[lit-ideas] Romans, a race of warmongers?
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Lit-Ideas" <Lit-Ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:53:32 -0800
I've begun the essay on the Second Punic War in On the Origins of War, and
the Preservation of Peace by Donald Kagan (thanks to the alert Robert Paul
for noting that this book was written by Donald the father and not Robert
the Neocon son).
I was struck by the following section, especially how it applies to the
matter of whether or not Rome was a nation of "warmongers" that in light of
the rather loose way that term has been bandied about recently.
Page 240-1: "The Romans gained their control of Italy through military
victories, and there can be no doubt that they were a warlike people. A
Roman male owed the state sixteen years of military service between the ages
of seventeen and forty-six, although legislation could extend that period to
twenty, and no Roman could hold public office until he had completed ten
years of service. To a remarkable degree, moreover, the Romans were almost
always at war. In more than six decades before the First Punic War in 264
only four or five years were without war. Most modern historians,
nonetheless, have not portrayed the Romans as aggressive or eager for war.
The most common view has been that most of their wars, especially before the
end of the Second Punic War, were defensive, fought to protect their own
land and safety and those of their allies and friends, and to ward off
dangerous peoples on their frontiers."
Interesting, at least to me, is that in a footnote in support of his
statement, Kagan references Theodore Mommsen's Romische Geschichte, 12th
ed., Berlin, 1920; English translation by W. P. Dickson, London 1901. He
references some other histories as well but I bought this particular
history, a set in two volumes, some years ago. Unfortunately at the moment
it is downstairs on a pot-shelf and I would have to take an aluminum ladder
from the garage - a noisy aluminum ladder - to use to get it and we happen
to have a house-guest at the moment who would be sure to wake in alarm were
I to do that - so I can't check to see if it is the 1901 edition nor can I
pursue what else Mommsen might say about the warlikeness of the Romans -
until later.
Most of us would dismiss as silly the facile idea that if you engage in a
lot of wars then you are a nation of warmongers. The motive as here isn't
love of war but as Thucydides said, Interest, Fear, or Honour. Yes, Rome
was a nation of very effective warriors but they didn't go to war for silly
reasons like an imaginary love of war. On page 241 Kagan describes the
"very solemn religious ceremony the Romans employed before going to war, at
least in the early centuries":
"If the Senate received any complaints about the actions of another state
they send a board of priests, the fetailes, to investigate the matter. If
there was reason they sent one or more of the priests to the offending
people with a rerum repetitio, a statement of grievance and demand for
satisfaction, reciting the formula, 'If I unjustly or impiously demand that
the aforesaid offenders be surrendered, then permit me not to return to my
country.' If after thirty days, redress was not forthcoming, the priests
returned and called upon the gods to note that their cause was just. When
the Senate and the people had then voted for war one of their fetiales would
return and hurl a charred spear into the enemy's territory as a declaration
of a just war. The formal and religious nature of this process has
convinced some scholars that the Romans were barred from aggressive or other
unjust wars.
"These defensive concerns they also extended to cover the safety of their
allies and friends, applying the deeply rooted internal principle of
clientage based on fides to the arena of relations between peoples and
states. . . ."
Before posting this I checked my in box and found Mike Geary writing,
"Lawrence and I are a lot alike. Except he's all wrong. I can see him
walking his dogs in San Hyacinth (as JL would have it) and muttering to
himself: 'War, we need more war, war to make brave, honorable men of these
sissy boys. Give me war, I want war, WE need war.'"
Gad! Where is that charred spear. I can never find that thing when I need
it. Maybe it's up on that pot-shelf behind Mommsen.
Lawrence Helm
San Jacinto
Other related posts:
- » [lit-ideas] Romans, a race of warmongers?
