A Lesson From Rome: You Cannot Welcome Armed, Unassimilated Enemies and Expect to Survive

In the Louvre there’s a famous painting by the French Artist Jacques-Louis David depicting the Intervention of the Sabine Women. In it the Sabine men, whose daughters were stolen by and then married to Romans in the mid-8^th century BC, returned to avenge Roman treachery and retrieve their offspring.  The scene depicts a woman standing between the belligerents, imploring them to cease fighting:  "If you are weary of these ties of kindred, these marriage-bonds, then turn your anger upon us; it is we who are the cause of the war, it is we who have wounded and slain our husbands and fathers. Better for us to perish rather than live without one or the other of you, as widows or as orphans."

The men stopped fighting and eventually the Sabines became Roman citizens. This strategy of conquest and integration would characterize Rome for much of the next 1100 years. Other than perhaps Egypt, most conquered lands became essentially Roman. This is demonstrated by the extensive Roman ruins found in places like Britain, Portugal, Algeria, Turkey and more.  Although most would never become Roman citizens, their lives would have had similar characteristics throughout the Empire. What’s more, when armies would attack Rome, when they were defeated, which they almost always were, the Romans would sell the women and children (who sometimes traveled with armies) into slavery and the men, if not sold into slavery, would be conscripted into the Legions, but sent to regions far from their native lands.

The result of this was that for most of its history Rome faced relatively few consequential internal rebellions beyond civil wars between rival generals. With the 4^th century AD however, that would change. As the Huns moved east from the steppes they began attacking various tribes who would then plead with Rome for asylum. Sometimes willingly and sometimes not, the Romans allowed the Goths, Vandals and others to move into the Empire. But what was different now was that rather than breaking up these foreign powers and disbursing their members throughout the Empire, the Romans allowed them to settle intact on Roman lands. Armed groups living in their own communities, separate from the Romans and maintaining their cultures with no assimilation demanded.  This would be a recipe for disaster and Rome, which, having lasted for more than a millennium, was gone within a century. 

The leaders of the United States and the EU should have paid a little closer attention in history class because they’re mimicking the Roman Empire of the mid-4^th century…

In both places politicians have either tolerated or encouraged an open border for much of the last quarter century with the result being that the United States today houses upwards of 30 million illegal aliens while in Europe the number may be half that.

In both cases, most of the immigrants crossing the borders come from countries with far higher crime rates, far lower income levels and much different cultures.  In the United States illegal immigrants largely come from Mexico and Latin America while in Europe they come from Syria, Afghanistan and other countries in Asia and Africa. 

As immigrants have often done throughout history, when they move to a new place they seek out brethren from their home countries or people which whom they share customs or languages.  Indeed, that’s exactly what the Italians in New York did at the turn of the century. 

The difference here however is that when the Italians moved to New York or the Irish moved to Boston, their goal was to integrate and become Americans. Today’s immigrants to the United States don’t seem to have that same desire.  They may want to become citizens so they can stay permanently, but that doesn’t mean they want to be American.  Indeed, half of American Hispanics are from Mexico and a significant portion of them believe that America’s Southwest is stolen land that rightfully should be returned to Mexico.  At the same time, most of Europe’s newly arrived are from Islamic nations and their allegiance is to Islam, not their new homes.

That’s a problem because successful societies are built around core, fundamental values that are shared by the overwhelming majority of the population. Ideas such as free speech and freedom of religion, individual rights and private property – to various degrees, while they were not always core tenants of western civilization, are so today, or at least were until quite recently.  Without those shared fundamental notions it’s difficult for western nations to function properly. 

It's one thing for a nation to have competing powers within the existing framework, think Democrats and Republicans, but it’s another thing all together if the competing power wants to split off a quarter of the nation or wants to impose Sharia law. 

Recent events have demonstrated exactly how deep the problems are. Across Europe over the last two years there have been giant pro Hamas demonstrations, some of which devolved into violence.  Across the United States Donald Trump’s attempt to begin to ramp up deportations has been met with violence against ICE agents and in California, it devolved into riots with law enforcement members being pelted with rocks, bottles and various incendiaries while cars were set afire, stores looted and the LAPD headquarters attacked.

Of course, demonstrations and riots happen in any country, but when they are symbols of a bigger fissure that’s a problem. 

In both cases these illegals and their predecessors, many of whom have been legalized, seek to fundamentally change the nature of the countries they now call home. Of course invaders always want to change the nature of the place they invade, just as the Romans did as they were growing their empire.  The difference is when the Romans invaded a new land the people already there usually fought them to maintain their culture. They usually lost, but at least they had enough pride in their culture to fight for it. What we see across the west today is just the opposite.  From Sweden to the UK to Spain and the US, leaders have for years worshiped at the altar of guilt and sought to repent by welcoming millions from cultures far different than their own.  Most of these leaders have been under the delusion that if they welcome these invaders with open arms, give them shelter, food, phones and more that they’ll somehow respect the culture of their new homes and assimilate accordingly. 

Not only did they not do so, but rather many attacked the very people and culture that welcomed them. From skyrocketing rapes and bombings in Sweden to knife crime and rape rings in the UK to drug dealing and taking over apartment complexes in Denver, these illegals have made it perfectly clear that they see their new homes not as refuges from some dysfunctional dystopia, but rather as fertile ground to be exploited. They have no intention of assimilating, and in reality, who can blame them?  If a nation doesn’t care enough about its citizens and its culture to protect them, why should anyone else? 

Here in America we finally have a leader who understands the danger and is doing something about it.  If the leaders of Europe don’t follow Donald Trump’s lead soon they may find that it’s too late.    

