June 27, 2025 • 32 mins
What can we learn from an empire that lasted over a thousand years? In this compelling episode, Andrew Reed explores the enduring patterns of success, strength, and eventual downfall of the Roman Empire—and what they mean for your Life and Leadership today. From the foundational strength of “Your own Italy” to the relentless persistence of Roman legions, this is a powerful reflection on historical wisdom and practical application for modern challenges. If you’re looking to build something that lasts, this might just help.
Chapter Markers
(00:12) – Introduction: A Life Worth Throwing Yourself Into
(01:06) – Why Rome Still Matters
(04:10) – Aggression, Conquest & the Roman Identity
(06:46) – The Republic: Liberty, Expansion, and Foundations
(09:17) – Persistence and the Power of a Personal “Italy”
(10:54) – “What Works” Thinking: Pragmatism over Idealism
(13:31) – Balancing Tradition and Innovation
(15:08) – Strategy, Equipment, and the Genius of Roman Tactics
(18:19) – Citizenship, Power Symbols & Societal Buy-In
(21:39) – Applying Roman Lessons to Your Own Life
(24:42) – The Fall: Leadership, Borders & Barbarization
(28:13) – Rome as an Idea: Freedom, Citizenship, and Entertainment
(31:35) – Final Reflections: Are We Really So Different Today?
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“We all need an Italy in our life to draw upon when we suffer those defeats.”
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
What are you willing to throw your life away on? With
Andrew Reed and The Liberation.It's a serious question, one
worth pondering. Am I living thelife I want, an intelligent
life, or something else? How canI have a better experience of
life?
These are some of the questionsexplored in this series of
(00:34):
messages without the brag andthe advertisement. Getting
beyond even human institutionsand society into the wilderness,
nature, the reality of how lifeactually operates on this
planet. These messages rangefrom intimate recordings from
the awakened forest to concerts,national conferences, and
(00:56):
broadcasts on a wide array ofphilosophical topics.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
There are many lessons to be learned from the
Roman Empire. One might thinkthat it's a irrelevant ancient
culture that really has nosignificance today. Well, I
think that's a very ignorantview. History is valuable. It
gives us insight into therealities of the human
condition, the greatness, andalso the shortcomings of
mankind.
(01:27):
And there are patterns thatrepeat themselves over and over
and over again. Therefore,there's value in studying
history, and there's value inthe analysis of the reasons why
the Romans were successful. Imean, let's look at it this way.
The Roman Empire lasted nearly athousand years. Of course,
(01:48):
depending upon where you want tostart counting.
I prefer to start with theRepublic period and wish to
conclude with the fall of theWestern Roman Empire. The
republic period was preceded bythe regal period where kings
ruled, which really wasn't verydifferent from the surrounding
peoples at that time. So to me,that's that's not significant.
(02:08):
But when the republic wasadopted, hey, that was something
different, something unique. Andit was during the republic
period that Rome really began toascend as a world power.
The republic period, which runsapproximately from 05/2009 to
thirty one BC, that is until theimperial period, that's where
(02:30):
the Caesars and the emperorsappeared. This is the period
we're gonna be concentrating onhere. Now most people do not
really grasp really how long theRoman Empire lasted. The empire,
as we think of it, lastedapproximately nine hundred
years. And then the EasternRoman Empire, that is the the
(02:51):
Byzantine Empire, lasted anotherthousand years after what we
think of as the fall of theRoman Empire or the fall of
Rome.
So it lasted a long time. So byany measure, this is a long
season for a culture to exist.And I think you have to call it
a success, if nothing else, justfrom the, standpoint of sheer
(03:13):
endurance. Rome, the idea ofRome, it was the light or the
center of the ancient world. Itwas known as being advanced and
sophisticated.
In fact, much more so than thedark ages that followed, when
Rome fell to the barbarians, itushered in really a step
backwards from mankind, and ittook a while, before mankind
(03:36):
really caught up to where theRomans were. They were ahead of
their time. And as we study theRomans, we'll find factors that
led to their success, and we'llsee principles and the identity
that the Romans held that madethem the people that they were.
And as I'm speaking here, ofcourse, one can find particular
(04:00):
situations where the Romans mayhave deviated from the points
that I'm conveying. After all,we're dealing with a time period
of a thousand yearsapproximately.
However, these factors that I'mpointing out regarding the Roman
success, I believe they're thedominant traits of the Romans,
and this is how they wouldbehave in a normal setting. The
(04:23):
first point I'd like to discussis that the Romans were
proactive and aggressive people.Just as it is today, proactive
people succeed. Now the Romansdid not gain their empire by
shaking hands and kissingbabies. They did it through war
and intimidation, throughconquest, and they had a
(04:44):
definite desire to expand theirinfluence.
Thus, they adopted a nationalpolicy that included the
expansion of territory. So inshort, they went for it. They
conquered. The second point I'dlike to make is that to
understand why the Romans wantedto conquer other lands or at
(05:05):
least partially lays in theirbelief that they were better
than others, that they were morerefined, they were more
disciplined, more educated, andthey were a tough people. You
might say that they weresomewhat elitist because as some
of their stories indicate, evenin death at the hands of what
they'd think of as a lesserpeople, they would hold their
(05:29):
heads high even as they're beingchopped off.
The Romans had just all kinds ofvery moralistic tales of their
culture, of these defiant braveRomans that, again, when faced
with an inferior people, eventhough there might be short term
defeats, they would ultimatelyprevail. The important point to
(05:52):
get here is that their belief iswhat made them great. They
believed that they were great,and they became great. They
acted according to the imagesthat they held, and these
powerful images shaped theirbehavior. They were a
sophisticated people, faradvanced over their
(06:13):
contemporaries.
