712 words
Virtus was the highest moral aspiration of Roman patriots. It had a simple meaning: Rome before oneself. Romans were judged by their service to the common good. To our own Founding Fathers, virtus was the “central element in public life.” The architects of this country were inspired chiefly by the Roman example.
Since Rome was our race’s greatest political experiment, we should look there for guidance. A vigorous culture of virtus, i.e. public spiritedness animates every strong society. Virtus makes China the strongest country in the world today, and virtus will fuel any European return to greatness.
Of course, virtus must be rooted in that “great physical, philosophical, and moral truth” of race differences. Rome collapsed in large part due to its racial ignorance. Historians trace its decline from the overthrow of its family farm system, where slave plantations were worked by foreigners from conquered territories. The city itself had been a multicultural basket case for centuries before the Western Empire died with a whimper in 476 AD.
The endless confusion over Rome’s downfall by modern historians is yet another example of our society’s childish refusal to accept racial disparities. Like all mighty powers, what made Rome great at its inception was its people. Morality and order can be restored. Race cannot. Obviously, a return to virtus will matter today only if it is enjoined with the racial coherence Rome possessed at its finest hours.
But biology alone is not enough. We cannot compete with the idealism of the Left with sterile appeals for a “meritocratic society.” Nationalism is what Americans want, and passionate appeals to national virtus are necessary to end replacement and repossess our territories.
Europe is genetically similar to its golden eras, but its civilization has been in humiliating decline since the Second World War. That will remain the case as long as we sleepwalk under the moral sorcery of a formidable enemy whose religion is simply racial idealism. It doesn’t matter how capable a people is. In a world of competing tribes, nations without virtus will be replaced by nations that have it.
To a Roman, the object of virtus was obvious. It was devoted to the glory of their city, their empire, and their gods. But it applied more directly to the state, which secured and furthered Roman greatness.
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An American’s allegiance belongs not to the regime on the Potomac, but to the white nation that regime is warring against. White Nationalists are the only people fighting for America as a white nation. Our nation’s survival depends entirely on the success or failure of our movement. Nothing else matters to us in terms of virtus as public service. There is no difference between a Roman’s duty to the Roman state and an American’s duty to white advocacy institutions.
No one else is coming to save us. We are the knight, not the princess. To a Roman, that would have been invigorating, not demoralizing.
What White Nationalists must concentrate virtus toward won’t look like the Pantheon — at least not at first. But we can build something like a state. We can build political institutions designed for attaining power. The popular demand is there. The time is now.
Alexander the Great died at my age. Julius Caesar visited Alexander’s burial site at my age as well. Even though Caesar was already Rome’s greatest military leader, he lamented how little he had accomplished compared to Alexander.
I’ve done little in comparison to such men. But since I became a nationalist, I have been filled with their obsessive drive to virtus. I hope it proves contagious. Together, this community can play a decisive role in liberating white identity. But we must believe in victory before it becomes achievable.
If you haven’t contacted me yet, please do at [email protected]. The purpose of getting in touch is to begin a conversation we’ll have for many years into the future. We need virtus in our movement, and it can only spring from camaraderie. Camaraderie exists only through meaningful relationships.
Join us on this journey to build a new Troy like the archetypal Roman, Aeneas. If his virtus, which was shared by every great European, radiates through the ranks of this movement, we will win.
It’s that simple.
Robert Wallace
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17 comments
A good piece which stimulated some disorganised and rambling thoughts of my own. Virtus literally manliness, or courage. To follow the mos maiorum, the customs of the Great Ones, the ancestors, was pietas and it was supported not only by civic pride but by a living religion. Within the Pomerium the Rome was a sacred space and strict taboos were enforced to shield her from pollution. Likewise the family home, the domus, wherein the paterfamilias, the senior male of the family, was literally the priest of the ancestral cult, wielding powers of life or death. Robert Wallace is perceptive to compare Ancient Rome to China, for there too, until fairly recently, an ancestral cultus dominated domestic life, again mediated by the senior male or ‘elder brother’. But before we reach for Cato, Livy or Confucius we should reflect on the roots of our own national ethos, stemming from the more loosely affiliated and individualistic Germanic world. We can contrast the Anglo-American Common Law, wherein “An Englishman’s Home is his Castle” with Roman-influenced codes in continental Europe. Perhaps we should aspire to be more like Tolkien’s Hobbits, tranquil in the orderly utopias our people can create if left to their own devices. Non virtus sed hobbitas?
