tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post267891069982283150..comments2023-10-20T05:51:51.625-04:00Comments on The THINK 3 INSTITUTE: America as Rome: as if....Samuel Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-28363172020675666192011-06-02T11:50:10.499-04:002011-06-02T11:50:10.499-04:00Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist nutcase, b...Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist nutcase, but let's not forget that a number of the founders, including Washington, Franklin, etc. were Free Masons. If you compare the Free Masons manifesto (or whatever they call it) to our Constitution, you will find many similarities, including freedom of speech and freedom of religion.<br /><br />Although I've not done research on the topic, I would guess that Roman senators, if not all citizens, had similar rights. It wasn't until the Catholic church became the dominant force in Roman politics that you begin to see an end to these "freedoms".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-88240167274340855242011-06-01T19:18:06.277-04:002011-06-01T19:18:06.277-04:00Wood reports one instance of American toga wearing...Wood reports one instance of American toga wearing, when Joseph Warren delivered an oration in 1775 commemorating the Boston Massacre. He also notes that Rome's biggest and most lasting influence came in the form of neoclassical architecture, the Founders preferring the Roman style to the decadence or luxury of Baroque, Gothic, etc, for its proportionate simplicity.Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-80307541347452682632011-06-01T16:35:03.219-04:002011-06-01T16:35:03.219-04:00lol . . . yes, Brutus might be a tough brand to se...lol . . . yes, Brutus might be a tough brand to sell today. But there are a number of bloggers out there who have taken on the name of Publius and there's the Cato Institute and so on. <br /><br />I don't know very much about the American revolutionaries' appropriation of the legacy of Rome beyond the intellectual appropriations found in the Federalist and anti-Federalist papers. On this topic, it might be very interesting to see a thoroughgoing comparison with the actual re-imagination and re-enactment of Roman rites and rituals in the French Revolution, the toga-clad Cult of the Supreme Being and so on.d.erishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09186054212519025557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-87285336804713988242011-06-01T11:59:55.324-04:002011-06-01T11:59:55.324-04:00Well, if you eat spinach, you'll turn into a v...Well, if you eat spinach, you'll turn into a violent, raging sociopath who can simply beat your political opponents into submission and win the election by default.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-42970702307162914492011-06-01T11:48:39.121-04:002011-06-01T11:48:39.121-04:00Interesting point. I was also reminded of occasion...Interesting point. I was also reminded of occasional attempts to rewrite Roman history in our time, e.g. Michael Parenti's <i>The Assassination of Julius Caesar,</i> which portrays the dictator as a populist taken down by a right-wing conspiracy of aristocratic senators. I don't know if someone today could get away with calling himself Brutus; firstly because pseudonyms are thought to be cowardly; secondly because the name implicitly claims the right to assassinate; and thirdly because it'd leave people wondering what Popeye cartoons have to do with politics.Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-37358890929996554372011-05-31T17:51:43.642-04:002011-05-31T17:51:43.642-04:00I was thinking a little bit about this general top...I was thinking a little bit about this general topic recently after re-reading some essays from the Anti-Federalist papers. The anti-Federalists took their pseudonyms from famous Roman political figures just as their counterparts among the Federalists themselves did. But while the Federalists took on the names of famous consuls (ex. Publius), the Anti-Federalists took on names of plebeian politicians or agriculturalists (Cato), or other terms reminiscent of the lower classes (Centinel). The most interesting name, perhaps, from among the Anti-Federalists is Brutus. One of the founders of the Roman Republic was Brutus, and of course another Brutus was the assassin of Rome's most famous consul, Caesar, ironically bringing about the consolidation of the empire and death of the republic by the act.d.erishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09186054212519025557noreply@blogger.com