Are We Rome?

Are We Rome?
Cullen Murphy

You might think that one difference between Rome and the United States is that Rome didn’t have its own sad example constantly before it, but that’s not entirely true. It was Roman historians, even before the empire took hold, who basically invented the myth of decline that so preoccupies American pundits today. Cullen Murphy looks at the obvious analogies between then and now as he ponders the fate of America in a changed world, and one where change comes far more quickly. Rome wasn’t built and didn’t fall in a day, but dragged these processes out over centuries. One thing that seems certain is that America’s fate will be much faster.