"What are the similarities and differences between the rise and fall of Rome Empire in 365 A.D. and the United States in the 21st Century? First let’s ask ourselves, are Americans the new Romans? There are many who are struck by the similarities between the American empire now and the Roman Empire then. Military strength is the most obvious similarity, as Rome was the Superpower of its time, and the United States is the Superpower now. The Romans had the best training, biggest Budget, and finest equipment that the world had ever seen in their time. The United States is just as dominant- its Military budget is larger than nine other countries put together, allowing the United States to deploy their units almost anywhere across the World in a matter of minutes. Add the United States technological lead, and the United States emerges as a serious superpower without any rivals.
However, there is a significant difference as the United States did not form any type of formal colonies and the Romans always did, and furthermore until this date there has not been any evidence that the United States has deployed any ruling consuls in other sovereign lands. Notably, America and Rome have had its share of colonizing and conquering evidenced by their very histories as written throughout the centuries. Paul Kennedy, author of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, stated, “this [US] was an imperial Nation, a conquering nation” . Based on history the Romans understood that the world needed to practice imperialism, namely the art of winning wars and invading territories; they also practiced and learned the political tricks that sustained their ability to stay in power of their territories during their reigning period.
As should be evident, the United States is more Roman then we realize, as the Romans bequeathed a format on how imperial business should be handled, and today the Americans in the United States are implementing the same tactics without fail, all the while not realizing the Roman “roots” of these tactics. For example, during the Roman Empire the Romans had great military strength; and the rest of the World undoubtedly knew their strength and consequently feared the Roman as well. Secondly, the Romans were known for their infrastructure, including their Roads (or Via) as well as their engineering feats with bridges and aqua ducts, built primarily to enable their military to move more quickly. How innovative for their time. Today those highways find their counterpart in the Internet, or better known as the information Superhighway. The Internet began as a military tool, and arguably is one of the most superior inventions of our time, bringing whole nations together in mere nanoseconds."...
