Source: CounterPunch
by William Matthew McCarter
“The decline of Rome has been used to justify everything from military expansion to moral crusades, from welfare cuts to tax reforms. But amid the noise of comparisons, one of Rome’s sharpest critiques — delivered not by a statesman or historian, but by a satirical poet — has been largely ignored. In Satire X, Juvenal decries a citizenry that once chose consuls and generals but now hungers only for bread and circuses. It was not invading hordes or economic collapse that signaled the end of civic virtue, but a populace seduced into apathy by free grain and gladiatorial spectacle. That Americans so often cite Rome’s fall without invoking its most damning metaphor may reveal more about our condition than we care to admit.” (10/07/25)