They were bringing, quote,civilization to an inferior
world. They were spreading theirgospel. In fact, their image
carried them far beyond wheretheir armies did. One time, a
single senator made a visit to anation that was preparing to go
to war against Rome, and themere senator's presence and this
(06:35):
senator's confidence sointimidated the army commanders
of that nation that theyconceded without a fight. Now
that's what I call moxie.
Now the third point I'd like tomake, and it's an interesting
point to me, is that the Romanswere not much of a power until
the adoption of the republic.The kings were removed and
(06:57):
representatives of the peopleruled with the people having
very much say in matters of thestate, much like modern
democracies. The ideas ofliberty and freedom were held in
high regard with the Romans. Atfirst, expansion was slow. They
(07:17):
battled and fought really whatI'll call local and regional
engagements against theEtruscans and the Latins and the
Sammonites, and it took reallyfour hundred years just to
conquer their region.
However, once they had a base ofexperience under their belts, it
(07:38):
only took them seventy years toconquer the remainder of Italy,
and this all happened after theformation of the republic. Now
the fourth point is that theRomans created a solid
foundation from which tooperate. This foundation was
Italy. After all, in thebeginning, Rome was only an
(08:00):
idea, then it became a city, acity of ideals where a
sophisticated people started,and the idea of Rome expanded
and was really spread throughthe conquest of territories. All
the little pieces of Italy werebrought in section by section
into the empire until all ofItaly was under its governance.
(08:23):
Now the important principle tograsp here is that they had a
foundation of strength fromwhich to draw resources in men
so they could supply theirarmies or raise armies or the
things that they needed toexpand the empire. The Romans
(08:44):
could suffer a truly devastatingdefeat, which is probably a
point to make here that theRomans were not successful in
all their battles. Sometimes theRomans would suffer tremendous
defeats where whole armies werecut down. And after a defeat
that would have ruined othercountries or empires, The Romans
(09:08):
just shrugged it off and raisednew legions to replace the ones
that were cut down. Having agreat pool of resources is a
good thing.
We all need an Italy in our lifeto draw upon when we suffer
those defeats. So it is a key tosuccess. The fifth point is that
(09:29):
the Romans were an incrediblypersistent people. They were
absolutely committed to victorywith dogged determination. After
a defeat, they would just shrugit off like they always did and
then raise a new army to replacethe one that was cut down.
Like I noted earlier, the Romanspaced defeat in battle. They
(09:49):
were not invincible. However,opponents knew and feared the
persistence of the Romans. Evenin the unlikely defeat of a
Roman army, opponents knew thatRome would send another,
another, and another army untilthey were victorious. During
this time, if a country or anation was defeated in battle,
(10:13):
normally, there would be sometype of treaty signed or some
type of concession agreement,but the Romans would have none
of this.
They were stubborn. There was noroom for negotiation. And in the
opponent's mind, all victorieswere really viewed as short term
when facing the Romans becauseultimately, they would keep
(10:36):
coming at you until theyprevailed, till they wore you
down. This persistent qualitywas a hallmark of really Roman
culture. Now the sixth point isthat the Romans had a quote,
what works mentality.
Now the Romans believed in manypagan gods before they adopted
(10:57):
Christianity as a nationalreligion, or I should I say
decriminalized it and favored itabove all other religions and
cults in approximately March.They believed that whatever
works is what God or the godswere blessing. Therefore, they
were always looking to whatworks. This what works mentality
(11:18):
included the ability to adaptand change in order to be
successful in their endeavors.Now the Romans were very
practical people.
For example, when they weredefeated in a particular battle,
they would compare notes, thatis if anyone survived the
battle, and then they wouldadopt a strategy or tactics to
overcome the particularsituation that they were facing.
(11:41):
Now this was not the case formost of their opponents. The
Romans were quick studies, andwhen you combine this dogged
determination with the abilityto adapt, the odds of success
radically shifted in favor ofthe Romans. And of course, this
is not just defined to militarymatters. All Roman society put a
(12:04):
high value on what works, who'sgetting ahead, who's being
successful.
When the Romans visited otherlands or when they conquered
another territory, they wouldtake what that land had to offer
or the best, I should say, thatterritory had to offer and would
adopt and adapt, thoseparticular things to Roman
(12:27):
culture. For example, the Romanswere influenced by the Greeks
and Greek culture, the formergreat society. Romans took the
best of the Greek world and, forexample, architecture and
applied it to their ownbuildings. And there's
definitely Greek influence inRoman architecture, but it still
(12:51):
is Roman architecture,distinctly Roman. They would
take the best and make it theirown.
Now the seventh point is thatthe Romans were people that held
to tradition, yet they wereflexible. Now this may sound
like a contradiction. However,if something worked, the gods
(13:13):
must be blessing this activity,and the Romans would find some
way to weave this new innovationinto their tradition. They they
were great about this. Thus,they would keep the good of the
old and incorporate the new atthe same time.
The Romans were very good mostof the time at honoring their
(13:35):
traditions, their traditions oflaw and of precedent and, the
word of the ancestors. Like theideas of freedom and liberty and
the pursuit of happiness, thesewere all, held in high regard
and were passed down again fromthe ancestors. But these were
(13:58):
very practical people, and theykept a close eye on the new
innovations, the things thatwould make their world operate
better. But just because theywere advancing, they needed
tradition and the way thingswere done, that's really a
structure from which toinnovate. Now the eighth point
(14:24):
is that in battle, the Romansemployed superior tactics and
formations.