Fantastic comment, Vehmgericht. Thank you. Next time I do an article on the Romans (I plan to do another on pietas, in fact), I’d like to send to you and Kathryn S. for review and discussion. Virtus as public-spiritedness and pietas as national devotion should be form our movement ethic. Please send me an email and I hope to speak with you about the policy institute soon.
Sorry to all for responding belatedly. I’ve been on the road meeting with our supporters about the obvious.
Thank you for the flattering remarks, but really I am just a miseducated muddle -head who posts my poorly thought-out and turgidly expressed thoughts on here from time to time. I am no kind of expert on Classics, Ancient History or indeed anything germane to the problems we grapple with. I think there might be Counter-Currents contributors who are actual academic authorities in such areas (semi-undercover as befits the times) and I would hope the editorial arrangements under this site’s admirable and erudite Proprietor would encompass obtaining their input on follow-ups to your very stimulating and timely piece. The radical Left is engaged in poisoning and dismantling every idea and institution that white Europeans have created, allying themselves with hostile incomers, malcontents and lunatics in the name of ‘justice’ and ‘equity’. That goal overlaps with the intentions of the global economic elite who benefit from the fungibility of labour and the atomisation of culture, and therein lies the great danger. As you rightly point out, the decline of traditional patrician Roman religion and the slowly increasing dependence of the Roman elite upon slaves and foedorati (whole nations of incomers contracted to service the Empire) culminated in the collapse of Roman civilisation in the West. It is our urgent task to point out the parallels with our own times and your piece succeeds admirably I feel.
A clear admonishment. I like your terse style. Well said.
Getting to speak with you a few weeks ago was edifying, Robert. I’d encourage anyone to take you up on your offer. We’ve got to start making real-world connections.
Thank you, James. It was great speaking with you too. I wish I had written about how well we’re doing with outreach. I haven’t had conversations with this many people over this time span in my life. But then again, I am hungry to bring more and more people into the conversation about the Institute. Look forward to catching up again soon, sir. Please stay in touch!
Will do, Robert. I look forward to helping any way I can when the time comes.
“To a Roman, that would have been invigorating, not demoralizing.”
This is a great point, and advice too. Understandably many people within the movement are ‘blackpilled’, but one should know that this kind of negative energy can always be diverted to a positive end. It’s important to work towards our goals, but also to see that no one gets demoralized, even though times are tough. Our moment is now, let’s not waste it.
Thanks, Oliwier. We need a institution with a convincing roadmap to political influence. Without such an institution, it’s hard to be hopeful. We cannot rely on others to do this for us. But this is what we’re building and every single person (over 60) I’ve spoken to sees this as the most plausible path. Every single person — that’s not an exaggeration — and our people are intelligent — so we’re onto something. We have the right strategy, the right personnel, and an adequate base of support to start the process. Like any serious institution, we will have a detailed proposal for presentations. This will lay out exactly what we’ll be doing during the first year and how it gets us closer to the ultimate prize. I look forward to sharing that with you.
It’s easy to get demoralized when it appears no progress is being made. But as Robert said, we can become agents of change, rather than passively waiting for a savior that may never arrive. If you’re blackpilled about how atomized and isolated our movement is, here’s an opportunity to reverse that.
I spoke with Robert recently and it was an uplifting and invigorating talk. Hopefully this was the first step in gradually building a real-world community. It won’t happen though if you don’t take some initiative.
