The connection Anthony wants to see
A visual through line from ancient Greece to the American founding and into the present: which ideas, texts, institutions, artistic forms, and moral arguments were inherited, transformed, and reused? Rubio supplies an affirmative civilizational narrative; this note preserves that narrative and provides routes for studying the historical connections.
Chronological reading companion: Historical Development Map — periods, recurring threads, existing books, and journal pages for retaining the connections as you read.
Source and provenance
- Supplied title: Rubio delivers urgent plea to save Western Civilization.
- Source received: Anthony’s pasted timestamped transcript, captured on October 7, 2026. The complete supplied text is preserved under Supplied Transcript.
- Event metadata: October 7, 2026; Pnyx, Athens, with the Acropolis behind the speaker. Corroborating report: CBS News.
- Original video: No canonical video URL or channel was supplied or verified. The title is retained as supplied rather than attributed to an assumed publisher.
- Coverage: The supplied timecodes run from 00:00 to 27:19, including a broadcast introduction and closing commentary. They are locations in the supplied recording, not independently verified offsets in an official recording.
- Caption quality: Frequent duplicated phrases, false starts, uncertain words, and transcription artifacts. Summaries below are paraphrases; the raw text is retained without silent correction.
- Evidence boundary: This is a capture and study note, not a comprehensive fact-check. Political recommendations, claims of exceptionalism, causal explanations of Western decline, and claims about other cultures are attributed to Rubio. Limited supplementary examples below are identified with their own sources.
Rubio’s Argument
Antiquity as a living inheritance — 00:20–05:09
Rubio presents the Acropolis as a living point of reference rather than merely the remains of a vanished society. He recounts the Persian destruction of Athens and its rebuilding, then moves to the American republic: classical architecture, the founders’ education, political vocabulary, law, citizenship, and republican government. His claim is that America’s connection to Greece is visible in its institutions and civic imagination.
The supplied transcript at 04:13–04:31 also attributes to him a specific ranking claim: that Plutarch is the most commonly cited author in the Federalist Papers. That ranking has not been independently checked here and should not be repeated as established fact. The broader claim that classical writers influenced the founders has separate historical support; it does not establish this particular statistic.
A characteristic spirit beyond political forms — 05:14–12:07
The speech’s central move is from institutions to character. Rubio links Greek individuality, ambition, exploration, competition, inquiry, and the pursuit of excellence to a later Western disposition. He emphasizes confidence that nature is intelligible, then connects that confidence to mathematics, science, medicine, philosophy, and Christian theology, mentioning Augustine, Aquinas, and natural law.
He treats competitive civic life as a source of cultural achievement and contrasts it with what he portrays as modern risk aversion and lowered standards. This is his evaluative interpretation of Greek and modern life; it does not establish that these traits were exclusive to Greeks or absent elsewhere.
Decline and a program of renewal — 12:12–17:21
Rubio argues that Western societies lost confidence in their own inheritance and connects that alleged loss to guilt about achievement, hostility to national identity, migration policy, industrial outsourcing, military weakness, and authority transferred to international institutions. These are substantive causal and political claims, not conclusions established by the historical narrative alone.
He then presents the Trump administration’s pursuit of national power as a renewal of classical statecraft: supply chains, manufacturing, defense, energy, strategic technologies, and space exploration. Greece and a strengthened transatlantic alliance become examples of the cooperation he advocates. Claims about contemporary agreements, military spending, and policy results remain source claims pending separate verification.
Duty, sacrifice, and moral imagination — 17:29–21:17
The speech pairs exceptional individuals with loyalty to something larger than the self. Socrates, the Spartans, and Achilles become exemplars of sacrifice; Christian martyrs, Thomas More, and the Declaration of Independence extend the proposed lineage. Rubio argues that fidelity under danger defines Western heroism and contrasts it with his characterization of extremist martyrdom.
The connection to the Declaration of Independence is specifically its closing pledge of lives, fortunes, and honor. The speech offers a moral analogy across these examples; historical influence and exclusive cultural ownership require separate evidence.
Art, science, expansion, and America — 21:23–23:08
Rubio connects the Parthenon to European cathedrals, Greek sculpture to Michelangelo, ancient inquiry to Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton, voyages of exploration to Apollo 11, and conquerors of antiquity to later imperial expansion. He interprets the American frontier and national rise as another expression of the inherited ambition.
At approximately 22:54–23:08, the speech states its most compact historical sequence: Athens, Rome, Christendom, medieval Europe, English liberty, and a transatlantic rebirth in America. The diagram below paraphrases that sequence. It depicts Rubio’s narrative, not proof that each arrow represents an uninterrupted or sufficient historical cause.
flowchart TD A["Athens: inquiry, excellence, civic life"] --> B["Rome: classical inheritance and statecraft"] B --> C["Christendom: theology and moral imagination"] C --> D["Medieval Europe: institutions, learning, cathedrals"] D --> E["English liberty"] E --> F["America: founding, frontier, industry, space"] F --> G["Present: Rubio's call for renewal and alliance"]
Alliances, sovereignty, and historical memory — 23:10–27:06
Rubio turns the genealogy into a contemporary prescription: rebuild institutions and alliances around national sovereignty, shared interests, and civilizational confidence. He invokes American sympathy for Greek independence in 1821 and Daniel Webster’s later congressional speech to close a reciprocal loop: ancient Greece shaped American self-understanding, and Americans subsequently identified with the cause of modern Greek independence. The supplied transcript ends with a call to recover inherited courage and strength, followed by broadcaster commentary.