For example, the Roman army wasvastly more flexible than its
counterparts. In fact, the Romanlegions were so organized that
they could pull small units ofmen out of the line and redeploy
them to take advantage ofopportunities or to strengthen
(14:44):
positions, whereas theiropponents had no such
maneuverability and as they hadattacked in mass. And also great
leadership was employed. Theyhad lots of, men directing these
smaller units. These were noblemen, educated men, experienced
(15:05):
men, that were in command of theRoman armies.
And back in Rome, in fact, theSenate was compromised,
primarily of former militaryfigures and generals and
officers. And of course, theywere not ignorant regarding the
subject matter of war. So thisproliferation of military men in
(15:25):
the senate no doubt influencedRome's imperial appetite. The
ninth point is that the Romanshad superior equipment and
tactics. For example, Romanweaponry during the mid
Republic, it was genius.
The Romans would have this largeshield and they'd have these two
(15:48):
spears and a short dagger, andone of the spears was a long
spear with a heavy spearhead,and the other was a shorter,
lighter spear. And they wouldtake this heavy spear and they
would heave it at the opponent'sline, which usually was a bunch
of guys, in line with shortswords and shields and maybe
(16:11):
their own, pikes or whatever,And this heavy spearhead would
come down and, as they would seethis mass of of heavy spears
coming at them, of course, theywould hopefully, raise their
shields. Otherwise, they'dprobably be impaled or whatever.
And this heavy spearhead wouldstick into the shield, and it
(16:34):
had a barb in it so it couldn'teasily be removed. Now can you
imagine having this heavyspearhead coming at you?
And of course, if you're swiftin this enough, you bring your
shield up to block it and itjust sticks into your shields
with this long pole, making itvery hard to maneuver
(16:55):
thereafter, making it reallyalmost useless, maybe a
liability even. Okay, so if yousurvive this, you weren't
impaled by the initial salvo andyou blocked it with your shield.
Okay, at that point, the Romanswould take their second spear,
the lighter spear, and throw it.And of course, with the
(17:16):
decreased maneuverability of theshield, more would be taken out
by this second salvo of spears.Then with strokes one and two
out of the way, the Romans wouldmove in to close quarters with
their own shield in front ofthem and they would deal death
with their short dagger as theysliced and thrusted around their
(17:39):
shields, which were highlymovable and it was just a quite
effective, technique and use ofweaponry to say the least.
Now the tenth point is that theRomans were organized. They were
well trained and disciplined. Infact, the Roman culture was a
(18:01):
culture of discipline really,and of course, military skills
were highly valued. In fact,children were indoctrinated, in
military doctrine relativelyearly. The eleventh point is
that the Romans used classicalsymbols of power and strength.
Marius, one of the great Romangenerals, incorporated the use
(18:23):
of eagles and bears and lionsand other symbols in order to
create individual unit identity.And he found that units would
fight harder because they wouldtake pride in their divisions
and they would compete on thebattlefield for glory and honor.
And it was just very effective.Other armies were not doing that
(18:47):
at the time. And Marius wasquite an interesting figure.
He was a new man. He came fromno prominent family. He rose
through the ranks by virtue ofhis spectacular military
successes. And he reallycontributed a number of reforms
that ultimately led to theprofessionalism of the Roman
army. Now the twelfth point isthat Roman citizenship was
(19:12):
something of value.
To be a Roman citizen was nosmall thing. It gave a person
rights and privileges that didnot extend to noncitizens of the
empire. For example, in courtproceedings, you were given due
process. And if you were foundguilty of a crime, your your
sentence would be less than ifyou were not a citizen. If you
weren't a citizen, just preparefor the worse.
(19:34):
It could be quite severe. Thethirteenth point and the final
point that I'm going to betalking about is the Roman
success in conquered lands, andit can be in no small part
attributable to their treatmentof conquered people. During this
time or this era, it was notuncommon for all the males of a
(19:54):
conquered land or territory tobe slaughtered and the rest of
the population carted off asslaves. The Romans didn't do
this, that is unless they wereprovoked. If they were provoked,
they would do it as well.
Instead, the Romans offeredvarying levels of recognition
and citizenship to communitiesand individuals. The aristocracy
(20:16):
and wealthy members of societywould be grafted into Roman
culture, and thus they couldrepresent Rome in their
respective communities. And, ofcourse, the people would follow
suit. Communities might begranted less or no taxes if they
were, quote, good boys andgirls, and if they went along
with the Roman program. If theirmen did well in the Roman army
(20:39):
in in battle and displayed,courage and and brought honor,
their community would be givenspecial recognition from Rome
and perhaps its citizens grantedfull Roman citizenship.
That was the goal. In fact, thewhole concept of these levels or
steps in the recognition processis very important, something
(21:01):
that really set the Romans apartfrom other societies at that
time, because this these stepsor these levels fostered a
desire to advance within theempire. When the statements
heard all eyes are upon Rome,that was the truth at that time.
If you wanted to advance, youwanted Rome to look kindly on
(21:24):
your area or your community, andyou would compare your community
with that of Rome. That was thestandard, the center of ideas,
the aspirations for mostcommunities.
Now let's compare what theRomans did with what Hitler did
in World War two. Now, when,Hitler and Germany went into the
(21:50):
Soviet Union, they could havehad a tremendous asset in the
aid of the people who hatedStalin, But yet Hitler blundered
and turned, really all thepeople against him, and it
became a nightmare as theybecame partisan forces that
(22:12):
really created havoc with hissupply lines. So the Romans,
very forward thinking about howthey were going to do this. Now
let's just kind of debrief someof these factors of success
because they do have directapplication in our lives. For
(22:34):
example, you'll have moresuccess if you are proactive and
aggressive.
