August 20, 2024 • 7 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, King George III, upon hearing that George Washington planned to resign from his military commission and return to his plow stated; "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world." George Washington wasn't the first man to do this though—he was simply following in the footsteps of another farmer, statesman, and victorious general from ancient Rome—Cincinnatus. Here's Professor Kenneth Calvert of Hillsdale College to tell the story of how these two men connect and why Cincinnati is named in honor of both of them.
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American
people up next to the story of the interesting connection
between our first president, George Washington and the ancient Roman
dictator Cincinnatis, and how that relates to the southern Ohio
city Cincinnati. Here to tell the story is doctor Kenneth Calvert,
(00:35):
a professor of history at Hillsdale College. Let's get into
the story. Take it away.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Ken, you look at George Washington and his regard for
classical virtue and biblical virtue, he's also looking to particular
models like Cincinnatus. Cincinnatus was a Roman who served as
a dictator in Rome, and one has to understand that
(01:02):
in Rome, a dictator was someone who was elected to office,
not someone who takes power, but has given power for
eighteen months, total power to save the republic. And George
Washington had a kind of Cincinnatus ideal surrounding him because
(01:23):
he was given a good amount of power to fight
this war on behalf of Congress and behalf of the colonies.
He never wanted to be called a dictator or even
suggested that even though Cincinnatus was an ideal here there
is no way that they wanted to go back to
kind of a Julius Caesar notion of dictatorship and tyranny.
(01:50):
George Washington, on a number of occasions lived up to
the ideal of this man Cincinnatus. And let me say
a little bit more about Cincinnatus. Cincinnatus was asked by
the Senate to save Rome when its armies were surrounded
by the Etruscans, and Cincinnatus marched out. He saved Rome,
(02:13):
he marched home, He settled one court case on behalf
of a numbskulled son, and then went on to give
his power back to the Senate and people. He surrendered
his power. He did all that in two weeks. He
didn't serve out the full term of the dictatorship as
(02:33):
he could have. He gave it all back. And this
is why people viewed Washington as something of an American Cincinnatus,
is that when it was time, he surrendered his sword
to Congress, he gave up his military power. At the
end of eight years as president of the United States,
he surrendered that power back to Congress. And Washington was
(02:57):
this model of being a a virtuous man who rightly
surrendered his power back to the civilian government. He upheld
and supported the rule of law and order, just as
Cincinnatus had. And this is why the city in Ohio
is not named only after a Roman dictator, but named
(03:21):
after George Washington himself. Finally, George Washington, the war was
not over yet, and there was a conspiracy in New
York of officers who wanted to march down to Philadelphia
(03:41):
and to get what was promised to them to pay.
And Washington shows up at this conspiracy and he basically
he preaches from Cato the tragedy and tells them, you
are not upholding the virtues that we meant to defend.
(04:03):
And what's very very interesting is that he's upholding the
kind of republicanism that Cincinnatis uppeld and that Cato the younger.
He then the next day he writes a letter to
Congress saying, we better pay these guys. So he talks
them out of a coup, but then he also stands
up for them and encourages their payment from Congress. Speaking
(04:29):
of the city of Cincinnati in southern Ohio, it's interesting
that there is a graveyard and a place called Marietta,
Ohio that very few people have heard about, but Marietta,
Ohio is actually considered as a potential spot for the
capital of the United States. Didn't end up that way.
But in the cemetery at Marietta, Ohio, you have the
(04:51):
largest number of colonial officers buried there. And indeed, the
Marquis de Lafayette, when he toured the United States after
the war, he stopped there at Marietta, Ohio and gave
a speech, and he talked about many of these men
were men that he fought alongside, and men that he
(05:12):
knew personally, and they were brave in battle. What are
they all doing in southern Ohio. Well, when Congress paid them,
they paid them in land there along the Ohio River,
and they were all members of a society called the
Society of the Cincinnati. These were men who also surrendered
(05:33):
their swords and their military authority back to the civilian government.
And so you have at the core of this this
notion of serving peace and the rule of law and
the government, the civilian government. And so the government that
was established by the founders is looking back to this
(05:55):
balance of powers that Polybius talks about. It's looking back
to people like Cincinnatis, people like Cato, the younger, and
what they want to do is establish a form of
government that is rooted in these ancient models that will
provide the greatest amount of freedom, of rights, of happiness,
(06:17):
seeking excellence for the citizens as possible. And therefore the
citizens would be kind of the locality for all of
the true power, the true government, and this new constitution.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Megan Pitcock, and she's a product of
Hillsdale College. Thanks also to doctor Kenneth Calvert, he too
is a product of Hillsdale College. He's a professor of
history at the college. And what a story he told
about the connections between a Roman dictator and George Washington
surrendering his commissions, which we have a story of told
(06:55):
by doctor Larry Arne who's the president of Hillsdale College.
And what he did was return power back to the
civilian government. In fact, King George II, when he heard that, said,
if that's true, George Washington is and will be the
greatest man that ever lived. The story of George Washington's
unique connection to the city of Cincinnati and Cincinnatis here
(07:19):
on our American stories. This is Lee Hibib. And this
is our American stories, and all of our history stories
are brought to us by our generous sponsors, including Hillsdale College,
(07:43):
where students go to learn all the things that are
beautiful in life and all the things that matter in life.
