“America is the Rome of the modern age.”
Comparing the ancient Roman Empire and the United States of America, a lot of similarities between the two world political and economic power houses are evident. America today can without doubt be referred to as the modern Rome. It is necessary though to take a look back to analyze the ancient Roman Empire, its political, social and economic systems and compare them to America in the modern world.
The Roman Empire was the autocratic kingdom that rose after the roman Republic was destabilized by a series of mutinies from within the republic. Julius Caesar was the autocratic leader who ruled this vast empire with an iron fist. The empire spread all over modern day western Europe, Asia and Africa (Rodgers & Dodge, 2006). Rome was the center of administration of the entire empire. Laws were made and sent to individual regions which were allowed their autonomy but which were under the common law from Rome.
Just like Rome, United States of America is the world’s richest and most powerful country in military and economic capability (Stille, 2007). America controls much of the world’s economy and has set its currency the dollar as a universal currency. The dollar is used in international business transactions between and among the world’s countries. America just like Rome in the ancient world controls the world economy. The recent recessions that had hit the American economy had a profound effect to nearly all of the countries in the world. United States of America has the sole power of instituting economic sanctions to many of the countries in the world.
In the ancient world, Rome was the central military power of that world. Rome was responsible of settling disputes between and among the regions that comprised the Roman Empire. The Roman soldiers could invade a region at will to suppress any military uprising that threatened the peace and stability inherent at that time or any uprising that threatened the rule of law (Rodgers & Dodge, 2006). It is the same scenario in the modern world where America is considered as the world’s watch dog. America has been responsible in ending various wars and protecting innocent civilians in various regions across the world. The only hindrance towards ensuring a world of free beings is the limitation of sovereignty. Though there are instance when America has been forced to abuse this law where the country’s well being has been threatened like in the case of the 2003-04 Iraqi war. America just like Rome has established military bases all around the world with which they monitor the occurrences in the world consistently.
Though the autonomous regions in the Roman Empire were allowed to use their own local languages, the main and official languages were Latin and Greek. All of the other regions irrespective of their language had to learn the two languages for official use in Rome. This is similar to the Americanization of the world’s cultures by the rapid spread of American culture through language. American English is now the most popular language spoken all over the world (Stille, 2007). It is no wonder that most of the countries and regions in the world are adopting political and economic as well as social systems similar to those in America.
American influence on the world is thus as significant and widespread as that of Rome in the ancient world. It is thus conclusive to assert that America is indeed the Rome of the modern world.
References
Rodgers, N. & Dodge, H. (2006). Roman Empire. Lorenz: Lorenz Books.
Stille, R. D. (2007). The Emergence of Modern America: 1890-1930. New York: Weigl
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