Unconditional surrender

“Two Pages From Roman History” was originally published in 1903. The author, Daniel De Leon, was the chief ideologue of a U.S. Marxist organization, the Socialist Labor Party (SLP). De Leon and the SLP were quite well known in their day, but soon eclipsed by the Socialist Party of America and the IWW.

“Two Pages From Roman History” is sometimes viewed as some kind of De Leon classic. The work consists of two parts, titled “Plebs Leaders and Labor Leaders” and “The Warning of the Gracchi”. I admit that I'm not particularly impressed by it. Its parallels between the ancient Roman Republic and modern United States feel forced in the extreme, and SLP's sectarianism is fully visible. This is especially true of the second part, where De Leon rejects all reform proposals and compromises, instead demanding “the unconditional surrender of capitalism”. Political alliances with groups outside the working class (what later generations would call Popular Fronts) are also verboten, and there is a moralistic streak in De Leon's criticism of the labor leaders (or was it the Gracchi).

It was precisely this sectarianism, sterile propagandism and holier-than-thou attitude which sidelined the SLP, making the party more or less irrelevant even on the far left after De Leon's death in 1914. Finally, I don't understand why the author choose the Roman angle in the first place. Why not simply discuss the American situation as it was? Was De Leon a Roman history buff, or did he try to cater to a real interest for matters Roman among his intended audience?

Still, I'm going to be charitable and give “Two Pages From Roman History” three stars, since it's difficult to fault De Leon for merely being himself…