Honestas

It is principles, not people, that destroy Republics.

In 88 B.C., Lucius Cornelius Sulla marched on the Roman Republic. In 83 B.C., he did it again. Before Caesar, there was Sulla, the first Roman to not only conquer his own city but also the first to declare himself dictator for an indefinite period of time. Sulla's example paved the way for Julius Caesar's career, which ultimately culminated in the death of the Roman Republic.

Men do not act without purpose and events do not occur without reason-no matter how trivial or obscure.

To judiciously evaluate history, we must accept the fact that every effect has a cause. Every historical occurrence can be traced backwards through time, through a link chain of cause and effect, until one ultimately winds up facing the individual whose actions were most directly responsible for the moment at hand. Most of us stop here, offering praise or blame to the individual in accordance with the nature of the event that they catalyzed. But there exists a preceding cause that must not escape our sight.

Why did the individual act as they did? This is the question that every person must ask and honestly attempt to answer before they earn the right to cast judgment. Belief is the underlying cause behind every action, meaning that until one understands the belief they cannot understand the action or the person behind it. Furthermore, if "every man is the hero of his own story," then that belief is fundamentally one's idea of what it means to be good.

This book will examine three things: one occurrence-the fall of the Roman Republic; one individual-Lucius Cornelius Sulla; and one conception of good-Honestas. If we are going to continue to judge figures of our past, let us do so fairly. This is an attempt.

Chuka Okwumabua is a student at Harvard College and an alumnus of The Westminster Schools, The Veritas Debate Institute, The National History Academy, and The National Speech & Debate Association's Team USA.