A True Opposition

 

Once upon a time, a long time in fact, several members of a legislative body opposed the acts of tyrants who held near absolute power over a great empire.  They suffered death and exile as a result.

The tyrants were the Emperors Nero, Vespasian and Domitian (I'll dispense with their full names for purposes of this post).  The members of the legislative body were Roman Senators, and followers of the Stoic philosophy.  Most of them were students of the noted philosopher Musonius Rufus, who was also the teacher of Epictetus.  At the head of this post is a painting of a Quaestor reading his death sentence to one of the most prominent of those Senators, Thrasea Paetus.

Rufus himself was exiled, eventually.  It wasn't uncommon for Emperors to repress philosophers, particularly Stoics. They were notably independent, taught that virtue was the only good, and were critical of imperial conduct that wasn't virtuous.  They and their Senatorial students were generally accused of and condemned for conspiracy against the Emperor.  They were invited to commit suicide, or executed, or sent to some remote island or similarly isolated location.

Of course, most of the members of the Roman Senate after the establishment of the Principate by Augustus were obedient due to fear or because it was in their interest to be outstandingly servile .  There were periods of revolt when Senators favored potential claimants to the throne over established Emperors, but for the most part the Roman aristocracts were compliant with imperial rule so long as they maintained their privileged status and limited power.  Nor were Stoics the only ones who dared criticize an Emperor, but their opposition was notable.

But the fact remains that there were principled, moral Roman Senators who objected to the abuse of power by Emperors who possessed near absolute power, and were willing to give up their lives, status, and fortunes to protest that abuse.

It's good to recall their example in a time when far too many of our legislators are little more than wretched, sniveling, cowardly slaves of a wannabe-emperor who have nothing to lose but their position.  While the members of the Stoic opposition to autocrats in ancient Rome sought to emulate the ideal Stoic Sage by refusing to sanction injustice, our representatives are eager to do whatever is asked of them by an autocrat and his besotted followers.  Our representatives emulate Caspar Milquetoast, or perhaps Uriah Heep (the Dickens character, not the band).

Our representatives' timidity isn't admirable.  It merely encourages a continuing effort to defy rather than preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.  If our representatives lack the desire or courage to be true to their oath to support the Constitution, you'd like to hope that they at least have self-respect enough to refrain from groveling so enthusiastically.