Under Rome you now had multiple languages, cultures, systems of government, and tribal affinities which created a disunited Rome, and without a 'melting pot' mechanism like we have today in the United States or Israel, this system became unsustainable. But with the expansion of the empire and subsequent conquering of other nations, Roman culture eroded. For a civilization, having a shared culture, heritage, language, and history is crucial, and Gibbons argues that these act as binding agents that keep a nation united. Another aspect of Civic Virtue was common Roman culture and identity. It is recognised by its profound study, historical perspective, and exquisite literary style, and spans the period from the 2nd century CE.
But why would a Roman legionnaire feel motivated to take up arms and defend a Roman colony in Egypt? Once the Roman citizen was no longer invested in its defense, the military was weakened and the empire became vulnerable. The Roman Empire’s Decline and Fall, in its entirety Edward Gibbon’s historical masterpiece The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was published in six volumes between 17. Roman citizens could no longer secure an empire that spanned from Gaul, to the Fertile Crescent and North Africa and the army had to enlist soldiers from conquered territories whose innate loyalty was not to Rome. But as the Roman Empire expanded, the military changed.
So long as the Roman Army was a 'people's army’ it would maintain a strong will and commitment to fight for Rome. What were those ideals? One of them was 'civic militarism', or the idea that the citizens should be invested in the defense of the nation. Gibbons argued that the binding thread of the Roman Civilization was its civic virtue - a set of ideals that were the core to its initial success.
0 kommentar(er)