Passive and reactionary peopledon't achieve very much. You
need to have a positive andpowerful view of yourself, in
order to be strong like theRomans. They had a very a
definite idea of who they werein the world. You need to have
(22:56):
your own Italy, a foundation forwhich you can expand even after
you suffer defeats. For example,if you get one business that's
working and going well, that canbe your staple or what the
foundation you use to fund newventures and explore new
opportunities.
(23:16):
And if these other ones go bustand something happens to them,
you still have your corebusiness to keep you going. You
must have the same doggeddetermination in order to
prevail, ultimate victorythrough persistence. You must
have a what works mentality, andyou need to be smart enough to
(23:39):
observe what works and what's awaste of energy and resources.
We need to be quick to adapt tosituations and to be flexible.
We should hold on to time testedprinciples, like you cannot
spend more than you make anddivide and conquer when you're
facing a very large opponent orsituation.
(24:01):
Think about your life and yourbusiness and create superior
tactics and weapons, a superiorsales approach, or a more
efficient production system, oretcetera. Use powerful symbols
to get yourself and your team inthe mindset to achieve. We need
to understand that as a citizenof The United States, that we
(24:25):
have similar freedoms andliberty, and we have rights that
people of other nations longfor. In victory, treat people
well, not as conquered people.Give people a clear path of
advancement.
Treat people well. This bringsus to the fall of the Roman
(24:47):
Empire, which occurred infourteen seventy six AD. If the
Romans were so great of acivilization, why did it end?
There are many simpletonexplanations about this. There's
the moral decay theory that saysthat the Romans were given to
sexual perversions andappetites.
(25:08):
Of course, this isn't the case,after all the fall of Rome came
during the the Christian period.And, of course, that leads us to
another theory which says thatthe Roman empire fell due to the
introduction of Christianity as,the most favored religion under,
Constantine. However, thisdoesn't explain why the Eastern
(25:29):
Roman empire did not fall, butin fact lasted another thousand
years. Another theory is thatthe barbarians were just too
powerful. And again, this doesnot explain why the Eastern
Roman Empire was able to fightoff the barbarians and again,
last another thousand years.
Another theory is that, theintermingling of the Germans
(25:51):
into Roman, culture weakened theRoman empire. Again, the Eastern
empire had even more of amixture of peoples and remained
again for a thousand years. Idon't think that you can boil it
down to one cause. I think thatthe simpleton explanations are
not sufficient. I think it's acomplex explanation.
(26:14):
I think that the, at least basedon my study, the fall of the
Western Roman Empire was theresult of several factors. The
first, which was there wasunstable leadership in the
Western Roman Empire, and therewas a series of leaders in the
different regions, wanted tohave their own, territories and
(26:37):
they had very divisive politicalambitions and extremely poor
judgment. This combined, withjust allowing German settlements
within, the Gaul area that weresympathetic towards the invading
barbarians. That didn't help.And this is where we get the
(26:58):
term barbarization, where theGermanic people were allowed to
settle in Roman lands and theydid not absorb Roman culture and
thus weakened and added to thedecline of the cities as the
aristocrats, in these citieswere displeased with their
changing neighborhoods and thusthey moved out in favor of large
(27:22):
villas in the country.
So there we have the decline ofthe cities. And also speaking in
strictly physical terms, theWest had a much more difficult
border to defend than theEastern Roman Empire. It wasn't
that the barbarians were thatmuch better than, the Western
Romans because after all, thebarbarians were beaten back by
(27:45):
the Eastern Empire. But there isjust too much open area to
defend for the West, and giventhe disunity among the leaders,
it's no wonder that, theysuccumbed eventually to the
barbarians, and it actually tookquite a long time. Also,
barbarians must be given somecredit as they found it
necessary to unite, en masse andadopt really tactics of the
(28:10):
Romans in order to beat them.
And they were very aggressive,though not very sophisticated,
but they were a teachable enemy.Rome was an idea. It was an idea
of freedom and liberty. And whenthe Republic period ended and
the Caesars began, that is withJulius Caesar and then Augustus
(28:30):
and all those that followed,liberty and freedom were highly
valued. Now to some, this maysound contradictory given our
modern ideas of freedom and alsogiven that the Romans embraced
slavery.
In the Roman view, it was thecitizen that was entitled to
freedom and liberty, and ofcourse slaves were not. Slaves
(28:54):
were employed as teachers andservants doing the mundane,
those things, to serve Romans,usually the aristocrats. And of
course, some became gladiatorsfor entertainment purposes and
other things. So therefore,being a Roman citizen again was
something of great value,something to be pursued. The
(29:17):
subject of public entertainmentusually always arises when the
subject of Rome, is brought up.
Firstly, chariot racing was thenumber one form of entertainment
as portrayed in the movie BenHur. These were grand events,
sometimes having, hundreds ofthousands of people. It was a
(29:37):
big deal. And then comes thegladiatorial games, and I'll say
they ranked a very close second.We modern people may say to
ourselves, you know, how could,this supposedly sophisticated
people be entertained by suchviolence?
However, I'll put the questionback at us. Why do we watch auto
(30:00):
racing? Many people watch it inthe hope that there's gonna be a
wreck. And currently, there'sscores of all these quote
reality shows where people arestruggling and they're doing all
kinds of bizarre things, thingsthat are gross. And we watch
this stuff.
We watch people in pain. As asociety, we are interested in
(30:24):
death. We are interested inviolence. We like to see the
hard hitting tackle and thetitle fight, though we restrain
ourselves somewhat. But I wouldbet that if there were public
executions that were broadcast,there would be a sizable portion
of the view in public that wouldwatch.
