Civis Romanus Sum
In ancient times the strongest words a person could utter was “Civis Romanus sum” or “I am a Roman citizen”. You could, according to legend, walk the length and breadth of the known world protected only by those words. People would refrain from harming you simply because they knew if the smallest harm came to you that the response of your government would be swift, sure, and in the case of those who did the harm, quite unpleasant.
Today we have received the fantastic news that Captain Richard Phillips is free and that justice has been meted out to his captors. While I am not one who suggests that violence is the only answer in this case it was the proper one. I commend all of those involved for taking action and congratulate President Obama for presumably giving the orders authorizing them to act.
But this incident does raise a broader concern that we do need to deal with. Right now we have Americans held prisoner in North Korea, South America and many other parts of the world. An argument could, in some cases, be made that they entered into areas they knew were dangerous but that was not a problem in Roman times. Even dangerous areas were safe for those under Roman protection.
For too long however we have worried too much about whether everyone would approve of what we did. This is not a partisan problem as the reluctance to act has spread across both parties. So I do not want this discussion to be a ‘well Bush/Clinton/etc didn’t act’ or ‘Well finally Obama did something that Bush/Clinton/etc wouldn’t.
Rather this should be a debate over how to restore what should be the security of our citizens. It should be a case of partisanship ending at the waters edge.
I realize that we cannot send in the army to free every one of these captives and I do not dismiss the benefits of diplomacy. Diplomacy should always be the first, second, third and tenth option but there has to be a point where, as in this case, we move beyond diplomacy and act.
President Roosevelt said ‘Speak Softly But Carry A Big Stick’. I think we are pretty good at the first part, and as I have said it should always be our primary goal. But we need to take steps like we have today to show that the Big Stick is there as well.
So what do you say Populi ? You’ve got the Vox….
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4 Responses to “Civis Romanus Sum”
Populi says it's about time the US stopped thinking of itself as Rome. Rome was also wholly barbaric and way overweening in its ambitions. Like the last US administration.
In a world environment, courtesy and decency must balance barbarism. No, it is not the US manifest destiny to rule the world with an iron fist.
Rome fell as a result of its overweening ambitions. Or didn't you hear?
I'll tell my brother Populi that he should get over here and comment, heheh…
But what is the problem with actually going in and using overwhelming force to get a citizen back, as long as they've not done something that actually deserves punishment?
I mean, if they broke a law, even if it was a law that people in our culture deem ridiculous, then they made the mistake of breaking a law in a foreign land. But, if they were captured or otherwise harmed for no reasonably understandable cause, then what exactly would be wrong for our government to come in with overwhelming force to defend its citizen?
I'm not saying we should immediately send in the Marines, but if some bad guy captures an innocent American and they say no to giving him back, they had their chance, just like the pirates did. If they catch a bullet while we send in a surgical strike to get our citizen back, they brought it on themselves.
Is it sad that I didn't need you to translate any of that Latin? Ah my Latin professor would be proud. Veni. Vedi. Narravi.
I'm much too busy fighting fires these days to stop in here frequently for education duties, but when I encountered this thread and the already-predictable responses to it, I had to chuckle when already thinking of:
http://www.stentorian.com/columns/civis.html
P.S. Are those who were so transparently and oft-fradulently offended by “disproportionate” and “worse” treatment of terrorists on land during the Bush years going to be consistent about how pirates, whom they (though not the rest of us) have only now “discovered,” should be treated? (No, particularly when the person associated with taking a hard line has a “D” stamped on him.)