Thomas Jefferson and the Capitoline Hill link to Rome
So what is it meant by the phrase “meet the new Boss, same as the old Boss”, as it relates to this series?
Could it perhaps be the military might that the United States currently has as compared to the Rome Empire during its peak?
What about the parallels of the politics of the United States versus the Roman Empire, albeit mostly during its decline. These bullet points were taken from an article in Salon
- Staggering Increase in the Cost of Elections, with Dubious Campaign Funding Sources
- Politics as the Road to Personal Wealth
- Continuous War: A national state of security arises, distracting attention from domestic challenges with foreign wars
- Foreign Powers Lavish Money/Attention on the Republic’s Leaders
- Profits Made Overseas Shape the Republic’s Internal Policies
- Collapse of the Middle Class
- Loss of the Spirit of Compromise
If we compare these current aspects of the dysfunction of our political system, could the United States be the new boss, same as the old boss of Roman Empire? Is so, it’s foretelling of the path in which we may find the United States Empire trending to.
There is also evidence that indicates the founding fathers had admiration for the Roman Empire. During the formative stages of Washington D.C., the founding father’s adopted the term “Senate” as part of our system of government. Another reflection of the father’s admiration of Rome stems from their modeling of the architecture of government buildings that was patterned after the classical architecture of the government buildings of Rome.
Thomas Jefferson went as far as to name Capitol Hill after Capitoline Hill in Rome, if you take any credence to the account by Fergus Bordewich, in his book entitled Washington, I quote:
“On the original plan, L’Enfant had written ‘Congress House’ where he placed the national legislature, on Jenkins Hill. Jefferson crossed out those two words, and wrote ‘Capitol’ instead. Taken for granted today, Jefferson’s innovative name self-consciously invoked the famous temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill, in ancient Rome , and by extension claimed for the infant United States the hoary mantle of the Roman Republic, with its political freedoms and precedent of popular government .The home of Congress was to be a kind of national temple to the secular religion of democracy, a physical counterpart to the Constitution, a civics lesson in stone as it were. Where others saw a work site, Jefferson saw a moral landscape, though one in which the monstrosity of
slavery did not really count, of course. Steeped in the classics, he believed with an almost
religious passion in the transformative power of colonnades, domes, and marble porticoes to ennoble the human spirit and sharpen the intellect, even urging the commissioners to replicate the dimensions of ancient Roman brick-twenty-two inches long, eleven
inches wide, and two inches thick-in the Capitol’s construction.”
A personal commentary:
Doesn’t this sound just grand? Especially the parts about the political freedoms, and moral landscape, and that slavery did not really count. If this were true, Jefferson didn’t know diddly-poo about what a ceste pool the Roman Republic was with its debauchery and corruption. Add on top of this the fact that Jefferson was a known slave owner, not just a handful, but in the hundreds. In fact, Jefferson was such a great guy of moral character and compassion that he sired an offspring with one, Sally Hemings. Of course the protectors of the Jefferson mythos deny this claim. However, thanks to DNA testing there’s a genetic link between the Jefferson and Hemings descendants. If Jefferson and Hemings where alive today, perhaps they would be on the Maury Show, where Sally would be telling Maury Povich the sordid details of their relationship and that she Just wants Tom to be a man and help out with the baby, but he won’t, so that’s were the DNA test comes in. The crowd boos at Tom and yells at him to be “the baby daddy!”
Does this sound like a guy who should come off a preaching any kind of moral code in relation to government? I don’t think so. But this authors fluffy prose illustrates the deification that gets rammed down our throats in the form of historical propaganda and most people swallow this hook line and sinker.
What about the Capitoline Hill in Rome?
Capitoline Hill. [Lat. Mons Capitolinus.] One of the original seven hills of ancient Rome, immediately contiguous to the Forum, and still bearing the same name. The Church of Ara Coeli is supposed to mark the site of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, which formerly stood upon the summit. There is a depression called the Intermontium, upon the top of the hill, forming two heights, upon the summit of one of which the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus is thought to have stood, and upon the summit of the other the Arx Capitolii.
Upon the latter mount is placed the temple which Romulus is said to have built and to have dedicated to Jupiter Feretrius. The hill was originally called Mons Saturnius, and afterwards (or certainly the whole of one side of it) Mons Tarpeia, from her who, during the war with the Sabines, longing for the golden bracelets of the enemy, and allured by the
promise of receiving that which they wore upon their arms, trencherously opened the fortress to the Sabines, and was rewarded by being crushed by the shields which they threw upon her in passing. It lastly received the name of Mons Capitolinus (or Capitolium), because in digging the foundations for the Temple 0f Jupiter (Capitolinus) a bloody human head was found, which the augurs declared to be an omen that Rome was destined to become the head of Italy. The famous Tarpeian Rock was also upon this side of the Intermentium, though its exact situation is not deﬁnitely determined. See
PIAZZA DEL CAMPIDOGLIO
Did Jefferson or the other Fathers who had a part in the creation of Washington D.C. know about the Bloody Head in their idyllic posturing of Rome? Probably not. In fact, according to the book United States Congressional serial set:
Capitol comes from caput, the head, and the Capitoline Hill, the smallest of the seven hills of Rome, was at the same time a very conspicuous landmark in the city. Other cities and heads of government have since these days erected capitols, and in America, both north and south, the Republics have adopted the idea of establishing one special building in which the legislative bodies hold their sessions.
Below are two visual representations of the Seven Hills of Rome.
Please note that the Tiber River shown in the image on the left was used to rename Goose Creek by Francis Pope, as explained in Part 1.
That the Hill of Saturn was occupied by the Sabines at the time that the Romans fortiﬁed the Palatine, has been shewn, and that it was called the Capitoline Hill after the two hills were united into one city and enclosed in one wall, as Dionysius tells us, because the
great building to contain the Public Offices for the united City was built upon it but as this is not yet generally admitted, and is still a point of dispute, a few more authorities for it may here be introduced with advantage.
However, shortly after he makes that statement, Parker states this:
In the Mirabilia Urbis Romae, the Hill of Saturn is said to be now called CAPITOLIUM, because the Senators assembled there to deliberate. In the Graphia Aurea Urbis Romae, it is said that the Capitol was the head of the world, where the Consuls and the Senators deliberated on its government.
In The Forum Romanorum, also by John Henry Parker, he states this about Capitoline Hill:
Mons Saturnius, post Tarpejus, demum Capitolinus, aliter Capitolium, ubi Deorun omnium simulacra celebrantur. The hill of Saturn, or Capitoline Hill, is fully described in Part I. of this work, Second Edition, with Plans and Photo-engravings.
He states furthermore:
Perhaps we can draw the conclusion that the architects of Washington D.C. leaned heavily on the Roman culture to pattern our system of government. Was this simply paying homage to an ideal or was there something more nefarious involved?
What’s with all the talk of Saturn and Jupiter and ancient Rome and what does this have to do with the government of our country? Well, when you investigate what Saturn means in particular you’ll see the connection, but that’s for an upcoming part.
After reading the preceding points, one can immediately draw the conclusion that there are many parallels with Rome in the political and military realms, and with the capitol city architecture. One can also read the works by The Informer and James Montgomery to see the hidden connection that the remnants of the Roman Empire has on the United States today.
But what about the spiritual? Do we emulate Rome in the spiritual sense? The key to that is Saturn.