If you can't get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to
you with their free and terrific online courses. Go to
Hillsdale dot edu. That's Hillsdale dot edu.
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American
people up next to the story of the interesting connection
between our first president, George Washington and the ancient Roman
dictator Cincinnatis, and how that relates to the southern Ohio
city Cincinnati. Here to tell the story is doctor Kenneth Calvert,
(00:35):
a professor of history at Hillsdale College. Let's get into
the story. Take it away.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Ken, you look at George Washington and his regard for
classical virtue and biblical virtue, he's also looking to particular
models like Cincinnatus. Cincinnatus was a Roman who served as
a dictator in Rome, and one has to understand that
(01:02):
in Rome, a dictator was someone who was elected to office,
not someone who takes power, but has given power for
eighteen months, total power to save the republic. And George
Washington had a kind of Cincinnatus ideal surrounding him because
(01:23):
he was given a good amount of power to fight
this war on behalf of Congress and behalf of the colonies.
He never wanted to be called a dictator or even
suggested that even though Cincinnatus was an ideal here there
is no way that they wanted to go back to
kind of a Julius Caesar notion of dictatorship and tyranny.
(01:50):
George Washington, on a number of occasions lived up to
the ideal of this man Cincinnatus. And let me say
a little bit more about Cincinnatus. Cincinnatus was asked by
the Senate to save Rome when its armies were surrounded
by the Etruscans, and Cincinnatus marched out. He saved Rome,
(02:13):
he marched home, He settled one court case on behalf
of a numbskulled son, and then went on to give
his power back to the Senate and people. He surrendered
his power. He did all that in two weeks. He
didn't serve out the full term of the dictatorship as
(02:33):
he could have. He gave it all back. And this
is why people viewed Washington as something of an American Cincinnatus,
is that when it was time, he surrendered his sword
to Congress, he gave up his military power. At the
end of eight years as president of the United States,
he surrendered that power back to Congress. And Washington was
(02:57):
this model of being a a virtuous man who rightly
surrendered his power back to the civilian government. He upheld
and supported the rule of law and order, just as
Cincinnatus had. And this is why the city in Ohio
is not named only after a Roman dictator, but named
(03:21):
after George Washington himself. Finally, George Washington, the war was
not over yet, and there was a conspiracy in New
York of officers who wanted to march down to Philadelphia
(03:41):
and to get what was promised to them to pay.
And Washington shows up at this conspiracy and he basically
he preaches from Cato the tragedy and tells them, you
are not upholding the virtues that we meant to defend.
(04:03):
And what's very very interesting is that he's upholding the
kind of republicanism that Cincinnatis uppeld and that Cato the younger.
He then the next day he writes a letter to
Congress saying, we better pay these guys. So he talks
them out of a coup, but then he also stands
up for them and encourages their payment from Congress. Speaking
(04:29):
of the city of Cincinnati in southern Ohio, it's interesting
that there is a graveyard and a place called Marietta,
Ohio that very few people have heard about, but Marietta,
Ohio is actually considered as a potential spot for the
capital of the United States. Didn't end up that way.
But in the cemetery at Marietta, Ohio, you have the
(04:51):
largest number of colonial officers buried there. And indeed, the
Marquis de Lafayette, when he toured the United States after
the war, he stopped there at Marietta, Ohio and gave
a speech, and he talked about many of these men
were men that he fought alongside, and men that he
(05:12):
knew personally, and they were brave in battle. What are
they all doing in southern Ohio. Well, when Congress paid them,
they paid them in land there along the Ohio River,
and they were all members of a society called the
Society of the Cincinnati. These were men who also surrendered
(05:33):
their swords and their military authority back to the civilian government.
And so you have at the core of this this
notion of serving peace and the rule of law and
the government, the civilian government. And so the government that
was established by the founders is looking back to this
(05:55):
balance of powers that Polybius talks about. It's looking back
to people like Cincinnatis, people like Cato, the younger, and
what they want to do is establish a form of
government that is rooted in these ancient models that will
provide the greatest amount of freedom, of rights, of happiness,
(06:17):
seeking excellence for the citizens as possible. And therefore the
citizens would be kind of the locality for all of
the true power, the true government, and this new constitution.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
And a terrific job on the production, editing and storytelling
by our own Megan Pitcock, and she's a product of
Hillsdale College. Thanks also to doctor Kenneth Calvert, he too
is a product of Hillsdale College. He's a professor of
history at the college. And what a story he told
about the connections between a Roman dictator and George Washington
surrendering his commissions, which we have a story of told
(06:55):
by doctor Larry Arne who's the president of Hillsdale College.
And what he did was return power back to the
civilian government. In fact, King George II, when he heard that, said,
if that's true, George Washington is and will be the
greatest man that ever lived. The story of George Washington's
unique connection to the city of Cincinnati and Cincinnatis here
(07:19):
on our American stories. This is Lee Hibib. And this
is our American stories, and all of our history stories
are brought to us by our generous sponsors, including Hillsdale College,
(07:43):
where students go to learn all the things that are
beautiful in life and all the things that matter in life.
If you can't get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to
you with their free and terrific online courses. Go to
Hillsdale dot edu. That's Hillsdale dot edu.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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