Historical Insights for the US-Mexico Border Crisis
Everybody in the United States, regardless of political standing, seems to agree that the situation at the US-Mexico border is a crisis. Solutions have been pitched by both political parties and there are activists trying to make changes in all sorts of ways. Nobody seems to know how to handle the situation. However, some of us modern folk forget that there was an almost-identical situation that occurred over 1600 years ago that may provide some insights as to what decisions must be made regarding the border crisis and what mistakes must be avoided at all costs.
In the year 376 AD, an ethnic group outside the Roman Empire called the Goths, had been attacked by the Huns, who pillaged their way through the Gothic lands leaving the Goths with nothing but trauma. Their homes were razed, and their land was taken. In order to flee this violence, over 100,000 Gothic men, women, and children arrived at the border of the Roman Empire, asking if they can be accepted into Roman territory because they were homeless and afraid. The Romans did boast the most powerful military in the world at the time. In exchange for allowing the Goths over the border, the Goths offered to submit fully to Roman rule, Roman law, and even would pay taxes to the Roman government.
This request was relayed to the Roman Emperor Valens, who conceded to allow the Goths over the border, but rather than allocate land, provide food, or provide money or resources for the Goths to start their new lives, Emperor Valens refused to provide any sort of physical aid to the 100,000 Gothic newcomers. The Goths, who were not provided any shelter, quickly built massive camps just inside the Roman border. It was not long before these camps became dirty and disease-ridden, let alone the fact that the Goths were beginning to starve.
Upon seeing thousands of people from a strange foreign culture settling in their land, the local Romans swiftly became furious. The Romans only saw the cultural differences on the outside rather than the humanity of a struggling group of people. Goths wore pants, Romans wore tunics or togas. Goths wore beards, Romans were always shaved. Goths and Romans spoke different languages. These differences terrified the Romans. Of course, these differences terrified the Goths as well, who were risking the lives of themselves and their families to move to the Roman Empire, the kingdom that waged more wars than any previous nation in the history of civilization and the place in which slavery was a standard value of society.
The fear that quickly spread among the Romans in the area led to the local administrators to first try to limit the number of Goths coming across the border. This of course was fruitless. Instead the Romans decided that they would refuse to engage with the Goths at all and let them live in their filthy camps but nowhere else. And so, months went by with the tens of thousands of Goths living in these concentration camps, sickly and starving. Unsurprisingly, it was not long before the starving Goths started raiding the countryside for food for themselves and their families. The Roman historian, Ammianus Marcellinus, who detailed these events, wrote that because the Goths “Were not supplied the necessaries of life…they were being forced to disloyalty as a remedy for the evils that threatened them.”
The following quote from my new book describes the series of events that consequently took place: “Upon hearing [that the Goths were stealing food], Emperor Valens made one of the most substantial blunders in the history of Rome and decided to march an imperial army against the Goths. This decision resulted in the Battle of Adrianople in 378 where the desperate, starving Goths defeated the Roman legion and killed Emperor Valens. The Romans were so utterly baffled by this turn of events that they were forced to negotiate peace terms with the Goths, essentially giving the Goths direct control of the land they occupied. Many modern historians list this event as one of the key events that triggered the total collapse of the Roman Empire.”
Looking back, the perceived cultural differences between the Romans and the Goths sadly made it impossible for the Romans to see the Goths as fellow humans. The Romans only saw the Goths as foreigners who were criminals and illegally settling in their lands. (Sound familiar?) The Romans did not see that the Goths were struggling to preserve the lives of their children. This style of thinking is unfortunately shared by many Americans today in relation to the newcomers who are coming across the southern border to improve the lives of their children and their children’s children. Many migrants see the American Empire as a place of safety and opportunity despite the United States being a country which has been at war for 93% of its entire existence.
However, there are too many Americans who fail to see past the cultural differences between themselves and others. Therefore, many Americans are vouching for migrant limits and border camps, and are refusing to provide the newcomers with any sort of assistance to start a new life. Knowing how this situation ended in the Roman scenario, I would highly recommend that Americans embrace humanity rather than judging others based solely on differences and negative stereotypes.
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