would it be better to have a Sulla who respected the Senate but was extreme in his ruthlessness time travel to the the White House, or a Julius Caesar who saw democracy as an obstacle but who was compassionate to his enemies?
I don't think Caesar was all that compassionate to his enemies. He did not participate in the proscriptions that his nephew and Sulla whole heartedly bathed themselves in. Caesar fought six campaigns for absolute power and when he held it, according to Plutarch he wasn't well liked. I estimate that he killed over 115,000 Romans or 1/3 the Roman population according to Toynbee's figure.
The solution to our spiritual crisis is not a political one though it has political consequences. If all of the world's problems could be solved by rounding up the problem population and disposing of them, then we should stop speaking English and speak German, Russian or Chinese.
We have to practice our religion. Cato was a stoic. Cicero was a peripatetic. I am a Christian. Numa Popilius was a pagan. If we obey the will of God, seek the harder right over the easier wrong, we will be just fine and like Cicero, our virtue will immortalize us. If we fail, we will be overrun by the babarians who will regard us much the same way Tamerlane regarded the Baghdadi.
What do you think? Post your comment and join the discussion. Thank you!
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