Sulla The Fortunate The Great Dictator 1927

The role and development of the Roman dictatorship over three centuries

This book is a study of Sulla’s policies in Italy and in the Greek East. Its main aim is to show how Sulla revived Rome’s alliances with the local elites at a critical moment for the survival of her Mediterranean hegemony. The discussion calls into play a wide range of political, economic and religious issues, and the argument is developed from three complementary standpoints: role of elites, administration, and ideology. Sulla, the Elites and the Empire deals with both the impact of a prominent individual and the impact of the Roman empire. It sets outs to offer a new understanding of Sulla and his age and, more generally, to contribute to the understanding of the late Roman Republic.

When reviewing the first edition in the Times Literary Supplement, Stephen Koss wrote that Fellow Travellers of the Right 'should be required reading for those who believe that ignorance under any circumstances can deter evil'. One can see why. So topsy-turvy had attitudes become in certain circles that the accusation of being 'unquestionably the biggest war-monger in the world today' was levelled at Churchill, not Hitler! In the author's words 'this book is an attempt to study the various forms of motivation which led to this phenomenon (pro-Nazi sympathies in Britain). It is also an attempt to assess the years in which approval for Nazi Germany became greater or less, and the possible reasons for these changes.' The author goes on to say, 'The pattern of British pro-Nazism is at first sight surprising. After a slow start in the 1933-35 period, it reached a high peak in the years 1936 and 1937, after which it gradually declined until, at the outbreak of the war, it was confined to extremist groups and isolated outcrops of specially motivated approval.' From misguided writers like Edmund Blunden and Henry Williamson to altogether more sinister figures like Lord Londonderry and Sir Arnold Wilson, the roll-call of 'fellow travellers of the Right' is disturbing. Richard Griffiths' acclaimed and much-sought-after book remains the best on the subject.

The word sovereignty means one who is above all. It is the supreme and highest power. The Christian defines the Sovereign Lord as unlimited, independent, with original authority. For fallen man, sovereignty belongs to the state because the state is the source of law. Since the Christian can have no other gods (Ex. 20:3), history is defined appropriately by Augustine as a conflict between the City of Man and the City of God. As in all conflicts, we must choose this day whom we will serve. Calvinists often limit the doctrine of sovereignty to a systematic theological definition of God. Much more work is needed in developing the implications of sovereignty for the Kingdom of God and its application in terms of the law-word of God. In this posthumously published volume, R. J. Rushdoony examines the comprehensive implications of God's sovereignty with a clear eye to critiquing the various places where man posits sovereignty-especially the sovereign state. This is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the crises of our times.

Vols. 1-8, 1880-87, plates published separately and numbered I-LXXXIII.