(30:45):
So the question is, are we sodifferent today? Do you think
that some people in Roman timeschose not to go to the games but
to stay home, enjoy themselves,while those with the appetite
for this type of entertainmentobviously went? And if you had
(31:07):
the opportunity to go back intime, back into the Roman
period, and you had a chance togo to the game, you had tickets,
would you go just to see it?These are interesting questions
to contemplate. The Romansprovide us with some highly
(31:27):
practical lessons from a highlypractical people that were
successful as a society.
Ignorant people either by theirown self imposed ignorance or
because they don't know anybetter fail to educate
themselves about what happenedin the past, and this is a shame
because it's in the study of thepast that we can find advice and
(31:52):
insight to help us avoid thesame mistakes and shortcomings
that led to the fall of othersocieties.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Thank you for listening. If you need anything
further, just go to mbi.life.
What are you willing to throw your life away on? With
Andrew Reed and The Liberation.It's a serious question, one
worth pondering. Am I living thelife I want, an intelligent
life, or something else? How canI have a better experience of
life?
These are some of the questionsexplored in this series of
(00:34):
messages without the brag andthe advertisement. Getting
beyond even human institutionsand society into the wilderness,
nature, the reality of how lifeactually operates on this
planet. These messages rangefrom intimate recordings from
the awakened forest to concerts,national conferences, and
(00:56):
broadcasts on a wide array ofphilosophical topics.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
There are many lessons to be learned from the
Roman Empire. One might thinkthat it's a irrelevant ancient
culture that really has nosignificance today. Well, I
think that's a very ignorantview. History is valuable. It
gives us insight into therealities of the human
condition, the greatness, andalso the shortcomings of
mankind.
(01:27):
And there are patterns thatrepeat themselves over and over
and over again. Therefore,there's value in studying
history, and there's value inthe analysis of the reasons why
the Romans were successful. Imean, let's look at it this way.
The Roman Empire lasted nearly athousand years. Of course,
(01:48):
depending upon where you want tostart counting.
I prefer to start with theRepublic period and wish to
conclude with the fall of theWestern Roman Empire. The
republic period was preceded bythe regal period where kings
ruled, which really wasn't verydifferent from the surrounding
peoples at that time. So to me,that's that's not significant.
(02:08):
But when the republic wasadopted, hey, that was something
different, something unique. Andit was during the republic
period that Rome really began toascend as a world power.
The republic period, which runsapproximately from 05/2009 to
thirty one BC, that is until theimperial period, that's where
(02:30):
the Caesars and the emperorsappeared. This is the period
we're gonna be concentrating onhere. Now most people do not
really grasp really how long theRoman Empire lasted. The empire,
as we think of it, lastedapproximately nine hundred
years. And then the EasternRoman Empire, that is the the
(02:51):
Byzantine Empire, lasted anotherthousand years after what we
think of as the fall of theRoman Empire or the fall of
Rome.
So it lasted a long time. So byany measure, this is a long
season for a culture to exist.And I think you have to call it
a success, if nothing else, justfrom the, standpoint of sheer
(03:13):
endurance. Rome, the idea ofRome, it was the light or the
center of the ancient world. Itwas known as being advanced and
sophisticated.
In fact, much more so than thedark ages that followed, when
Rome fell to the barbarians, itushered in really a step
backwards from mankind, and ittook a while, before mankind
(03:36):
really caught up to where theRomans were. They were ahead of
their time. And as we study theRomans, we'll find factors that
led to their success, and we'llsee principles and the identity
that the Romans held that madethem the people that they were.
And as I'm speaking here, ofcourse, one can find particular
(04:00):
situations where the Romans mayhave deviated from the points
that I'm conveying. After all,we're dealing with a time period
of a thousand yearsapproximately.
However, these factors that I'mpointing out regarding the Roman
success, I believe they're thedominant traits of the Romans,
and this is how they wouldbehave in a normal setting. The
(04:23):
first point I'd like to discussis that the Romans were
proactive and aggressive people.Just as it is today, proactive
people succeed. Now the Romansdid not gain their empire by
shaking hands and kissingbabies. They did it through war
and intimidation, throughconquest, and they had a
(04:44):
definite desire to expand theirinfluence.
Thus, they adopted a nationalpolicy that included the
expansion of territory. So inshort, they went for it. They
conquered. The second point I'dlike to make is that to
understand why the Romans wantedto conquer other lands or at
(05:05):
least partially lays in theirbelief that they were better
than others, that they were morerefined, they were more
disciplined, more educated, andthey were a tough people. You
might say that they weresomewhat elitist because as some
of their stories indicate, evenin death at the hands of what
they'd think of as a lesserpeople, they would hold their
(05:29):
heads high even as they're beingchopped off.
The Romans had just all kinds ofvery moralistic tales of their
culture, of these defiant braveRomans that, again, when faced
with an inferior people, eventhough there might be short term
defeats, they would ultimatelyprevail. The important point to
(05:52):
get here is that their belief iswhat made them great. They
believed that they were great,and they became great. They
acted according to the imagesthat they held, and these
powerful images shaped theirbehavior. They were a
sophisticated people, faradvanced over their
(06:13):
contemporaries.
They were bringing, quote,civilization to an inferior
world. They were spreading theirgospel. In fact, their image
carried them far beyond wheretheir armies did. One time, a
single senator made a visit to anation that was preparing to go
to war against Rome, and themere senator's presence and this
(06:35):
senator's confidence sointimidated the army commanders
of that nation that theyconceded without a fight. Now
that's what I call moxie.
Now the third point I'd like tomake, and it's an interesting
point to me, is that the Romanswere not much of a power until
the adoption of the republic.The kings were removed and
(06:57):
representatives of the peopleruled with the people having
very much say in matters of thestate, much like modern
democracies. The ideas ofliberty and freedom were held in
high regard with the Romans. Atfirst, expansion was slow. They
(07:17):
battled and fought really whatI'll call local and regional
engagements against theEtruscans and the Latins and the
Sammonites, and it took reallyfour hundred years just to
conquer their region.
