Let’s Respond Like Romans to the Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol
How 5th-Century Senators Took Responsibility, Accepted Punishment, and Restored Trust in Government After a Damaging Insurrection
How should we respond when our capital is attacked?
One enduring answer to that question lies in the ways that Romans responded after the sacking of Rome by the Visigoths and their king, Alaric, in the year 410 CE.
That fall of Rome is among the most famous and closely studied attacks on a capital in world history. It also shares some key particulars with the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Perhaps most notably, just as some American politicians spurred on the insurrectionists of Jan. 6, a group of …
