#LONDINIUM90AD: America's Imperial Dilemma, Elite Conflict, and "Fortress America" Michael Vlahos identifies America's central problem as its inability to decide whether it is a "ful MICHAEL VLAHOS. FRIENDS OF HISTORY DEBATING SOCIETY. @MICHALIS_VLAHOS
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
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🗓️ 15 September 2025
⏱️ 17 minutes
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Summary
2. America's Imperial Dilemma, Elite Conflict, and "Fortress America"
Michael Vlahos identifies America's central problem as its inability to decide whether it is a "fully formed and mature empire" or a "Roman Republic in its latter stages," concluding it is "something of both." While constitutionally a republic, the American Empire has operated for nearly a century with imperial bureaucracies and military outposts. He explains that mature empires can "shrug off" assassinations, even using them for succession, citing instances from the 1960s. However, in a deeply divided society with "deep fissures" and "two inimically opposed" elite movements, an assassination becomes a "highly charged act of ceremonial violence" that can trigger "disorder" or even "civil war." One elite faction seeks "progressive reform," while another, smaller but more connected to the people, aims for "reform through a return to traditional virtues," reminiscent of Rome's oligarchs. These two visions are "going head-to-head," each seeking to destroy the other and undo its work. Gaius introduces the concept of "Fortress America," a vision of the US as an empire "hunkering down," securing its borders, inviting out "alien elements," and contesting powers like China. Michael Vlahosconnects this to Rome's response to barbarian invasions but warns that Washington lacks awareness of this imperial reality and America's own weakness and the urgency of the situation. Gaius contrasts Americans' apparent unfamiliarity with "political assassination as policy" with the British imperialists' understanding that "running an empire was a dirty business," noting that the British "never fell into the trap of thinking that they were trusted or loved by those they ruled."
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Building a coffee business? |
| 0:01.9 | Serving the best Americano in town is up to you. |
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| 0:17.9 | Visit sumup.co.uk to learn more. This is the Friends of History Debating Society. I'm Gaius in Lundinium. |
| 0:30.6 | Dramaticus is traveling on the road at the edge of the empire. |
| 0:34.6 | Little closer to Dacians than I like, but all right, the emperor is in Rome. |
| 0:40.0 | We hear talk from Rome all the time, sometimes well-informed, sometimes just paranoid. |
| 0:47.4 | However, a political assassination is well known to us. We were taught it in school. It's the product of tensions at the late Republic. |
| 0:58.0 | I have a partial list here of things we were taught to memorize. There was the Gwacki brothers. |
| 1:03.2 | Well known. We've talked about them before. One committed suicide rather than be torn apart by the mob. The other one was torn apart by the mob. There is Claudius |
| 1:12.7 | Claudiae, the same as Julian Claudia family. The man who built the Apian way was a Claudiae. |
| 1:21.1 | He was assassinated on the road back to Rome. You'll know him best because his sister was Clodia, the richest man, |
| 1:30.3 | the richest woman in Caesar's time. She was born a little after Caesar. He was born at 103, I believe, |
| 1:39.3 | and she was born at 95 BC. But in any event, she was prosecuted by Cicero and he defamed her. Well, her brother |
| 1:47.2 | was assassinated and he represented as the Grakai did, the tribune. In other words, the |
| 1:53.5 | challenge to the Senate. And then, of course, there's Pompey's assassination on the shores |
| 1:58.4 | of Egypt. There's Caesar's assassination in the theater of Pompey. |
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