However, once they had a base ofexperience under their belts, it
(07:38):
only took them seventy years toconquer the remainder of Italy,
and this all happened after theformation of the republic. Now
the fourth point is that theRomans created a solid
foundation from which tooperate. This foundation was
Italy. After all, in thebeginning, Rome was only an
(08:00):
idea, then it became a city, acity of ideals where a
sophisticated people started,and the idea of Rome expanded
and was really spread throughthe conquest of territories. All
the little pieces of Italy werebrought in section by section
into the empire until all ofItaly was under its governance.
(08:23):
Now the important principle tograsp here is that they had a
foundation of strength fromwhich to draw resources in men
so they could supply theirarmies or raise armies or the
things that they needed toexpand the empire. The Romans
(08:44):
could suffer a truly devastatingdefeat, which is probably a
point to make here that theRomans were not successful in
all their battles. Sometimes theRomans would suffer tremendous
defeats where whole armies werecut down. And after a defeat
that would have ruined othercountries or empires, The Romans
(09:08):
just shrugged it off and raisednew legions to replace the ones
that were cut down. Having agreat pool of resources is a
good thing.
We all need an Italy in our lifeto draw upon when we suffer
those defeats. So it is a key tosuccess. The fifth point is that
(09:29):
the Romans were an incrediblypersistent people. They were
absolutely committed to victorywith dogged determination. After
a defeat, they would just shrugit off like they always did and
then raise a new army to replacethe one that was cut down.
Like I noted earlier, the Romanspaced defeat in battle. They
(09:49):
were not invincible. However,opponents knew and feared the
persistence of the Romans. Evenin the unlikely defeat of a
Roman army, opponents knew thatRome would send another,
another, and another army untilthey were victorious. During
this time, if a country or anation was defeated in battle,
(10:13):
normally, there would be sometype of treaty signed or some
type of concession agreement,but the Romans would have none
of this.
They were stubborn. There was noroom for negotiation. And in the
opponent's mind, all victorieswere really viewed as short term
when facing the Romans becauseultimately, they would keep
(10:36):
coming at you until theyprevailed, till they wore you
down. This persistent qualitywas a hallmark of really Roman
culture. Now the sixth point isthat the Romans had a quote,
what works mentality.
Now the Romans believed in manypagan gods before they adopted
(10:57):
Christianity as a nationalreligion, or I should I say
decriminalized it and favored itabove all other religions and
cults in approximately March.They believed that whatever
works is what God or the godswere blessing. Therefore, they
were always looking to whatworks. This what works mentality
(11:18):
included the ability to adaptand change in order to be
successful in their endeavors.Now the Romans were very
practical people.
For example, when they weredefeated in a particular battle,
they would compare notes, thatis if anyone survived the
battle, and then they wouldadopt a strategy or tactics to
overcome the particularsituation that they were facing.
(11:41):
Now this was not the case formost of their opponents. The
Romans were quick studies, andwhen you combine this dogged
determination with the abilityto adapt, the odds of success
radically shifted in favor ofthe Romans. And of course, this
is not just defined to militarymatters. All Roman society put a
(12:04):
high value on what works, who'sgetting ahead, who's being
successful.
When the Romans visited otherlands or when they conquered
another territory, they wouldtake what that land had to offer
or the best, I should say, thatterritory had to offer and would
adopt and adapt, thoseparticular things to Roman
(12:27):
culture. For example, the Romanswere influenced by the Greeks
and Greek culture, the formergreat society. Romans took the
best of the Greek world and, forexample, architecture and
applied it to their ownbuildings. And there's
definitely Greek influence inRoman architecture, but it still
(12:51):
is Roman architecture,distinctly Roman. They would
take the best and make it theirown.
Now the seventh point is thatthe Romans were people that held
to tradition, yet they wereflexible. Now this may sound
like a contradiction. However,if something worked, the gods
(13:13):
must be blessing this activity,and the Romans would find some
way to weave this new innovationinto their tradition. They they
were great about this. Thus,they would keep the good of the
old and incorporate the new atthe same time.
The Romans were very good mostof the time at honoring their
(13:35):
traditions, their traditions oflaw and of precedent and, the
word of the ancestors. Like theideas of freedom and liberty and
the pursuit of happiness, thesewere all, held in high regard
and were passed down again fromthe ancestors. But these were
(13:58):
very practical people, and theykept a close eye on the new
innovations, the things thatwould make their world operate
better. But just because theywere advancing, they needed
tradition and the way thingswere done, that's really a
structure from which toinnovate. Now the eighth point
(14:24):
is that in battle, the Romansemployed superior tactics and
formations.
For example, the Roman army wasvastly more flexible than its
counterparts. In fact, the Romanlegions were so organized that
they could pull small units ofmen out of the line and redeploy
them to take advantage ofopportunities or to strengthen
(14:44):
positions, whereas theiropponents had no such
maneuverability and as they hadattacked in mass. And also great
leadership was employed. Theyhad lots of, men directing these
smaller units. These were noblemen, educated men, experienced
(15:05):
men, that were in command of theRoman armies.
And back in Rome, in fact, theSenate was compromised,
primarily of former militaryfigures and generals and
officers. And of course, theywere not ignorant regarding the
subject matter of war. So thisproliferation of military men in
(15:25):
the senate no doubt influencedRome's imperial appetite. The
ninth point is that the Romanshad superior equipment and
tactics. For example, Romanweaponry during the mid
Republic, it was genius.
