In the Louvre, there’s a famous painting by the French Artist Jacques-Louis David depicting the Intervention of the Sabine Women. In it, the Sabine men, whose daughters were stolen by and then married to Romans in the mid-8th century BC, returned to avenge Roman treachery and retrieve their offspring. The scene depicts a woman standing between the belligerents, imploring them to cease fighting:

If you are weary of these ties of kindred, these marriage-bonds, then turn your anger upon us; it is we who are the cause of the war, it is we who have wounded and slain our husbands and fathers. Better for us to perish rather than live without one or the other of you, as widows or as orphans.

Intervention of the Sabine Women, 1799, by Jacques-Louis David. Public domain.

The men stopped fighting, and eventually the Sabines became Roman citizens. This strategy of conquest and integration would characterize Rome for much of the next 1100 years. Other than perhaps Egypt, most conquered lands became essentially Roman. This is demonstrated by the extensive Roman ruins found in places like Britain, Portugal, Algeria, Turkey, and more. Although most would never become Roman citizens, their lives would have had similar characteristics throughout the Empire.

Romans didn’t just do forced acculturation through outside conquests. When armies would attack Rome and were defeated, which they almost always were, the Romans would sell those women and children who had traveled with the invading army into slavery. The men, if not sold into slavery, would be conscripted into the Legions, but sent to regions far from their native lands. Again, it forced its culture on others, not vice versa.

The result of this was that for most of its history, Rome faced relatively few consequential internal rebellions beyond civil wars between rival generals. In the 4th century AD, however, that would change. As the Huns moved east from the steppes, they began attacking various tribes that would then plead with Rome for asylum. Sometimes willingly and sometimes not, the Romans allowed the Goths, Vandals, and others to move into the Empire.

What was different now was that, rather than breaking up these foreign powers and disbursing their members throughout the Empire, the Romans allowed them to settle intact on Roman lands. These were armed groups living in their own communities, separate from the Romans and maintaining their cultures with no assimilation demanded. This would be a recipe for disaster, and Rome, after having lasted for more than a millennium, was gone within a century.

The leaders of the United States and the EU should have paid a little closer attention in history class because they’re mimicking the mid-4th century Roman Empire...

In both the US and the EU, politicians have either tolerated or encouraged an open border for much of the last quarter century. The result is that the United States today houses upwards of 30 million illegal aliens, while in Europe, the number may be half that.

In both cases, most of the immigrants crossing the borders come from countries with far higher crime rates, far lower income levels, and very different cultures. In the United States, illegal immigrants largely come from Mexico and Latin America, while in Europe, they come from Syria, Afghanistan, and other countries in Asia and Africa.

As immigrants have often done throughout history, these new arrivals, when they move to a new place, seek out brethren from their home countries or people with whom they share customs or languages. Indeed, that’s exactly what the Italians in New York did at the turn of the century.

The difference here, however, is that when the Italians moved to New York or the Irish moved to Boston, their goal was to integrate and become Americans. Today’s immigrants to the United States don’t seem to have that same desire. They may want to become citizens to stay permanently, but that doesn’t mean they want to be American. Indeed, half of American Hispanics are from Mexico, and a significant portion of them believe that America’s Southwest is stolen land that rightfully should be returned to Mexico. At the same time, most of Europe’s newly arrived are from Islamic nations, and their allegiance is to Islam, not their new homes.

That’s a problem because successful societies are built around core, fundamental values that are shared by the overwhelming majority of the population. Ideas such as free speech and freedom of religion, individual rights, and private property, which exist in Europe and America to varying degrees, while they were not always core tenets of Western civilization, are so today, or at least were until quite recently. Without those shared fundamental notions, it’s difficult for Western nations to function properly.

It’s one thing for a nation to have competing powers within the existing framework (think: Democrats and Republicans), but it’s another thing altogether if the competing power wants to split off a quarter of the nation or wants to impose Sharia law.

Recent events have demonstrated exactly how deep the problems are. Across Europe over the last two years, there have been giant pro-Hamas demonstrations, some of which devolved into violence. Across the United States, Donald Trump’s attempt to begin to ramp up deportations has been met with violence against ICE agents, and in California, it devolved into riots with law enforcement members being pelted with rocks, bottles, and various incendiaries while cars were set afire, stores looted, and the LAPD headquarters attacked.

Of course, demonstrations and riots happen in any country, but when they are symbols of a bigger fissure, that’s a problem. In both cases, these illegals and their predecessors, many of whom have been legalized, seek to fundamentally change the nature of the countries they now call home.

Of course, invaders always want to change the nature of the place they invade, just as the Romans did as they were growing their empire. The difference is that when the Romans invaded a new land, the people already there usually fought them to maintain their culture. They usually lost, but at least they had enough pride in their culture to fight for it.

What we see across the West today is just the opposite. From Sweden to the UK to Spain and the US, leaders have for years worshiped at the altar of guilt and sought to repent by welcoming millions from cultures far different than their own. Most of these leaders have been under the delusion that, if they welcome these invaders with open arms, give them shelter, food, phones, and more, the invaders will somehow respect the culture of their new homes and assimilate accordingly.

Not only have the invaders failed to assimilate, but many have also attacked the very people and culture that welcomed them. From skyrocketing rapes and bombings in Sweden to knife crime and rape rings in the UK to drug dealing and taking over apartment complexes in Denver, these illegals have made it perfectly clear that they see their new homes not as refuges from some dysfunctional dystopia, but rather as fertile ground to be exploited. They have no intention of assimilating, and in reality, who can blame them? If a nation doesn’t care enough about its citizens and its culture to protect them, why should anyone else?

Here in America, we finally have a leader who understands the danger and is doing something about it. If the leaders of Europe don’t follow Donald Trump’s lead soon, they may find that it’s too late.

Follow Vince on X at @ImperfectUSA