Posted on 03/15/2015 3:30:15 PM PDT by Jacquerie
Make quick war.
Make war pay for itself.
Establish colonies in conquered lands.
No republic should MAKE war unless it can follow these simple methods. They served Rome well for four hundred years.
Cicero liked to quote a poet about Rome’s foreign policy:
“Oderint dum metuant” (”Let them hate us as long as they fear us.”)
Self ping for later reading.
Colonize Afghanistan? For what?
Should be remembered that Machiavelli was a failed politician who spent the rest of his life trying to convince others he should be put back in charge.
Never worked.
War in the modern world does not and cannot pay for itself. The Romans paid for their’s by looting temples and selling people into slavery. Don’t think many Americans would support either. I know I wouldn’t.
The immensely greater wealth of the modern world, as opposed to the classical world, is based on a diverse thriving economy. There is simply no way to loot such an economy without destroying it, which leads us straight to the Goose and the Golden Egg.
I suspect there are very, very few Americans interested in becoming colonists in Syria, Iraq or Libya.
You are aware that the Roman colonies were very different from those of the 19th century, aren’t you?
Colonies could be used to relieve us of those who are not “Roman.”
Don’t forget how the empire fell. They allowed “foreigners” unto their ranks to fill the military coffers whose loyalties were not for the Republic. Slowly but surely, their enemies outnumbered the Roman legions they had to “buy” more foreigner armies to fight wars for them which of course, turned on them once they saw how weak they’ve become. Sounds familiar?
See my tag line.............
So as per Machiavelli’s maxims, don’t make war on Afghanistan. Sheesh.
The Roman republic lasted near four hundred years. Ours lasted barely 150. Machiavelli is the father of political science and worth a read.
He and Livy also addressed the topic of foreigners in their ranks.
It is your option to casually dismiss the wisdom of the ages.
The Israelis could have learned something from the Romans. When Rome conquered Gaul, it did not establish an adjacent,self governing, militarized political entity of hostile Gauls. Perhaps the Israeli geniuses who established Gaza as a Palestinian entity should have read Caesar’s Commentaries.
Splendid opportunity to settle these vastly underpopulated lands with 20 million or so of our illegal aliens. Fergusonite SonsOBama giving you a problem? Send'em to the colonies.
Since it was obvious from the beginning that this would not have been tolerated by the American people or the global community, the War in Iraq was a failure waiting to happen.
The war on drugs. The U S could own the supply and make the market.
Tacitus wrote about the Roman approach to war: "They created a desert, and called it peace".
The Romans were not too concerned about collateral damage or rules of engagement.
Machiavelli was imprisoned for his politics.
You didn’t read my post, so there is no point in engaging you any further.
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