The Romans would have this largeshield and they'd have these two
(15:48):
spears and a short dagger, andone of the spears was a long
spear with a heavy spearhead,and the other was a shorter,
lighter spear. And they wouldtake this heavy spear and they
would heave it at the opponent'sline, which usually was a bunch
of guys, in line with shortswords and shields and maybe
(16:11):
their own, pikes or whatever,And this heavy spearhead would
come down and, as they would seethis mass of of heavy spears
coming at them, of course, theywould hopefully, raise their
shields. Otherwise, they'dprobably be impaled or whatever.
And this heavy spearhead wouldstick into the shield, and it
(16:34):
had a barb in it so it couldn'teasily be removed. Now can you
imagine having this heavyspearhead coming at you?
And of course, if you're swiftin this enough, you bring your
shield up to block it and itjust sticks into your shields
with this long pole, making itvery hard to maneuver
(16:55):
thereafter, making it reallyalmost useless, maybe a
liability even. Okay, so if yousurvive this, you weren't
impaled by the initial salvo andyou blocked it with your shield.
Okay, at that point, the Romanswould take their second spear,
the lighter spear, and throw it.And of course, with the
(17:16):
decreased maneuverability of theshield, more would be taken out
by this second salvo of spears.Then with strokes one and two
out of the way, the Romans wouldmove in to close quarters with
their own shield in front ofthem and they would deal death
with their short dagger as theysliced and thrusted around their
(17:39):
shields, which were highlymovable and it was just a quite
effective, technique and use ofweaponry to say the least.
Now the tenth point is that theRomans were organized. They were
well trained and disciplined. Infact, the Roman culture was a
(18:01):
culture of discipline really,and of course, military skills
were highly valued. In fact,children were indoctrinated, in
military doctrine relativelyearly. The eleventh point is
that the Romans used classicalsymbols of power and strength.
Marius, one of the great Romangenerals, incorporated the use
(18:23):
of eagles and bears and lionsand other symbols in order to
create individual unit identity.And he found that units would
fight harder because they wouldtake pride in their divisions
and they would compete on thebattlefield for glory and honor.
And it was just very effective.Other armies were not doing that
(18:47):
at the time. And Marius wasquite an interesting figure.
He was a new man. He came fromno prominent family. He rose
through the ranks by virtue ofhis spectacular military
successes. And he reallycontributed a number of reforms
that ultimately led to theprofessionalism of the Roman
army. Now the twelfth point isthat Roman citizenship was
(19:12):
something of value.
To be a Roman citizen was nosmall thing. It gave a person
rights and privileges that didnot extend to noncitizens of the
empire. For example, in courtproceedings, you were given due
process. And if you were foundguilty of a crime, your your
sentence would be less than ifyou were not a citizen. If you
weren't a citizen, just preparefor the worse.
(19:34):
It could be quite severe. Thethirteenth point and the final
point that I'm going to betalking about is the Roman
success in conquered lands, andit can be in no small part
attributable to their treatmentof conquered people. During this
time or this era, it was notuncommon for all the males of a
(19:54):
conquered land or territory tobe slaughtered and the rest of
the population carted off asslaves. The Romans didn't do
this, that is unless they wereprovoked. If they were provoked,
they would do it as well.
Instead, the Romans offeredvarying levels of recognition
and citizenship to communitiesand individuals. The aristocracy
(20:16):
and wealthy members of societywould be grafted into Roman
culture, and thus they couldrepresent Rome in their
respective communities. And, ofcourse, the people would follow
suit. Communities might begranted less or no taxes if they
were, quote, good boys andgirls, and if they went along
with the Roman program. If theirmen did well in the Roman army
(20:39):
in in battle and displayed,courage and and brought honor,
their community would be givenspecial recognition from Rome
and perhaps its citizens grantedfull Roman citizenship.
That was the goal. In fact, thewhole concept of these levels or
steps in the recognition processis very important, something
(21:01):
that really set the Romans apartfrom other societies at that
time, because this these stepsor these levels fostered a
desire to advance within theempire. When the statements
heard all eyes are upon Rome,that was the truth at that time.
If you wanted to advance, youwanted Rome to look kindly on
(21:24):
your area or your community, andyou would compare your community
with that of Rome. That was thestandard, the center of ideas,
the aspirations for mostcommunities.
Now let's compare what theRomans did with what Hitler did
in World War two. Now, when,Hitler and Germany went into the
(21:50):
Soviet Union, they could havehad a tremendous asset in the
aid of the people who hatedStalin, But yet Hitler blundered
and turned, really all thepeople against him, and it
became a nightmare as theybecame partisan forces that
(22:12):
really created havoc with hissupply lines. So the Romans,
very forward thinking about howthey were going to do this. Now
let's just kind of debrief someof these factors of success
because they do have directapplication in our lives. For
(22:34):
example, you'll have moresuccess if you are proactive and
aggressive.
Passive and reactionary peopledon't achieve very much. You
need to have a positive andpowerful view of yourself, in
order to be strong like theRomans. They had a very a
definite idea of who they werein the world. You need to have
(22:56):
your own Italy, a foundation forwhich you can expand even after
you suffer defeats. For example,if you get one business that's
working and going well, that canbe your staple or what the
foundation you use to fund newventures and explore new
opportunities.
(23:16):
And if these other ones go bustand something happens to them,
you still have your corebusiness to keep you going. You
must have the same doggeddetermination in order to
prevail, ultimate victorythrough persistence. You must
have a what works mentality, andyou need to be smart enough to
(23:39):
observe what works and what's awaste of energy and resources.
We need to be quick to adapt tosituations and to be flexible.
