Book I'm Reading: "Five Cities That Ruled the World" by Douglas Wilson

Themistocles, the hero of the Greeks and a fighting admiral, sailed with his forces. The Greeks had a much more decentralized system of military governance than did the Persians, which meant that individual commanders had the authority to adapt to situations as they developed. Differences of opinion and counsel were aired freely.

Rome was rich, but America is wealthy. The difference is the ability to produce, and the discussion about American empire is accelerating—with people lining up on both sides, agreeing on the fact, but differing over whether it is a good thing.

The historian Philip Schaff once argued that the greatest act of the Roman Catholic Church was the creation of Protestantism. Likewise, England’s greatest achievement—in terms of long-range impact—was the creation of the American colonies and the subsequent creation of the United States by losing those colonies.