Samuel Shin 1/6/16
Position Paper - U.S, The New Rome Mr. Badgley
In 476 A.D., it is often believed that the Roman Empire had “fallen” when the last
Emperor of Rome was overthrown by the Germanic leader Odoacer, but is this really the case? Does a
country have to be bound to the title “fallen” solely because it succumbed to attack and was overthrown?
For a nation to be considered fallen or destroyed, the culture and traditions of the nation must be
eliminated or disregarded from society. As for Rome, however, this is incontrovertibly not the case as
many countries in the world have derived many teachings from this founding nation. One most notable
country is the United States. The United States is often referred to as the “Rome” of this era due to the
many parallels between the two nations. These parallels include political and cultural advancements as
well as social and military failures.
The United States derived many of its political systems from Rome, hence follows the same
ideals as the Roman Empire in governing a stable nation. For example, in the United States, the
government is separated into three branches in which can directly be compared to the government of
Rome. In the executive branch, the role of the president of the United States is the same as the roles of the
two elected consuls. In the legislative branch, the senate made up of 300 members in Rome could be
compared to the 100 members of the United States, while the House of Representatives is similar to the
Centuriate and Tribal Assemblies. As for the judicial branch, the Supreme Court and praetors are similar
in that they both oversee civil and criminal courts. Also, the legal code of Rome, the Twelve Tables, is
closely compared to the legal code of the United States, the Bill of Rights, in that they both serve as the
list of rules that all must obey, both nations...