While visiting the court of Attila the Hun in A.D. 448, a Roman diplomat named Priscus was greeted by a barbarian who suddenly began speaking Greek without an accent. Priscus couldn’t believe his ears. The man was dressed as a Hun, lived as a Hun and fought alongside the Huns. How could this possibly be?
The man’s story was simple: he had been born in Greece, had moved to Viminacium on the Danube, became a merchant and married a very rich wife. Then, one day the barbarians overran the frontier. They plundered the town, scattered its inhabitants, and took him into captivity. Adapting to new circumstances he worked and fought for the Huns, earned enough money to buy his freedom, married a barbarian wife, had children, and was welcome at the table of a leading barbarian chief. “He considered his new life among the [Huns] … better than his old life among the Romans,” wrote Priscus.
The Greek-turned-barbarian explained that the Huns had more leisure time than Romans, and weren’t constantly harassed by worries. In time of war, Romans were more likely to die because their safety depended on cowardly generals “who cannot support the conduct of war.” Even worse was the condition of Roman subjects in peace time, “for the exaction of taxes is very severe, and unprincipled men inflict injuries on others,” he said, using the wealth they have stolen to bribe judges and exempt themselves from legal penalties.
This reminds me of a passage in The Consolation of Philosophy, where Boethius argues that political power has a sinister aspect. It supposedly imparts dignity and importance. But there is nothing intrinsically good in this. If it was good, he noted, it would “never fall into the hands of evil men, since incompatible things do not usually associate…. There is no doubt, then, that for the most part it is evil men who hold the offices….”
“Power,” wrote Boethius, “does not make a man master of himself if he is imprisoned by the indissoluble chains of wicked lusts; and when high office is bestowed on unworthy men, so far from making them worthy, it only betrays them and reveals their unworthiness.” Such is true of individuals as well as nations. Rome’s great power over the ancient world enervated and corrupted civilization until it rotted and collapsed. And so, we should not be surprised if life under the barbarians was preferable to life under the corrupt judges and tax collectors of the late Empire.
It is interesting, in light of this, to think of our own civilization. Today’s individual enjoys wealth and power unknown to previous generations. We have the power to travel great distances in a short time. We have instantaneous communications, the accumulated learning of the centuries at our fingertips, but the scope of our thinking is narrow and our minds more ignorant than ever. The power of modern civilization has not made us better people. Instead of bestowing worthiness on us, our wealth and technology merely reveal our unworthiness.
We think that we are more sophisticated than our grandfathers. But we are less sophisticated, by far. Our descent into darkness is best demonstrated by listing old artists beside new artists; by listing old statesmen beside new statesmen; by comparing the lives of our grandparents to our own. The sociologist notices that more children are born outside of marriage, that epidemic cheating has taken our schools by the throat, that we have incompetence in business and government, that we find banality and ignorance on all sides. What conclusion can he draw? The powers and advantages of modern life haven’t made us worthy. They merely serve to amplify and accelerate our unworthiness.
I am amazed by those who think the U.S. economy is going to recover, that global peace is attainable, that American liberties are going to survive American barbarism. Look at our culture today: men are no longer men, and women are no longer women; capitalists no longer uphold free market principles; constitutional government no longer adheres to the Constitution; enemies are treated as friends. Nobody reads the signs. Nobody sees what is coming. Look at the birthrate among Europeans. Look at the abandonment of European culture. Look at the Muslim birthrate. Europe will be Islamic in fifty years. Long before that, the Russians and Chinese will achieve nuclear dominance of the globe. What do you think the investment climate will be in 2059?
