The Roman Republic in Greece: Lessons for Modern Peace/Stability Operations

Abstract

Modern theorists, developers, and practitioners of peace/stability operations should look to relevant historical examples for guidance. Despite the many centuries separating the ancient Roman Republic from today, its experiences with similar operations (perhaps “proto-peace/stability operations”) are demonstrably deeply relevant to current discussions. The Republic's structural, historical, moral, and geopolitical context and similarities to the United States and other major practitioners of today's relevant operations will be discussed, as will the concept of Roman peace. A model of international relations analysis that takes into account friendship, trust, and morality (soft power) in addition to military “realist” aspects (hard power) will be shown to be the best prism through which to analyze this material, and an in-depth examination of Rome's five major interventions in mainland Greece from 200-146 BCE will be presented with analyses of their successes and failures. The conclusion will look at the striking similarities to and relevance for modern peace/stability operations.