America: The New Rome?
Why it shouldn't collapse this time...
The idea of Rome never truly vanished. Its legacy of law, architecture, and governance has shaped civilizations for centuries, and no nation embraced this inheritance more consciously than the United States.
The Founding Fathers saw the Roman Republic not just as a model to emulate but as a cautionary tale. They sought to recreate its strengths while safeguarding against its weaknesses. The result was a nation deliberately designed to be the true successor of Rome; not just in form, but in substance.
From its symbols and myths to its current political systems, America carries the torch of Ancient Rome — but can it succeed where Rome ultimately failed?
The Foundations of Identity
Symbols are the lifeblood of nations, and America’s founders understood their power. The eagle, emblematic of wisdom and strength in Roman tradition, became the seal of the United States. Yet the American eagle clutches an olive branch alongside arrows, signaling a vital distinction.
Unlike Rome, whose might often overshadowed its diplomacy, America was founded with peace as a central ideal. Paradoxically, this duality of strength tempered by restraint echoes the olive branch offered by Aeneas in Virgil’s Aeneid — which, not coincidentally, is a cornerstone of Roman foundational mythology.
America built its identity around heroic figures, much like how Rome celebrated its founders and leaders.
Paul Revere’s midnight ride, though embellished for dramatic effect, became a unifying story of bravery in the face of tyranny. Similarly, George Washington’s voluntary relinquishment of power drew direct comparisons to Cincinnatus, the Roman statesman who left his plow to lead in crisis, only to return to private life.
Yet early Americans went much further than simply comparing their founders to great Romans — they in fact did as the Caesars, and made them into gods.
The Apotheosis of Washington, the fresco which adorns the inside of the U.S. Capitol dome, is one such example. It depicts Washington ascending to the heavens, draped in the purple robes of triumphant Roman generals and taking his seat alongside the gods of liberty and freedom.
In Rome as in America, these symbols and civic mythologies were not mere adornments, but moral guides. The Founders understood the power of these stories and used them to anchor America’s vision of itself as a republic dedicated to the common good, where power was a means, and not an end.
Building a Civilization
America’s physical landscape also reflects its Roman inheritance. In architecture, the influence is unmistakable — the Neoclassical movement, which gave rise to the Capitol and other landmarks, was a direct homage to Rome’s grandeur. Even Penn Station, modeled on the Baths of Caracalla, sought to imbue America’s infrastructure with a sense of timeless ambition.
But America didn’t stop at imitation. As the 20th century dawned, Neoclassicism evolved into Art Deco, a uniquely American style that retained classical symmetry while exuding the energy of an ambitious rising power. This progression — from paying homage to developing its own stylistic language — illustrates America’s ability to honor its roots while forging its own path.
Urban planning offers another parallel. The strict grid plans of American cities mirror the Roman insulae, the orderly layouts of military camps and colonies.
For Rome, these grids symbolized control and expansion — for America, they facilitated the rapid development of a growing nation. In both cases, urban design was not just practical but ideological, reflecting a vision of order and progress.
Perfecting the Republic
Of all Rome’s legacies, none looms larger than its political system. The Roman Republic’s mixed government — Consuls (monarch-like), Senate (aristocratic), and Assemblies (democratic) — inspired the American model of Presidency, Senate, and House of Representatives.
The Founding Fathers were avid students of Roman history, and sought to refine this balance of power even further.
Their innovations drew on Enlightenment thinkers like Montesquieu, who championed checks and balances, and Polybius, who analyzed Rome’s stability. Yet the Founders also recognized Rome’s fatal flaw: its inability to guard against the corruption and ambition of men. To address this, they added an independent judiciary, creating a system more resistant to tyranny than any other before it.
Crucially, however, the Founders understood that no government structure alone can preserve freedom. They believed a republic’s survival ultimately depends on the virtue of its citizens. Thomas Jefferson gave a clear warning:
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”
For this reason, figures like Cicero (who defended the Roman Republic to his death) and Washington (who embodied selfless leadership) were celebrated and upheld as models of civic responsibility.
Further, the Bill of Rights was created to guarantee freedoms Rome lacked, which would empower the American citizenry to pursue virtue on their own terms. The freedoms of speech, press, and religion were not intended to be freedoms for freedoms’ sake — they were meant to allow Americans to engage freely in rigorous thought and debate for the sake of mutual edification, achievement, and the future prosperity of the nation.
As Cicero observed, “Not to know what happened before you were born is to be a child forever.” The Founders took this to heart, ensuring that America’s people could study the past — and, in doing so, protect their future.
Will America Fall?
Rome’s fall provides a cautionary tale of corruption, overextension, and the erosion of civic virtue. America’s Founders designed their republic, in theory at least, to withstand these forces. By blending Rome’s ideals with Enlightenment thought, they built a system resilient enough to endure — granted its citizens rise to the task.
The lessons of Rome are clear: a republic lives or dies by the virtue of its citizens. The Founding Fathers did everything in their power to honor the legacy of Ancient Rome and give America the chance to fulfill the promise that Rome could not. But at the end of the day, this task falls not to America’s institutions — it falls to her people.
The torch has been passed.
The question now is whether or not America can carry it forward…
Art of the Week
Trumbull's iconic painting captures the historic moment when the Committee of Five presented their draft of the Declaration of Independence to the Continental Congress on June 28, 1776.
The five men in question — Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Sherman, and Livingston — stand front and center in the piece. Behind them, a further 37 of the 56 signatories of the Declaration are portrayed.
Interestingly, however, Trumbull also chose to paint some of the participants who refused to sign the Declaration. The most notable among them is John Dickinson, who first abstained from the vote to pass the Declaration, and then refused to sign it upon its passage.
True to the process of American mythologizing, Trumbull blends elements of both the real and the fictional. For example, he traveled to Independence Hall in Philadelphia in order to accurately depict the room the delegates met in, but then blurred reality by including them all in the room at the same time — something which never happened, since Congress changed membership and the Declaration was signed over an extended period of time.
Nevertheless, Trumbull’s work captures the spirit of the American beginnings. Somber tones and serious expressions hint at the gravity of rebellion, and the recognition of the risks and sacrifices that will be required of them if their fledgling nation is to achieve independence…
Great side by side images. All empires fall after 250 years. Let's do everything we can to help American avoid that fate.
We must carry the fire: https://yuribezmenov.substack.com/p/carry-the-fire-civilization-free-speech
Interesting discussion. I have a new movie to view one of these days. Megalopolis. It deals with this and the possible future. Should be good I hear, we shall see.