The Punic, and possibly runic, Wars

An interesting essay by Walter Russel Mead at The American Interest on the subject of the Punic Wars from which he seeks to draw contemporary analogies.  He points out that until the rise of Rome and Carthage the centre of the world (so to speak) lay in the Levant and Mesopotamia.  Quite how the city state of Rome grew and grew to such prominence is the stuff of much conjecture these days amongst those with an interest in the fundamentals of grand strategy and the nature of those societies which are best able to practice it:

The idea that states compete not only by fighting wars but by creating societies which can, among other things, fight wars successfully is still very much with us today. It underlies George Kennan’s approach to containment. Kennan’s containment was the exploitation of the flawed nature of the society the Soviets wanted to build.  Because the American system, at home and abroad, had more durable foundations than the brutal but ineffective Soviet model, Kennan believed that time and history was on America’s side.  If we could keep the Soviets from expanding, sooner or later their system would fall apart.

Not for the first time geo-politics played a key role.  Italy, and therefore Rome as the greatest power in it, dominated the central Mediterranean which meant that rivals such as Carthage were forced to the periphery.  Not that that stopped them from a series of smashing victories in Spain and eventually, and famously, across the Alps in mid-winter and into 'the boot' itself.  Hannibal had realised that peripheral victories were not enough and that only a thrust to the heart would still Rome forever. Two colossal victories in northern Italy led eventually, in 216 BC, to arguably the most influential battle ever fought - Cannae.  I say 'influential' because, amongst others, Bonaparte copied it at Austerlitz, and in 1906/7 von Schlieffen planned a version of it for use in the coming war with France.  However, whilst pulverising Roman armies did succeed in prizing loose hitherto loyal Roman allies they in turn became more of a hinderence than a help.  Instead of offering armies to support Hannibal's war efforts, like spoiled children they vociferously demanded protection from Roman vengeance. 

Mead reminds us that part of the eventual Roman success stemmed from their own internal 'civilisation' in which their leaders were forced, in effect, to run a never-ending political and military marathon so that only the 'fittest' survived and attained high leadership.  Not, of course, that it was a sure and certain way of finding great leaders because Rome produced its fair share of duds but in a Darwinian sense it tipped the scales slightly to their advantage in that their leaders were experienced and driven by competative urges:

The Roman political system at the time of the Punic Wars harnessed the ambition of rival families and clans to the service of the state. The wealthiest and most powerful Romans competed for the great electoral offices, to be aediles, quaestors, praetors and consuls. With annual elections and multiple openings every year (two consuls were elected, and larger numbers of the other offices), well-placed patrician Romans had a reasonable chance of ascending the cursus honorum and achieving the highest offices in the state.

But to do that, they had to win and keep the approval of their peers, demonstrating a sufficient level of administrative competence, physical courage and personal honesty. The law courts, where former officials could be sued for malfeasance in office, and the open debates in the Senate and the popular assemblies ensured that the performance of individuals would be watched. Failure or scandal would block your rise.

Eventually, as we know, Rome declined and Mead, via Livy, points out one of the reasons why:

[...] after the Punic Wars Rome’s tendency toward decadence was accelerated because Rome no longer faced a great power rival in the Mediterranean world.  Ambitious men seeking power could play ruthless politics against their rivals without worrying that divisions among the Romans could leave the whole country exposed to hostile attack.

Livy's description of Roman  Roman society following the defeat of Carthage makes for uncomfortable reading for modern American students:

[H]is analysis of the causes of the fall of the Republic (an increasingly greedy uberclass, the erosion of the middle class, the growing dependency of the lower classes on what today would be called entitlement programs, immigrants who did not share traditional values, the decline of traditional religion, political and sexual license and corruption up and down the social pyramid) has been making Americans nervous since the time of the founders.

However, 'like a hanging in the morning concentrates the mind wonderfully', so to does a rival great power in global affairs, and modern China is exactly that - writ very large indeed.  Yes, first the Germans and the Japs, and then the Russians, went down against American superiority, not just in terms of tanks and planes but because America 'works better' than anywhere else.  Or at least, it did.  Mead is more optimistic than me and believes that new threats arising in the east will ensure that American minds will remain concentrated for future tests.  I hope he's right!

 

Comments

[JK]

If you can David, find out the sorts of "meds" Mead takes. When I see "our fine leaders" borrowing wads and wads of Chinese cash - and running the presses at the Fed til the presses' temperature approaches that of the Daiichi reactor masses in order to pay for new and newer versions of SSBNs and JSF F-35 fighter planes (the latter being decidedly inferior to the Banker's own J-20) I would certainly like some of whatever he's taking.

[hank]

On the ligher side

http://eclecticmeanderings.blogspot.com/2011/01/hanibal.html

JK

More likly he is off his meds.

[hank]

JK

latter being decidedly inferior to the Banker's own J-20

Since both of them are hard to pass off as a tank I'm not quite up to date. Do you have link with comaritive stats for poor a treadhead,

[JK]

I do visit your site Hank - but that is an appropriate link.

But Hank, Mead might be off the meds an actual MD prescribed - but he's definitely taking something if he's in anyway "optimistic."