We should hold on to time testedprinciples, like you cannot
spend more than you make anddivide and conquer when you're
facing a very large opponent orsituation.
(24:01):
Think about your life and yourbusiness and create superior
tactics and weapons, a superiorsales approach, or a more
efficient production system, oretcetera. Use powerful symbols
to get yourself and your team inthe mindset to achieve. We need
to understand that as a citizenof The United States, that we
(24:25):
have similar freedoms andliberty, and we have rights that
people of other nations longfor. In victory, treat people
well, not as conquered people.Give people a clear path of
advancement.
Treat people well. This bringsus to the fall of the Roman
(24:47):
Empire, which occurred infourteen seventy six AD. If the
Romans were so great of acivilization, why did it end?
There are many simpletonexplanations about this. There's
the moral decay theory that saysthat the Romans were given to
sexual perversions andappetites.
(25:08):
Of course, this isn't the case,after all the fall of Rome came
during the the Christian period.And, of course, that leads us to
another theory which says thatthe Roman empire fell due to the
introduction of Christianity as,the most favored religion under,
Constantine. However, thisdoesn't explain why the Eastern
(25:29):
Roman empire did not fall, butin fact lasted another thousand
years. Another theory is thatthe barbarians were just too
powerful. And again, this doesnot explain why the Eastern
Roman Empire was able to fightoff the barbarians and again,
last another thousand years.
Another theory is that, theintermingling of the Germans
(25:51):
into Roman, culture weakened theRoman empire. Again, the Eastern
empire had even more of amixture of peoples and remained
again for a thousand years. Idon't think that you can boil it
down to one cause. I think thatthe simpleton explanations are
not sufficient. I think it's acomplex explanation.
(26:14):
I think that the, at least basedon my study, the fall of the
Western Roman Empire was theresult of several factors. The
first, which was there wasunstable leadership in the
Western Roman Empire, and therewas a series of leaders in the
different regions, wanted tohave their own, territories and
(26:37):
they had very divisive politicalambitions and extremely poor
judgment. This combined, withjust allowing German settlements
within, the Gaul area that weresympathetic towards the invading
barbarians. That didn't help.And this is where we get the
(26:58):
term barbarization, where theGermanic people were allowed to
settle in Roman lands and theydid not absorb Roman culture and
thus weakened and added to thedecline of the cities as the
aristocrats, in these citieswere displeased with their
changing neighborhoods and thusthey moved out in favor of large
(27:22):
villas in the country.
So there we have the decline ofthe cities. And also speaking in
strictly physical terms, theWest had a much more difficult
border to defend than theEastern Roman Empire. It wasn't
that the barbarians were thatmuch better than, the Western
Romans because after all, thebarbarians were beaten back by
(27:45):
the Eastern Empire. But there isjust too much open area to
defend for the West, and giventhe disunity among the leaders,
it's no wonder that, theysuccumbed eventually to the
barbarians, and it actually tookquite a long time. Also,
barbarians must be given somecredit as they found it
necessary to unite, en masse andadopt really tactics of the
(28:10):
Romans in order to beat them.
And they were very aggressive,though not very sophisticated,
but they were a teachable enemy.Rome was an idea. It was an idea
of freedom and liberty. And whenthe Republic period ended and
the Caesars began, that is withJulius Caesar and then Augustus
(28:30):
and all those that followed,liberty and freedom were highly
valued. Now to some, this maysound contradictory given our
modern ideas of freedom and alsogiven that the Romans embraced
slavery.
In the Roman view, it was thecitizen that was entitled to
freedom and liberty, and ofcourse slaves were not. Slaves
(28:54):
were employed as teachers andservants doing the mundane,
those things, to serve Romans,usually the aristocrats. And of
course, some became gladiatorsfor entertainment purposes and
other things. So therefore,being a Roman citizen again was
something of great value,something to be pursued. The
(29:17):
subject of public entertainmentusually always arises when the
subject of Rome, is brought up.
Firstly, chariot racing was thenumber one form of entertainment
as portrayed in the movie BenHur. These were grand events,
sometimes having, hundreds ofthousands of people. It was a
(29:37):
big deal. And then comes thegladiatorial games, and I'll say
they ranked a very close second.We modern people may say to
ourselves, you know, how could,this supposedly sophisticated
people be entertained by suchviolence?
However, I'll put the questionback at us. Why do we watch auto
(30:00):
racing? Many people watch it inthe hope that there's gonna be a
wreck. And currently, there'sscores of all these quote
reality shows where people arestruggling and they're doing all
kinds of bizarre things, thingsthat are gross. And we watch
this stuff.
We watch people in pain. As asociety, we are interested in
(30:24):
death. We are interested inviolence. We like to see the
hard hitting tackle and thetitle fight, though we restrain
ourselves somewhat. But I wouldbet that if there were public
executions that were broadcast,there would be a sizable portion
of the view in public that wouldwatch.
(30:45):
So the question is, are we sodifferent today? Do you think
that some people in Roman timeschose not to go to the games but
to stay home, enjoy themselves,while those with the appetite
for this type of entertainmentobviously went? And if you had
(31:07):
the opportunity to go back intime, back into the Roman
period, and you had a chance togo to the game, you had tickets,
would you go just to see it?These are interesting questions
to contemplate. The Romansprovide us with some highly
(31:27):
practical lessons from a highlypractical people that were
successful as a society.
Ignorant people either by theirown self imposed ignorance or
because they don't know anybetter fail to educate
themselves about what happenedin the past, and this is a shame
because it's in the study of thepast that we can find advice and
(31:52):
insight to help us avoid thesame mistakes and shortcomings
that led to the fall of othersocieties.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Thank you for listening. If you need anything
further, just go to mbi.life.
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