Rome and America: Communities of Strangers, Spectacles of Belonging

What is it about?

I explore how both Rome and the United States similarly grapple with questions of national and cultural identity. The book goes in some unexpected places, including American westerns, western travel journals, bare-knuckle boxing, 19th century Native American policy, and the contemporary political climate, and includes such authors as Noah Webster, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Charles Eastman. The book gives perspective on a variety of current issues, including discussions of manhood, our cultural division, and the use of the idea of the unitary executive as the path to authoritarianism.

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Why is it important?

The book looks at the relationship between Rome and the United States in a way that is different from previous approaches that look at institutional similarities. Rome provides a lens for thinking about the unresolved question, "Who are we?", in an American national and cultural identity. Those tensions arise from a shared founding myth as a journey of Strangers who must somehow form a community. The book is particularly salient in today's climate where we increasingly view each other as Strangers.