruler of the new Roman Empire.
The Roman Republic & U.S. Similarities
There are many similarities between the Roman Republic and the U.S. government today.
The Roman Republic began by overthrowing the Roman monarchy of Tarquin, the seventh and last King of Rome (509 BC). The United States began with the overthrow of the British monarchy of King George III (1776 AD).
The Roman Republic was governed by a complex but unwritten constitution centered on the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances. The United States is governed by a relatively simple written constitution that is also centered on these principles.
The Roman Republic saw its dominance grow with the tremendous expansion of its territory, including areas now governed by France, Greece, Northern Africa, and other Mediterranean countries. The United States saw its dominance grow with the addition of the Louisiana Purchase, California, Alaska, and Hawaii.
The Roman Republic was ruled by a Senate of aristocratic citizens and an Assembly of more commoners. The United States is governed by a Senate and a House of Representatives, whether they are aristocratic in any form or not. Both governments were centered around committees and councils of people and specific interest groups.
The stability of the Roman Republic depended on Roman society’s structure. In contrast, the stability of the United States relies on the rule of law rather than its societal structure.
Like the Roman Republic, the United States has suffered a significantly weakened economy in recent memory. Property is transferring hands at unfathomable discounts, and the poor economic plight of our citizens is certainly a matter of public record.
Critics of previous administrations like the Bush 43 Administration argue that our leaders dramatically reduced our democratic rights in the name of a national emergency – the 9/11 attacks on New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania, cradles of American democracy. The resulting Patriot Act, for example. President Trump would argue that it was the unwarranted surveillance of the Obama Administration and the bugging of his Trump Tower on New York’s Fifth Avenue.
Widespread poverty and record joblessness have led in recent months to unstable markets and stressed communities around the nation. Thirty-eight million Americans are unemployed because of a global pandemic. It is argued that we would not have been so poor if our leaders had better managed that pandemic.
Civil wars are being threatened by people on both sides of the political aisle over nationalism, vote-by-mail initiatives, abortion rights, taxes, healthcare reform, illegal immigration, religious preferences, gay rights, marriage between two people, and even one former president’s birth certificate. Guns are openly banished at presidential appearances and other protests, like the recent demonstration at the state capitol in Michigan or the earlier tragedy in Charlottesville.
It would seem that the similarities between the fall of the Roman Republic and today’s United States of America are eerily evident.
Thomas invites you to read:
We Can Do Better America
Comes the Next Augustus?
So, is the next Augustus here?
Not from my perspective. Yet. But I do hear knocking on the door.
Indeed, ominous signs tell us that the times may be right for Augustus to come along if we do not address the fundamental and structural elements that made his rise possible.
Americans should look back to our founding principles and ask themselves if it might not be better to recommit ourselves to addressing history lessons while we still can.
From this perspective, those principles should include:
Using diplomacy and statesmanship to disengage America from battles it does not need to fight in conflicts that have no clear and present danger or objectives
Building a strong military to keep our homeland safe and secure from those who would do America harm
Putting our fiscal house back into order by living within our means, not racking up more than the $25 trillion we owe today
Empowering individuals by opposing discrimination of any kind and by increasing the ability to earn an honest living by reducing over-burdensome regulations and promoting open and free trade with global trading partners
Increasing America’s entrepreneurial spirit through free enterprise and innovation
Controlling the size of government so that it works for us rather than against us
and practicing the spirit and letter of the three documents that make us Americans: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights.
This is still our time, America. But we need to protect our democracy from the Augustuses of the world now.