Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The book Are we Rome? by Cullen Murphy is a critical and provocative piece of literature that compares Rome, especially the decline of it, to America. He begins by naming the numerous ways in structure, politics and economy that we are identical to the Roman Empire. Then, the book progresses into the many reasons why Rome fell like its power- hungry bureaucrats, weakening army, barbarism and many more. Murphy says that Rome “Had evolved into something different from what it once was” and that was why they fell; they got away from the traditional Roman values (Murphy 28). He says that the Roman army was once a proud army made up of all social classes even the elite, but it transformed into a paid army full of barbarians. The ruling class was once made up of yeomen had changed to an autocracy full of selfish bureaucrats. Cullen Murphy gives many factual events and reasons as to why the great Roman Empire fell.
This was by far one of the best books I have ever read because of the subjects it covered and the writing style. The idea of the book was simply brilliant in itself, the comparison of Rome’s fall to possibly America’s fate. This comparison helped me to understand the book more because it put some Roman ideas in comparison with American so I understood it. Murphy also referred to many Latin terms used during the Roman times which helped bring the book to life. The ideas of this book and the subject matters made this an exceptional book.
Cullen Murphy did many different things to make his writing unique. He not only used his first-hand research, but also used multiple Roman historians and present thinkers to justify his reasoning. He didn’t just talk about the decline of Rome, but also about what made it great and such a superior empire, which helped me to understand why it declined and fell. Murphy also quoted many Roman texts and actual Romans like Plenty the Elder and Cicero in this book to make it seem true and authentic. It was very apparent that Cullen Murphy had done extensive research and studies on the topic because it was clear that he was very knowledgeable on the subject. Overall, this was a first-rate book on why Rome fell and an extraordinary piece of historical review.
Murphy, Cullen. Are We Rome?. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007. 1-262. Print.
This was by far one of the best books I have ever read because of the subjects it covered and the writing style. The idea of the book was simply brilliant in itself, the comparison of Rome’s fall to possibly America’s fate. This comparison helped me to understand the book more because it put some Roman ideas in comparison with American so I understood it. Murphy also referred to many Latin terms used during the Roman times which helped bring the book to life. The ideas of this book and the subject matters made this an exceptional book.
Cullen Murphy did many different things to make his writing unique. He not only used his first-hand research, but also used multiple Roman historians and present thinkers to justify his reasoning. He didn’t just talk about the decline of Rome, but also about what made it great and such a superior empire, which helped me to understand why it declined and fell. Murphy also quoted many Roman texts and actual Romans like Plenty the Elder and Cicero in this book to make it seem true and authentic. It was very apparent that Cullen Murphy had done extensive research and studies on the topic because it was clear that he was very knowledgeable on the subject. Overall, this was a first-rate book on why Rome fell and an extraordinary piece of historical review.
Murphy, Cullen. Are We Rome?. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007. 1-262. Print.
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