Читать книгу Why Rome Fell - Michael Arnheim - Страница 54

As discussed above, Sir Ronald Syme, the author of the magisterial and aptly named The Roman Revolution on Augustus’s rise to power, was well aware that the new regime was a monarchy, but his focus on the prosopography of the senatorial aristocracy led him into a blind alley: “A monarchy rules through an oligarchy.” (Syme 1939, p. 8.) He continues: “In all ages, whatever the form and name of government or whatever may be the name and theory of the constitution, be it monarchy, republic, or democracy, an oligarchy lurks behind the façade.” (Syme 1939, 7, 15.) Identifying monarchy with its diametric opposite, oligarchy, in this sweeping assertion is a serious logical category error.