You’ve heard it said before, how the American Empire is like the ancient Roman Empire. And now you’re going to hear it again, with astrology (and numerology) added for spice. This is the history you wanted in high school but were were not allowed because a culture must support a story of that generates positive self-esteem, not ambiguity and complexity. It’s nice to give everyone a sporting chance to be nice, even if historical patterns repeat endlessly.
Finding (at a yard sale) Tacitus’ The Annals of Imperial Rome and then passing a line of cars ostentatiously driving to the Trump rally was clearly symbolic for one who studies patterns. Maybe the Trump supporters had togas in their trunks.
In case you’ve forgotten, the United States is having its Pluto return at 27 degrees next February (and it’s already in orb – i.e., in effect). The Roman Empire began (according to the Encyclopedia Britannica) in 27 BC. The Roman Empire did not have Pluto in Capricorn, but the opposite sign – 27 degrees of Cancer (or a little more or less, not sure exact month of Roman Empire establishment). The Roman Empire’s Pluto was directly opposite that of the United States.
Are you with me yet?
Pluto is the great destroyer and transformer with the goal of evolution. Evolution is a fun word to say but if you, say, were evolving to grow wings and fly in the sky, would it be comfortable? And the thing about Pluto is that it doesn’t give you a choice. You evolve or are destroyed.
Pluto in Capricorn 2007
In late 2007 when Pluto first entered Capricorn, the sign of authority, social consciousness, social structure, achievement and ambition, the global financial system collapsed due to negligence and greed in mortgage-backed securities, a security deemed too stable to fail. It did fail because during Pluto in Sagittarius the bankers gave everyone a mortgage because they could sell the mortgages right away for profit. And unusual mortgage products were added to the mix that only the financially savvy understood.
In the Roman Empire in 33 AD with Pluto in Sagittarius there was a crackdown on corruption which resulted in a financial crisis. As the cause was taken to the senate we learn that:
That body – being implicated to a man – nervously entreated the emperor’s indulgence. It was granted. Eighteen months were allowed in which all private finances had to be brought into line with the law. The result was a shortage of money.
At the loss of money, another measure was implemented to require land sales and purchases which, unfortunately, was ineffective:
The decree requiring land purchases and sales, envisaged as a relief, had the opposite effect since since when the capitalists received payment, they hoarded it to buy land at their convenience.
Sound familiar? If it does because you remember way back to 2008, then you know what happened next:
Then Tiberius came to the rescue. He distributed a hundred million sesterces among specially established banks, for interest-free three-year state loans, against security of double the value in landed property. Credit was thus restored; and gradually private lenders, too, reappeared.
Tiberius, the subject of most of The Annals also tried to curb extravagance, including “gluttonous eating” but chose not to to avoid humiliating “eminent men.” Tacitus explains a page later that extravagance then went out of fashion when during the “Reign of Terror” – which involved excessive persecution – because “distinction meant death.” In today’s language, wealthy folks wanted to stay “under the radar.”
In the United States today there’s a trend to reduce the stuff in one’s life after 30 years of collecting it in big houses.
And the similarities go on and on as the Roman society of oligarchs continually fight for power and prominence. It’s petty and violent, with lots of forced suicides (like, say, Jeffrey Epstein today). In a way it’s difficult to read because the struggles never cease. If you believe in mass reincarnation, it’s easy to believe these souls came back together to exhibit the same behavior while holding iPhones.
Technology changes steadily. Human psychological evolution, in contrast, is a slow-moving glacier.
Women appear in Tacitus’ Annals as well. Powerful women are generally described as domineering shrews, seducers or the seduced, all reprehensible to our ancient chronicler. While I’m not quite finished with the book, I don’t expect to be surprised here. American cultures does not care for females in high positions of power.
While “history repeats itself” is the familiar cliché, the true issue appears to be a lack of understanding of cycles and only a minority in each culture understanding the complexities of the system. Or as Tacitus says:
Or perhaps not only the seasons but everything else, social history included, moves in cycles. Not, however, that earlier times were better than ours in every way – our own epoch too has produced moral and intellectual achievements for our descendants to copy. And such honorable rivalry with the past is a fine thing.
The American Empire’s Pluto Return
If the American Empire is like the Roman Empire, it could be a 500-year affair. Pluto has a 248-year cycle so that means twice around the sun if the clock starts in 1776.
Pluto in Capricorn means our evolution involves social structure and the roles of authority. The ideals of the United States do support a heighted sense of humanity and equality while not exhibiting that fully in practice. That is our evolutionary challenge. We meet it or Pluto will destroy us.
At the beginning of 2020, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn joined Pluto in Capricorn and we saw great fear and mistrust of all authority, even authority that would benefit us. The fear and mistrust was carried on the back of a pandemic but not caused by it. Executive power in the United States has been increasingly steadily for many decades.
In The Annals, Tacitus clearly does not like Tiberius, yet some of the emperor’s speeches are quite enlightened which Tacitus does sometimes admit. The issue, it appears, is the right message for the wrong reason. Lots of wisdom from the past applied to justify corruption in the present.
This is a good lesson for a country with Pluto in Capricorn about to have a Pluto return.
An emperor’s knowledge cannot be all-embracing, and intrigues against rivals should not interest him. The law is concerned with what has been done. What will be done is unknown. That is why our ancestors ruled that punishment should follow crime. This was wise, and has always been accepted. Do not reverse it. Emperors have enough burdens – and enough power. Strengthen the executive, and you weaken the law. When one can act by law, the use of official authority is a mistake.
Related Blogs:
The United States’ Pluto Return: Fear Disguised as Mistrust
The United States’ Pluto Return: Disillusionment and Transformation
Other Related Blogs:
The Financial Crisis, Then and Now: Ancient Rome and 2008 CE
Ohio Astrology 