coldhearted scientist وداد

Saturday there are war protests here and elsewhere, and our featured post on this matter is from the Hedonistic Pleasureseeker. Her featured music, recalling the first antiwar demonstrations we went to, is Peter, Paul, and Mary. We have responded with Grace Slick, in a particularly brilliant performance. Our featured writer for the present historical moment, however, is Tacitus.

This is the first paragraph of the Annals of Imperial Rome:

Rome at the beginning was ruled by kings. Freedom and the consulship were established by Lucius Brutus. Dictatorships were held for a temporary crisis. The power of the decemvirs did not last beyond two years, nor was the consular jurisdiction of the military tribunes of long duration. The despotisms of Cinna and Sulla were brief; the rule of Pompeius and of Crassus soon yielded before Caesar; the arms of Lepidus and Antonius before Augustus; who, when the world was wearied by civil strife, subjected it to empire under the title of “Prince.” But the successes and reverses of the old Roman people have been recorded by famous historians; and fine intellects were not wanting to describe the times of Augustus, till growing sycophancy scared them away. The histories of Tiberius, Caius, Claudius, and Nero, while they were in power, were falsified through terror, and after their death were written under the irritation of a recent hatred. Hence my purpose is to relate a few facts about Augustus – more particularly his last acts, then the reign of Tiberius, and all which follows, without either bitterness or partiality, from any motives to which I am far removed.

“Read the whole text and consider parallels to our time,” says my professor friend. And Chalmers Johnson has taken on this question.

From the much maligned, but terribly useful Wikipedia:

After the demise of the Second Triumvirate, Octavian restored the outward facade of the Roman Republic, with governmental power vested in the Roman Senate, but in practice retained his autocratic power. It took several years to work out the exact framework by which a formally republican state could be led by a sole ruler, the result of which became known as the Roman Empire. The emperorship was never an office like the Roman dictatorship which Caesar and Sulla had held before him; indeed, he declined it when the Roman populace “entreated him to take on the dictatorship”.^[1] By law, Augustus held a collection of powers granted to him for life by the Senate, including those of tribune, censor, and consul, without being formally elected to either of those (incompatible) offices. His substantive power stemmed from financial success and resources gained in conquest, the building of patronage relationships throughout the Empire, the loyalty of many military soldiers and veterans, the authority of the many honors granted by the Senate,^[2] and the respect of the people. Augustus’ control over the majority of Rome’s legions established an armed threat that could be used against the Senate, allowing him to coerce the Senate’s decisions. With his ability to eliminate senatorial opposition by means of arms, the Senate became docile towards his paramount position of leadership.

Meet Saturday at Judkins Park in Seattle; San Francisco Civic Center; Olympic and Broadway in Los Angeles; Union Park in Chicago; Washington Square in New Orleans; Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City; Union Square in New York; Welcome Park in Fort Lauderdale; Eola Lake Park in Orlando; Coolidge Park in Chattanooga; Boston Common.  Seattle

Axé.