ubernoir wrote:
Rome fell because of it's army. The Republic fell because the army became the political force. Won't happen in America on current trends. The future citizens of the army have a real stake in their society through educational entitlements resulting from military service unlike Roman veterans. The sack of Rome happened because the Roman army was no longer an army of Romans but clearly the US has a citizen army.
many of the choices made for short term political stability versus political liberty are seen in countries like Turkey, Thailand, Burma, Pakistan. We know in the West that the short term political stability that army interference in politics buys is far outweighed by the longer term political instability it creates. The army is not in the longer term a force for political stability when it periodically interferes in politics worse it is a destabalising influence in the longer term. The choice of Caesar was the choice of Musharraf. He saw corruption in the legislature and the judiciary, his own political power and the chaos in recent polical history. He thought the political class was incapable of putting its own house in order and he heard the siren call for a strong leader and the stability that would bring. With the question of remuneration for the army as a lever Caesar could manipulate the troops and their loyalties.

While I appreciate the analysis, I'm not sure it's hitting the point. Yes, the Roman Republic was replaced by Caesar, but much of the structure was retained afterwards. The core proposition however is the fall of the Empire, and Caesar is the birth of the empire. The parallel is not Caesar crossing the Rubicon, but the slow collapse of the empire following the death of Marcus Aurelius. Arguably you could also make comparisons to Julio-Claudian dynasty as well, but a comparison to the fall of the Republic is not the target.

Be that as it may, even the comparison you are trying to say is not accurate is, when you include the ongoing privatization of the military via things like Blackwater, KBR and Halliburton. Given that trend I would contend your assessment of a manipulable army is incorrect. It is, and it may be available to the highest bidder.

RE: FT.com / World - Learn from the fall of Rome, US Comptroller warns