August 24: The 9/11 of Ancient Times

More than two decades later, Americans still view Sept. 11, 2001, as the pivotal day of our generation. Polls consistently show that the U.S. public views 9/11 as among the most consequential events in living memory and that the nation changed for the worse in the decades after the attacks.

From the rise of the security state to the increasing toll of disasters to the eventual rise in polarization to the emergence of new technologies and perhaps most notably the rise of the multipolar world, 9/11 does seem to be the enduring dividing line of our era.

But more than 1,500 years ago, another, even more devastating day was remembered as the moment when the world changed forever. And many generations later, the aftermath of that day continues to define our world. Ironically, the exact course of events has largely been forgotten, though the consequences are not.

I speak of Aug. 24, 410 A.D. The day that Rome – the impregnable superpower that had ruled the Western world for more than half a millennium – was attacked and looted by the Visigoths, a people from northern and eastern Europe that at the time was viewed as “barbarian” in comparison to the culturally and politically powerful Roman Empire.

The Visigoths had for years served as mercenaries of the Roman military and the Roman government hoped to bring them in to the empire's orbit. The invaders, for their part, offered peace in exchange for a substantial annual payment. Emperor Honorius refused. Hence the motivation for the Visigoth attack.

There is a certain level of mystery regarding the events of Aug. 24. How did the Visigoths penetrate Rome's physical security barriers?

Historians have speculated that disgruntled officials or members of the disaffected lower class might have let them in. No one knows for sure.

In retrospect, Aug. 24, 410, was neither the end of the Roman Empire nor the beginning of its decline. Inflation and economic malaise in the Third Century set the stage for the division and ultimate dismemberment of the empire. And the western Roman Empire didn’t die until the last Caesar was overthrown in 476. The eastern empire didn’t end until the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.

But that late summer day in 410 was when people recognized that their world was changing. The status quo that had been taken for granted for centuries was being shattered. Indeed, the succession of empires (Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman) that had dominated geopolitics was coming to an end. Ancient times was giving way to the Medieval world.

After three days of looting, Alaric, the head of the invading hordes, left Rome. Life returned – somewhat – to normal. But it was a new normal.

DID YOU KNOW? 

Aug. 24 was a memorable day in ancient history even before the invasion of Rome in 410 A.D. In 79 A.D., Mt. Vesuvius, a major volcano, erupted, burying the city of Pompeii, an upscale community popular with the Roman elite.         

Tax revenues collapsed. French historian Bertrand Lancon estimated that the population of Rome declined from 800,000 to 500,000 in the following decade.

Just as anyone over the age of 30 can vividly remember where they were on 9/11, a generation had distinct memories of where they were when they learned of the attack on Rome.

The Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II declared three days of mourning. St. Jerome, a theologian and historian, summed up the attitude of the day when he wrote, “If Rome can perish, what can be safe?”

How long would it take for the world to right itself?

Culturally, it would be 1,000 years. In terms of trade and commerce, it would be around 1,300 years. Politically, it never has. While the United States or the European Union somewhat resembles the Roman Empire of old, never again has virtually the entire Western world been under the control of a single power for any length of time.

Consider the present economic lot of the nations once at the heart of the Roman Empire. During the European debt crisis a decade ago, the acronym "PIGS" was used to reference the fiscally-troubled Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain, in comparison with the more economically well-off nations to the north.

An archaeologist of our day, Phillipp Von Rummel, says this of Aug. 24, 410: “I don't know if people will still be talking about 9/11 in 2,000 years time, but the events of that August day still influence our contemporary view of history.”

DID YOU KNOW? 

Before the financial crisis of 2007-2009, historians sometimes used the term "Great Recession" to reference the economic downturn that began with the fall of Rome.         

The attack on Rome occurred at a unique time in Western spiritual thought. The millennia-old paganism was on the decline, while Christianity was rising in influence, though by no means the only viewpoint. It was a society of religious pluralism and discord.

St. Augustine of Hippo, an Algerian bishop, was among the foremost religious and philosophical thinkers of his age. Preoccupied with loose living and eastern mysticism as a young man, Augustine came to Christian faith through the influence of his mother, Monica. Using his sharp mind and rhetorical skills, Augustine not only became one of history’s greatest Christian apologists, but also one of the most influential philosophers of all time, respected across many faith traditions and cultures.

Augustine may be most famous for his autobiographical Confessions, which many consider the first truly critical autobiography in Western history. But perhaps most influential – and meaningful – was a work he wrote for 13 years. Seeking to provide perspective on the attack on Rome, Augustine would devote most of the remainder of his life to writing 22 books that together are known as The City of God.

Part history, part apologetic and part philosophy, Augustine sought to understand the role and course of human government in a new era of turmoil now that the seemingly all-powerful Roman Empire was passing from the scene.

Just war theory, church/state relations, the need for government yet the recognition of the futility of a human-initiated utopia, were among the takeaways from Augustine’s post-410 writing that continue to influence thinkers to the present.

On Sept. 22, 410, Augustine first preached about the attack on Rome. It was a significant sermon, akin to the speeches at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. on the Friday after 9/11.

To a world in shock, Augustine said these words:

“God does not raise up citadels of stone and marble for us; outside of this world He raises up citadels of the Holy Spirit for us, citadels of love which could never collapse, which will for ever stand in glory when this world has been reduced to ashes. … Rome has collapsed and your hearts are outraged by this. Rome was built by men like yourself. Since when did you believe that men had the power to build things that are eternal? Your souls, filled with the light of the Holy Spirit, will not perish.”

To a world governed by an enforced stability (the Pax Romana – or “Roman Peace”), Augustine was informing his generation that governments, nations, societies, cities and buildings – as impressive and important as they might be – aren’t eternal.

Whether we live in the Fifth Century or the 21st, we are here on Earth for a moment in time. Let’s focus on what truly matters.

In our world of pandemics, instability, terrorism, war and disaster, it’s a message just as true today as when Augustine delivered it a millennia and a half ago. 

ADVICE FOR LIVING IN POLITICALLY CHANGING TIMES

How should we live in light of domestic or geopolitical changes? St. Augustine advised thus: 

“When it is considered how short is the span of human life, does it really matter to a man whose days are numbered what government he must obey, so long as he is not compelled to act against God or his conscience?”