 

Follow me on X at @ImperfectUSA

First published on June 11, 2025

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/06/learn_from_the_romans_you_cannot_welcome_armed_unassimilated_enemies.html

A Sixth Sense About Democrats

Memory is a strange thing. Arthur M. Schlesinger writes in A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House that JFK once said that his brain was filled with random bits of what he called useless information and he often had memory of how he’d come to know it in the first place.  The example he used is that he knew for some reason that the level of salt in our blood is the same as in ocean water. For myself, memory is like a roulette wheel where I’ll forget someone’s name two seconds after being introduced but somehow remember the color of the corduroy pants my mother made me wear 50 years ago… maroon and gold!

It's into this hodgepodge of my memory that something sticks out like a pulsar in the dark of space:  The moment the ring drops to the floor in the movie The Sixth Sense, when we suddenly realize Bruce Willis’s character is dead. I was simply dumbfounded. It immediately made sense, but I couldn’t believe that I’d not recognized it the whole time. The movie flashes back over the different scenes from Willis’s newly revealed perspective and it was suddenly as if I’d just watched a different movie than the one I’d actually seen.  From Willis’s eyes everything was clearly there, but I simply hadn’t seen it. The signs were there, but I just didn’t recognize them…

That movie came back to me this week when a piece of news came out that was every bit as crystalizing as that ring crashing to the floor and rolling. The Democrats hate Americans.  As millions of Americans picked themselves up and surveyed the extraordinary damage wrought by hurricane Helene, to their horror they discovered that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, an agency specifically set up to help American citizens and communities recover from natural disasters exactly like Helene, had run out of money.  And it wasn’t because the agency wasn’t given any money.  No, FEMA didn’t have any money to help Americans who had lost everything, were waiting to be rescued or who were hungry and thirsty because… the Biden / Harris administration spent $1 billion in the last two years providing housing and other services to illegal aliens.  Literally, a program specifically created to help Americans recover from disasters didn’t have any money left to help Americans recover from disasters because it had spent all it’s money on services for people who had come into the country illegally. 

Like that bouncing ring in the movie, that ill spent $1 billion released a cacophony of images of the disdain in which Democrats hold American citizens. The release of at least 425,000 convicted criminal illegal aliens into the heart of America, including 13,000 convicted murders and 15,000 who were convicted of sexual assault! California literally making it illegal require proof of citizenship when seeking to vote. Native born Americans losing 850,000 jobs over the last year while foreign born workers added a whopping 1.2 million!

And if there was any suggestion that the disastrous response to Helene was somehow a fluke by an otherwise effective administration, one merely needs to recognize that it comes on the heels of equally disastrous responses to calamities in Maui and East Palestine, OH.  The indifference to the plight of distressed Americans stands in stark contrast to the laser focus the Democrats have had for sending hundreds of billions of dollars to the extraordinarily corrupt government of Ukraine, flying illegals into the American heartland or using NGO’s to hide from the American people the billions spent on illegals.

This American horror story of despair should (but likely won’t) shock Democrat voters into recognizing that the party to whom they have given fealty hates America, disregards her Constitution and sees her citizens – including themselves – as nothing more than cows to milk then eventually butcher.    

How much love for their country can a party have that not only allows, but encourages and assists in the invasion of its own country by eight million people in four years, a population of larger than 37 out of 50 states?

How much value does a party put on the lives of citizens when it unleashes 13,000 known brutal killers into their midst?

How concerned for the safety and security of women and children can a party be that releases 15,000 rapists to prey upon them?

The answer is simple to all three questions is the same:  None.

Eight million illegals in four years.  A total of 640,000 criminals, 13,000 murderers and 15,000 rapists!   Of course the Democrat’s propaganda machine immediately jumped in and protect Biden /Harris by claiming that less than 5% of that number were released during their administration. So we’re supposed to believe that of the “11 million” illegal aliens released in America before Biden was installed, 420,000 of them, or 3.8% were convicted criminals, but of the 8 million released by Border czar Harris a mere 20,000 were convicted criminals, or a rate of .0025%.  So, somehow, of the illegals arriving before the Biden / Harris administration 1 in 25 was a criminal but magically of those arriving during it, only 1 in 4,000 were.  Umm... sure.

And none of this is incidental.  It’s deliberate. Democrat sanctuary cities and states have been obstructing ICE and federal immigration enforcement for decades and just days after his instillation Joe Biden eliminated some of the most powerful border protection programs Donald Trump had put into place…

Later, when Arizona built a wall of shipping containers to try and stem the flow of illegals across its border, Biden and Harris sued to force their removal.  Then, Texas installed floating barriers in a effort to interdict illegal crossings of – and reduce drownings in – the Rio Grande, again, Joe Biden and Border Czar Kamala Harris sued for their removal.

And for those states like California who leave their border as welcoming as an Amsterdam brothel, the Democrats reward them by flying hordes of illegals to other states like Texas who have been fighting the invasion largely on their own.

All of this should be a red flag to Americans. Democrats clearly value illegal immigrants over American citizens.  Even for those Americans animated by abortion rights or poverty programs or green energy, things that usually align directly with Democrats, the fact that Democrats prioritize illegals over citizens to the point of putting the lives of said citizens at risk should give them pause.  The truth is, it’s hard to fight poverty or save the planet if you’re broke, or worse, dead. 

Just as that bouncing ring woke Bruce Willis’s character up to the reality that was there in front of him the whole time, Helene's showcasing of the demonstrable truth that Democrats have for decades prioritized illegal aliens above American citizens should wake blue voters up to the notion that the party can and will sacrifice anything for power, including the safety, security and indeed, the lives of Americans… The Republicans may be a flawed party, but they at least have a clear plan:  Close the border and deport illegals.  Go to any Trump rally and if nothing else you walk away knowing one thing, his objective is to prioritize and protect the lives and prosperity of American citizens. After all, isn’t that basically why governments are constituted in the first place.