Thank you, Jasper. Had a great time speaking with you. Look forward to catching up once again when the proposal is completed. You will be pleased to hear we are moving at a “furious speed” with the outreach. Hope you are faring well, my friend.
Thank you for a very concrete and uplifting message. Yes, we really need to get together with others in the WN universe. Covid has stopped me from travelling and from making contacts anywhere in the vast metropolis of Los Angeles City and Country, but I’m sure friends are out there waiting to be discovered. Also, I’m a ‘senior Boomer’, so I have different outlooks than most of our younger members. I enjoy Classical music more than Rock, Rap and Ranchero, and, God forbid, Metal, and enjoy art museums more than movies. But we all have to drop our individual preferences and work together to keep this piece of land together with its White citizens who built it originally. We have given back massive acres of land to our ‘First Peoples’, the Indians. We have freed the Black slaves and given them 10 times over enough welfare for them to make a good life for themselves. So, we have to stop with ‘caring’ about those problems anymore.
Two major problems face us today, problems we can address somehow together: the wide open borders and Immigration/Invasion being foisted upon us; and the interminable Drug Problem, which is destroying mostly White youth. It is NOT OK to take any mind-altering drugs when we have the finest brains on the planet!
That said, I will contact Mr. Wallace and ask humbly — what can I do to help? I’ve muddled along with these problems in my head for a long time without actually doing anything. Thanks for any help you can suggest.
I’d like to connect with Mr. Robert Wallace, but as usual, I’m not savvy enough to make sense of the process. I’m sure, Mrs. Wallace, the mail dept. of CC has my email, if you wish to contact me. Thanks. I really enjoyed your post on ancient Rome today.
I look forward to speaking with you!
Interesting & worthwhile article. I’m not too informed about all the white nationalist stuff but I am somewhat knowledgeable on Roman history and it is to those points that I’ll address myself. Besides I thought all the white nationalists were locked up in jail after the January 6th insurrection attempt?
Historians present a confused appearance about the end of the Roman Empire paralleling the on-going disintegration of the American Empire. It’s like one of those things about “Diversity Being our Greatest Strength”. By now it’s so patently obvious that Diversity is Not a strength that none but vivacious, young, white chicks, sporting Biden/Harris bumper stickers, would protest otherwise. But the Intelligensia in our country would never openly admit otherwise: just like scholars avoid the obvious about the demise of the Roman Empire.
There are several interesting books on the subject.
Mortal Republic by Watts and The Storm before the Storm by Duncan both discuss the events that led to the changeover from the Roman Republic to the Empire (in 27 BC). But to many Romans the change was minor and in fact it was the Empire (27BC – 476 AD or 480 AD) that represents Rome at her greatest point.**
The book most relevant to us and really about the population change that led to “The Fall of Rome” is Peter Heather’s classic book: The Fall of the Roman Empire. In fact this whole era has recently taken on the name of “The Migration Era” to describe the waves of different barbarians that invaded the empire and permanently settled in its lands.
I also collect low-value Roman coins and love to lecture on the histories to any unsuspecting strangers I can ensnare. Good reason for you to avoid the Southern USA for one of your dinner meeting things…
** yes I know that I’m leaving off the Eastern or Greco-Roman, or Byzantine Empire which ended in 1453 AD.
I should mention that the underline thing doesn’t seem to work in our comments. I underlined all the book titles, which is standard biblio practice, but it didn’t work.
Ha! Wrong! We’d love to have you at a Southern event. I’ll have Cyan email you if she hasn’t already.
A successful political movement needs an ethic and a combination of virtus as public spiritedness and pietas as national devotion would serve us as well. I’ll tie this together in a future article.
Thanks for the book recommendations and I’d like to see those Roman coins of yours someday.
Thanks Mr. Wallace.
Unfortunately, I’ll be unable to make the AFPACIII event in Orlando this weekend but I’ll pass it on to an acquaintance met at the AR conference. He lives near there.
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