I thought I would favor you with a very interesting discussion of the assassination of Julius Caesar.
The Rest is History is the podcast of two historians who are absolutely my first go-to guys for people who want to know what is what when it comes to ancient history and, in particular, to the Fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of an authoritarian autocratic regime in its place: Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook. Holland’s book RUBICON is an excellent telling (by a crackerjack writer) of that fall and of the world-altering effects of it had on all subsequent Roman (and therefore global) history:
“How many ages hence / Shall this our lofty scene be acted over / In states unborn and accents yet unknown!” (Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene 1).
In this most consequential of election years in US history, as a tyrant and criminal stands a good chance of seizing permanent power over the most colossal military machine in history and aims to turn it into his personal Praetorian guard, loyal to him alone, Shakespeare’s question is more relevant than ever.
We have never been in such grave danger. And one of the countless dangers we face if we throw away our democracy and hand it to a thug like Trump will be ever shifting rule at the hands of the violent, whether that violence is inflicted by an autocrat like Trump, or by a succession of assassins and barrack emperors bent on seizing and holding that autocratic power for themselves. Once the power to rule is taken from a people that respects the rule of law and the peaceful transition of power and becomes a prize fought over by a few rich and brutal thugs, it will matter little which thug wins. When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.
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4 Responses
Yeah. Besides voting I don’t know what effective action I can take. If we don’t, that thug, whose actions are a direct replay of Hitler’s rise to power in Germany, will turn us into the Disunited States of Fascism.
Vote Forward, https://votefwd.org, organizes everyday citizens to write non-partisan letters to encourage people to vote, and that can include historically non- or unlikely-voting groups, or Democratic-leaning (but the letters must be strictly non-partisan). They have states that show they can move voters enough to change a close election.
Over the last month I have been reading fairly slowly the history of Israel by reading the four books of Kings (1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings) – reading them as what they are, political history. I’m now approaching Ahab – and thinking of the revolt of Jeroboam – instigated by the “be tough” attitude of Rehoboam. It has been fascinating – and a bit chilling.
And thank you for this posting. I’m about halfway through listening to it. Reading Shakespeare’s play was gripping drama; this thing makes you think about these people as people. And that is part of what I am trying to do in reading the books of the Kings. I was thinking of people like Zimri. Kills Elah – and reigns 7 days.
So easy to read the Bible simply for what it teaches us … well, religiously, I suppose. It has been quite something to read it about people, human beings.