Rome

The country is undergoing a Rome moment. HBO has a series, titled simply Rome, and set during the transition from Republic to Empire; the show has the back page ad in this week's New Yorker. The buzzed-about biography of the moment is by one Adrian Coldsworthy and titled simply 'Caesar'. Over in the wingnutsphere, people are dreaming some feverish dreams of Empire, not all of them pleasant.

And of course, our legions are currently much engaged in the precise deserts where Rome once faught; and on our Capitol Hill, some are muttering darkly of war against Persia.

There is, however, something that we can learn from Rome; they knew, at least, what should be done with troublesome emperors.