Comparisons between the US and the Roman Empire are very common these days. In fact, RogueClassicism is tracking them pretty much on a daily basis.
Just now, George W. Bush has arrived in Denmark for a 2-day official visit. In antipication of his visit, the Copenhagen-based Politiken newspaper interviewed a broad spectrum of political commentators, journalists, writers, business people, etc. about what they would tell Bush if they were his hosts (2 July, frontpage and p. 2 of the Culture section). Unsurprisingly, the answers ranged from hostile to fairly enthusiastic, but everyone had a piece of advice for him. I noted some of the advice of Imam Abu Laban from Islamisk Trossamfund (‘Islamic Faith Community’) – in my translation:
Q. What present would you like to give him to take home?
A. I would give him any book on the greatness and fall of the Roman Empire – as a reminder that no condition is ever permanent. If everyone read such a book, humanity would be better off.
To be fair to Bush, I read somewhere that he quite likes Cicero! Anyway, Politiken also has a detailed description of his plans for the visit as well a dedicated page with related news on their website.
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