Fergie's Tech Blog

Off Topic: Terrorism, Lex Gabinia, and The Self-Destruction of Empires

I have frequently returned to read this opinion piece by Robert Harris from September 2006 in The New York Times:

In the autumn of 68 B.C. the world’s only military superpower was dealt a profound psychological blow by a daring terrorist attack on its very heart. Rome’s port at Ostia was set on fire, the consular war fleet destroyed, and two prominent senators, together with their bodyguards and staff, kidnapped.

The incident, dramatic though it was, has not attracted much attention from modern historians. But history is mutable. An event that was merely a footnote five years ago has now, in our post-9/11 world, assumed a fresh and ominous significance. For in the panicky aftermath of the attack, the Roman people made decisions that set them on the path to the destruction of their Constitution, their democracy and their liberty. One cannot help wondering if history is repeating itself.

More here.

I thank my friend and colleague, Alex, for reminding me of it again recently.

How so very much does Harris' comparisons ring true.

- ferg

posted by Fergie @ 7/25/2007 12:16:00 PM