Trump is right about ancient Rome.

Imran Abdullah

During a meeting with Italian President Sergio Matarella, US President Donald Trump said that their countries "have a common cultural and political heritage dating back thousands of years, to ancient Rome."

Although many criticized Trump for his seemingly "illogical" statement that the United States was founded in the 18th century, the US president was already referring, in his speech he read from a paper, to a long history of inspiration and Roman influence on US founders who were well acquainted with the history of the republic. The Romanians invoked him in their mind as they built the US Republic.

New Rome
To prevent tyranny or dictatorship, ancient Rome was widely debated among the founding fathers of America in 18, and the founders praised Roman heroes who defended their government from tyranny in the country's turbulent recent days, according to blogger Paul Minni.

The history of Rome can be divided into three periods. First, there was the founding when the Roman kings ruled after the overthrow of the tyrant King Lucius Tarquinius from his noble position in 509 BC and Rome became a republic.

During this republican period, the star of Rome ascended after the conquest of Italy and conquered the Carthaginians, the Romans became the dominant power in the ancient world, and once the republic collapsed as a result of the civil war, the imperial era began. During this last period Rome was ruled by emperors until its eventual collapse.

Although it may seem strange that many Americans in the 18th century felt near the model of ancient Rome, there are many similarities between the two communities. Like Republican Romans, Americans in the 18th century were rural farmers. Roman poets such as Horace and Virgil praised the agrarian style of self-sufficiency in early America. The Romans praised the virtues of independence, patriotism and moderation, which were also the cornerstone of American society at the time of its founding.

During the European Enlightenment, the Western world was enchanted by ancient Rome and America was no exception. The prevalence of the Roman literary and political model led to numerous references to ancient Roman references and dates in the writings of American founding fathers.

The American Revolution intensified its interest in the ancient Romans and their defenses of freedom versus power, and writers and revolutionaries often resembled Rome and America. The British king has often been likened to the Roman tsar, and it is hard to find any public figure in the American revolutionary period that is not quoted from a classical author, and the heroes of the Roman Republic such as Cicero and Cato became a moral model for the founding generation of the United States.

The Roman Empire
Although the historian Edward J. Watts did not compare in his book "The Dead Republic: How Rome plunged into tyranny" "between the ancient Roman Empire and any modern or contemporary empires, readers and commentators played this role on his behalf. The author says" there is no eternal empire. It lives only as long as its citizens want it. " .

In his book, Watts presents a new history of the fall of the Roman Republic that explains the collapse of democracy in the Republic and the rise of an authoritarian Roman Empire, and considers that at the height of its glory Rome was the only democratic power in the world at the time. It was reinforced by its governing institutions, parliamentary rules and political habits such as negotiation and compromise.

But by 130 BC, Rome's leaders increasingly began to seek individual gains and block their opponents. As the imbalance grew, competition among politicians for political violence on the streets declined. Roman politics became a dangerous zero-sum game, in which the winner reaped all the gains and the losers often paid their lives.The country became the scene of devastating civil wars, and eventually the Republic fell and the Empire rose and Augustus Caesar became the first Roman emperor after the assassination of Julius Caesar.

The Dead Republic
The book presents a very detailed political history in Rome. The "Dead Republic" covers a period of approximately 300 years from 280 BC. And 27 BC. The political history of Rome and the rulers of that time and the details of the events that took place and how they affected the Republic, including the use of violence and legislation against political opponents, the Romanian army's involvement in politics and the usurpation of authorities, and the death of the Roman Republic little by little every time a political measure was abused.

The death of the republic became inevitable when ordinary citizens supported or refused to condemn figures such as Sola, Marius, Caesar, and Augustus who gradually destroyed democratic institutions. On the contrary, he considered that Augustus needed more titles and more power, and that the salvation of the people was present in the empire.

Over time, Watts shows us cracks in the republic. Because the Roman system was based on tradition and especially consensus, consensus was violated and violence was encouraged by some of the republic's men for rapid achievement.This led to a major crisis that ultimately led to a civil war that destabilized the values ​​of the republic despite its hollow outward shape, ending with Emperor Augustus.

As the political and social divide is a widespread phenomenon in modern democracies, attempts to build consensus and consensus and the absence of political compromises, which threaten a similar fate to the old Roman Republic, are becoming increasingly stubborn.