Cultural Gadfly

Before Rome was a Empire, it was a great Republic.  (The importance of which to this is, as those who follow such things in America know, in a republic national defense is a political issue rather than a matter of course.) Well, in one instance, an army of barbarians was attacking Rome. However, many of the leaders in Rome disbelieved the reports of the attack  and so were unprepared when the barbarian army descended on Rome. Horatius was a lowly soldier in the Roman army (probably one from the middle class), and, in order to give Rome the time it needed to prepare for the attack went out and faced the barbarian army alone. There was a single bridge that lead onto the Field of Mars, and the barbarians had to cross it. Horatius stood on that bridge for several hours fighting the barbarian army. (It should be noted that they could have shot him with arrows, but didn’t because he was insulting their honor and they had to defeat him hand to hand.) When he was given the signal, he jumped into the water below and escaped.

Rome had prepared and the barbarians were defeated, thanks to Horatius, who stood his (strategically chosen) ground against the rising tide, and so saved Western Civilization.

Draw the appropriate parallels.

This Horatius is not soldier, but he likes to think of himself as a defender, a guardian, and a good dancer. He has degrees, he just doesn’t use them because it would be unseemly. When he reads for pleasure, he sticks with spy and political intrigue but for school and enlightenment Horatius reads books about political theory, good citizenship, and, most importantly, foreign policy and statecraft. He is attempting to get an MA in Statecraft and National Security, and, being close to finished, is seriously considering a PhD.

He fights a lot of arguments online, and wins most of them. He has a very hard time letting people say stupid things without correcting them, and an even harder time not telling them they are stupid to their face. His wife says he should be more diplomatic, and he tries – now, after insulting someone, he usually apologizes.

In order to flex his intellectual muscles, in his spare time Horatius likes to smack around people in games such as Risk, Diplomacy, Axis and Allies, and Pictionary, and he is very fond of Contract Bridge and Euchre. He also has the unfortunate tendency to play video games, watch movies, and smoke cigarettes which taste like happy.

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