Historian Victor Davis Hanson Lays Out Ancient Lessons on Borders: ‘Walls Do Really Work’

Military historian and classicist Victor Davis Hanson, speaking Wednesday at The Heritage Foundation, drew striking parallels between the empires of the past and the modern United States.

Hanson, a Daily Signal contributor, contended that, contrary to the assertions of the Left, “walls do work,” and that the United States is in need of cultural cohesion and consolidation.

“When we look at borders in antiquity, walls do really work, in the sense that they’re never designed for impenetrability,” he said. “They’re designed to allow fewer people to defend territory more efficiently.”

In Hanson’s view, empires and world powers occasionally go through periods in which they need to consolidate their realms in order to create stability at home.

Hanson spoke of a period in the Roman Empire when “the great expansion had ceased, and it was the consolidation of Rome,” referencing Edward Gibbon, an 18th century English historian who authored a six-volume “History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.”

“It’s what Gibbon called the greatest period of human prosperity and safety, the so-called ‘five good emperors,’” he explained.

During that period, the Romans cut back on conquest and marked limits for expansion, such as Hadrian’s Wall in Scotland.

Hanson also suggested that the United States, much like the empires of the past, has to bring cultural solidarity and order to its own territory if it’s to be capable of sustained global influence.

He used the rapid expansion of the British Empire across the globe as another example, speaking of how its foreign policy achievements were in stark contrast to the low quality of life experienced in parts of London.

“The capital and the manpower that was all over the world was not reflective of what the inner city of London was like at that time,” he said.

“I think that if anybody today looked at our 650 military installations, and they looked at the rural San Joaquin Valley or downtown Fresno [in California], they would think that this society has no economic, cultural, social ability to project this power all over the world when these cities … seem to be failing or dying, while we’re exporting this wonderful culture.”

“In conclusion,” he said, “borders have always mattered through antiquity. Walls do work, immigration has always been a … political issue, and most people in responsible positions of power have understood that open borders do not work, and if you have a culture … then it has to have a definable space to be protected.”

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