Books, Arts & Manners: Fading Lights

The Excellent Empire: The Fall of Rome and the Triumph of the Church, by Jaroslav Pelikan (Harper & Row, 176 pp., $18.95)

In the West, the fall of Rome and the rise of Christianity have long served as historical paradigms. Battles have raged over the interpretation of these events, particularly among those who read Roman history as a duel to the death between pagan and Christian virtue. Certainly America’s Founding Fathers looked to the Classical paradigms for guidance. Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, and others read Roman history as a warning. Hamilton denies, in Number 70 of The Federalist, that modern nations will learn much from “the dim light of historical research,” but then turns to the history of the Roman Empire in search of support for his view that there should be no division of the Executive power. Burke, Adam Smith, and Tocqueville also drew sophisticated lessons about contemporary France, Britain, and America from Roman history. Even Karl Marx could not help admitting that in considering several facets of modern history, he was “reminded of Rome.”

RR

About the Author

Robert Royal

Robert Royal is editor in chief of The Catholic Thing and president of the Faith & Reason Institute in Washington, D.C. His most recent book is A Deeper Vision: The Catholic Intellectual Tradition in the Twentieth Century.

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The Excellent Empire: The Fall of Rome and the Triumph of the Church, by Jaroslav Pelikan (Harper & Row, 176 pp., $18.95)

In the West, the fall of Rome and the rise of Christianity have long served as historical paradigms. Battles have raged over the interpretation of these events, particularly among those who read Roman history as a duel to the death between pagan and Christian virtue. Certainly America’s Founding Fathers looked to the Classical paradigms for guidance. Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, and others read Roman history as a warning. Hamilton denies, in Number 70 of The Federalist, that modern nations will learn much from “the dim light of historical research,” but then turns to the history of the Roman Empire in search of support for his view that there should be no division of the Executive power. Burke, Adam Smith, and Tocqueville also drew sophisticated lessons about contemporary France, Britain, and America from Roman history. Even Karl Marx could not help admitting that in considering several facets of modern history, he was “reminded of Rome.”

RR

About the Author

Robert Royal

Robert Royal is editor in chief of The Catholic Thing and president of the Faith & Reason Institute in Washington, D.C. His most recent book is A Deeper Vision: The Catholic Intellectual Tradition in the Twentieth Century.