From 335 BC to 1521, at different points across nearly two millennia, four great civilizations lost a war and then ceased to exist. There’s nothing particularly anomalous about a people going extinct. Throughout history, civilizations have disappeared in a number of ways. Sometimes, the catalyst is natural, an act of God or the gods: earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, plagues, and the like. Sometimes, human aggressors are to blame. The pace of calamity also varies—obliteration can occur quickly or creep over decades or longer. In his latest book, The End of Everything, military historian and classicist Victor Davis Hanson focuses on a narrow class of civilizational catastrophe: the abrupt, wartime annihilation of a people at the hands of a final enemy. He considers a tetrad of representative cases: the leveling of classical Thebes by Alexander the Great, the erasure of Punic Carthage by Scipio Aemilianus, the Ottoman conquest and transformation of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed II, and the obliteration of the Aztec empire at Tenochtitlán by Hernán Cortés.
With an introductory overview on civilizational decline, four chapters each giving a deep dive narrative into the respective sacking of one of his case studies, and a final epilogue tying it all together, Hanson is in vintage form. In crisp and engrossing prose illuminated by meticulous insight, expertise, and wisdom, he makes the death of entire peoples come alive. But Hanson’s aspiration extends beyond this. Through a post-mortem analysis of each lost civilization, he uncovers why they became so vulnerable to destruction and leverages his findings to warn the modern world—America included: we are not immune from a repeat of these tragedies.
Continue reading at Civitas institute here.
Marc LiVecche is the McDonald Distinction Scholar on War, Ethics, and Public Life at Providence: A Journal of Christianity & American Foreign Policy and adjunct professor of ethics at the US Naval Academy. He is the author of The Good Kill: Just War and Moral Injury.
Comment by David on May 14, 2025 at 7:05 am
“While “nation” and “country” are often used interchangeably, they have distinct meanings. A nation refers to a group of people who share a common culture, history, or language, often with a sense of belonging. A country is a political entity with defined borders and a government, often encompassing multiple nations. A “nation-state” is a country where the population is largely unified by a shared national identity.”
The US is clearly not a nation, nor is it an empire in the sense of the ancient examples cited. These tended to dominate conquered territories for the purpose of extracting wealth and taxes. These empires tended to fall when the oppressed rebelled. Both the Aztec (more properly Mexica) and Inca empires were politically unstable prior to the arrival of the Spanish and the introduction of smallpox.
The US did go through a period of colonialism related to the Spanish-American
War. Some territories such as the Philippines did not remain under US control.
At the end of WWII, the US was one of the few major industrialized countries not to have been devasted by the war. For a time, this put the US in a leading position. With the rebuilding of Europe, Japan, and China, this advantage was lost. In many metrics, the US is now behind other places, though Americans often deny this to be the case. Indeed, pointing out a shortcoming often brings the suggestion to relocate elsewhere.
Comment by Different Steve on May 14, 2025 at 10:25 am
Leftists Are Furious Over South African Refugees… Because They Are White?
The progressive controlled Episcopal Church has broken ties with the federal government and its immigration programs exactly because Trump is importing whites. The church states:
“In light of our church’s steadfast commitment to racial justice and reconciliation and our historic ties with the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, we are not able to take this step…Accordingly, we have determined that, by the end of the federal fiscal year, we will conclude our refugee resettlement grant agreements with the U.S. federal government…”
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/leftists-are-furious-over-south-african-refugees-because-they-are-white
Comment by Tim Mc on May 14, 2025 at 2:23 pm
Maybe the Episcopal Church needs to save money since half their members have left and this is a way to save face by blaming the Federal government for quitting this program?
Makes you wonder?
Comment by Different Steve on May 14, 2025 at 11:13 pm
They got plenty money from the government for programs like this but I thought that money was being cut off. So I figured the programs were going to go bye bye regardless due to a hypocritical unwillingness to pay for it out of their own pockets. But didn’t anticipate either white refugees or the church disavowing them (three times before the cock crows?). Hopefully they won’t reconsider and go judge shopping trying to force the government to continue the programs minus the white refugees.