Corruption is a blight on our political culture. On the campaign trail, Donald Trump has said that “when you give [politicians money], they do whatever the hell you want them to do,” essentially admitting to quid pro quo corruption. Trump has made a point of bragging about donating to politicians in exchange for favors, including a donation to Hillary Clinton in order to purchase her attendance at his third wedding.
Clinton herself is also marred by corruption; she has been involved in manifold scandals, from Whitewater to advocating for financial reform mere months after giving many six-figure speeches at investment banks.
These are the two presidential frontrunners in the world’s greatest republic; accompanied by the voluminous pork barrel spending and the insurmountable influence of lobbyists on Congress, our nation is in an existential crisis. Massive corruption in a constitutional republic is nothing new, however. Widespread corruption in the last half-century of the Roman Republic contributed to its demise.
Corruption always existed on a small scale in Rome but became consequential for the first time in the lead-up to the Jugurthine War of 112-105 BC when Jugurtha, a king in modern-day Algeria, influenced Roman foreign policy to favor him through bribery. Later, Julius Caesar was the most profligate distributor of bribes that history had yet seen. He bribed his way into the office of Pontifex Maximus in 63 BC and into the Consulship in 59.
Bribery was illegal in Rome, carrying a sentence of 10 years in exile, but the law was barely enforced because of the fine line that existed between liberality and bribery. Politicians provided free meals to the urban poor served on dishes with their names and campaign slogans inscribed and gifts to their patrician allies. This was one cause of Rome’s increasing polarization between its two political parties, the Optimates and the Populares.
In the face of this ubiquitous corruption, one man was incorruptible—Cato the Younger. Cato never engaged in bribery, saying it was only permissible under one circumstance: to stop the election of Caesar to the consulship, though sources differ on this. His integrity set him back politically; he had to resort to other means, like filibustering unconstitutional laws and giving great speeches, in order to advance politically. He lost the election to the Consulship, Rome’s highest office, in 52 BC largely because he would not engage in bribery or graft to win the election. Cato was famous for his incorruptibility and stubborn integrity, and he is remembered as a staunch advocate of traditional republicanism and the Roman constitution.
Cato’s example provides us guidance on how to combat corruption in our time.
The American people must elect incorruptible politicians like Cato. They may seem hard to find, but in a political environment rife with corruption, the incorruptible will be outsiders. Cato was despised by the political establishment of his day, the First Triumvirate, and found only a few allies among traditional constitutionalists. Likewise, Ted Cruz is reviled by the Republican establishment for his stubborn persistence for reform to our immigration system, tax structure and entitlement programs just as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are opposed by the Democratic establishment for their passionate plans to reform the financial system.
Cato’s other major project was to restore Rome’s traditional constitutional order. Rome’s term limits and age requirements for office and honors were routinely violated since Marius held seven consulships at the turn of the first century BC. Rome’s leaders also increasingly neglected the advice of the Senate in favor of the approval of the people, a perversion of Rome’s constitutional tradition. Americans should return their government to its original constitutional order as well. Unfortunately, a minority faction of the Republican party is the only group advocating for this.
Americans must act now by electing a President willing to return power to the Congress, the Courts, the States and the People if our constitutional system is to survive.
Three years after Cato lost his election to the consulship in 52 BC, Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, initiating a civil war. The next year, Caesar won the Battle of Pharsalus. This victory ended republican government for 1,500 years. Cato fled Rome for Utica in Africa, and when it became obvious that Caesar had consolidated power, Cato killed himself, unwilling to acknowledge Caesar’s authority or to live under a dictator. We can only hope our republic and our incorruptible citizens will have a different fate.
Paul Forrester is a Trinity freshman.
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