Star Wars = Rome

I know there has been a thread comparing Star Wars to world history, but that is old now. And this one focuses on just comparing it to Rome.

Alright, we start out with a Republic. Rome had a Republic as well. There was a little corrupt in both of them. And in Rome there was also a group of people called the Etruscans, which represents the Jedi. They helped the Romans out and got them started in civilization. But one day, the Romans betray and murder all of them living with them. Sound familiar?

Anyway, moving on. A dictator in Rome is someone who takes over power for 6 months, but willingly gives the power back (Chancellor). Then Julius Caesar (Palpatine) comes to power, but doesn't give it back. Then he takes full control of Rome, and his reign, with the help of Octavian (Anakin), later known as Caesar Agustus (Vader) turns the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Palpatine takes full power and the Galactic Republic becomes the Galactic Empire, with the help of Vader.

Now let's move into the fall of the two Empires. Although Julius Caesar and Caesar Agustus don't live until the fall of their Empire (like Vader and Palpatine), they do die in somewhat similar ways. A group of rebels comes and slowly makes the Empires decay. In Rome it was the northern barbarians and the Huns. In Star Wars it was the Rebel Alliance.

There may be a few things that are significantly different, like some good hearted people ruling the Roman Empire, and no Separatist movement, but I think it can be said that Star Wars and Ancient Rome are somewhat parallel.

 

I definitely agree with the broader parallels between the two stories, as they can both serve as morality tales.

I am not too sure about the nitty-gritty details, though. I don't know if GL was basing Sidious' and Vader's roles upon actual Roman dictators.

Interesting coincidence, though.

 

I've always thought of Hitler and Palpatine to have used similiar methods to establish their reign, and done similiar things once in power (well, except Hitler never really did well in WW2 post-1941), but yes there are parallels here as well.

Something really good about Star Wars politics is the blatant use of propaganda done by Palpatine, similiar to the propaganda Ministry of the Nazis.

Hitler - "The Jews are planning to take over the world!! If they are not all destroyed it will be world war without end!! Do what must be done, SS guards!! Do not hesitate, show no mercy!!"

"The Jews started World War 2 as one stage in their master plan for world domination, and if Germany loses as of course the Jews intend, then there will be nothing in the world to stop them from establishing a tyranny over the rest of the world!!"

 

I think it's interesting how that parallels Palpatine's anti-Jedi propaganda in ROTS. Specifically the first sentence about the Jews/Jedi planning to take over.

 

I agree that there are parallels to Rome, but there are also differences, the key difference being the armies. The most important thing for any dictator to establish his reign is the backing of a strong military. In Palpatine's case, he was in office before he ever had an army, and built one. In Ceaser's case, he had a strong military backing before he even took office. As some others have been saying, I would parallel Palpatine's rise more to that of Hitler. When Hitler was elected, Germany had no army. Because of WWI, they were forbbiden to have an army in the Treaty of Versilles. In addition, Germany was in utter chaos. The Treatiy of Versilles absolutley crippled them. They were forced to pay almost all of the costs of the war. Inflation was so outrageous, people needed wheelbarrows full of cash just for a loaf of bread. But it was getting worse. There were fires, riots, etc. A lot of which Hitler secretley helped to create for 2 reasons: 1) to eliminate his opposition, and 2) to create civil unrest and instability in the country. Upon taking office, he asked for emergency powers so that he could get the country back on track. He took them with the understanding that he would lay his powers down when the country was back on track. Once he had these powers, he disregarded the Treaty of Versiles and built a military. once he had a military, there was no stopping him.

 

Rome fell chiefly due to Barbarian invasions, not internal rebellions. More importantly, I think it would be hard to argue generally that the Roman Republic was basically good and the Roman Empire basically evil. The Republic was an oligarchy and the empire went back and forth between repressive dictatorship (Nero, Caligula, Domitian, etc.) and benevolent despotism (Augustus, Nerva, Trajan, etc.).

 

In my Roman History class back in the early 90s (pre-prequels) my professor told us that Star Wars was based on Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, essential reading in Roman history.