Studying the Historical Through Line
The useful historical question for each connection is who passed on what, through which text or institution, to whom, and with what changes? Shared admiration or a similar virtue is weaker evidence than a documented reader, quotation, translation, institutional adaptation, or architectural model.
| Thread | Connection to trace | Distinction to preserve |
|---|---|---|
| Civic government | Greek city-states and Roman republican examples → later political reading → founders’ constitutional arguments | The founders also learned from ancient failures; modern constitutional government was not simply Athenian democracy reproduced. |
| Moral reasoning | Greek and Roman ethics, Jewish scripture, Christian theology, natural law → later rights arguments | These strands interact and sometimes conflict; moral equality and heroic competition need not mean the same thing. |
| Transmission of learning | Ancient texts → Byzantine, Islamic-world, and Latin preservation, translation, commentary, and teaching → Renaissance and later readers | Transmission had multiple routes and involved active interpretation, not just passive storage. See the existing Freeman, Adamson, and Quinn notes linked below. |
| Liberty and government | English constitutional experience and early-modern political thought → colonial debates → Declaration and Constitution | English institutions and Enlightenment argument add substantial new elements to the classical inheritance. |
| Art and civic symbolism | Classical architectural forms → Renaissance and neoclassicism → American civic buildings | Deliberate visual borrowing can be demonstrated more directly than a claim about an unchanged national character. |
| Modern reform | Inherited moral and political language → arguments against slavery, segregation, and exclusion → continuing disputes over equal citizenship | A tradition can be continued through criticism and reform as well as through celebration. |
Three concrete connections help turn the broad narrative into something inspectable:
- Jefferson names classical and modern writers together. In his May 8, 1825 letter to Henry Lee, he identifies Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, and Sidney when discussing the Declaration’s intellectual setting. This supports conscious reception of a layered tradition, without implying that any one author uniquely caused the Declaration. Primary letter, abridged transcription.
- American public architecture deliberately borrows classical forms. The Architect of the Capitol identifies Greek and Roman precedents for the neoclassical buildings on Capitol Hill. Smarthistory’s Monticello discussion traces Jefferson’s designs through ancient Rome and European neoclassicism. Architect of the Capitol · Smarthistory: Monticello.
- The intellectual vocabulary continues in modern reform. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail invokes Socrates, Augustine, and Aquinas in an argument against segregation. This supplies a specific twentieth-century example of older philosophical and theological traditions being reused to challenge existing institutions. King Institute archival record · Letter transcription.
Visual Guide and Further Reading
These recommendations serve different parts of Anthony’s question. A chronology places events together; a map shows movement and contact; an intellectual history explains documented influence. No single arrow chart establishes all three.
- Best illustrated timeline book: DK, Timelines of World History — illustrated chronology across ancient and modern history, with photographs, artworks, maps, and documents. Useful for seeing periods together and extending the view toward the present; selective world coverage rather than a single Western genealogy.
- Best visual website for concrete classical-to-American examples: Smarthistory — Art in American Colonies and the United States, c. 1700–1865 — paintings, buildings, and explanations of neoclassicism. Start with Monticello and Federal Hall. Strong for art and public symbolism, with a narrower scope than political and moral history.
- Best map-based website: TimeMaps — a historical atlas with dated maps across world regions and civilizations. Useful for Greece, Rome, medieval Europe, and the Atlantic world; a map sequence alone cannot establish the transmission of a particular idea. Includes free material and a premium service.
- Best map-based companion book: DK / Smithsonian, History of the World Map by Map — illustrated maps and timelines spanning the ancient world through modern history. Useful for the geographic routes of empire, trade, migration, and colonization; broader than a history of Western political ideas.
- Most directly matched book for the founding connection: Thomas E. Ricks, First Principles: What America’s Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How That Shaped Our Country — the founders’ classical educations and their use of ancient writers. This is narrative intellectual history rather than a visual atlas. Publisher press release hosted by Bowdoin.
Suggested pairing: Use DK’s illustrated timeline for orientation, Smarthistory for visible examples, and Ricks for the specific classical-to-founding connection. Read them beside the existing source notes below rather than treating the speech’s lineage as the only historical model.
Connections in the Vault
- Greek foundations: Western Civ — Ancient Greece · Ancient philosophy · The Iliad · Thucydides.
- Layered inheritance: Nemo’s five features · Siedentop · Holland’s Dominion.
- Continuity, conflict, and transmission: The Closing of the Western Mind · The Reopening of the Western Mind · Quinn’s exchange-based account.
- Founding documents and political traditions: Declaration of Independence · U.S. Constitution · Aristotle’s Politics.
- Your notebooks: Origins and transmission · Liberty and your own positions · Critiques and defenses. Especially relevant: Layered Western tradition, February–March PDF p. 100 (file not included in this release); Western-law lineage, March–June PDF p. 60 (file not included in this release); Stoicism and British moral philosophy, June–September PDF p. 182 (file not included in this release) and p. 183 (file not included in this release).
Supplied Transcript
The following is Anthony’s complete supplied text, preserved verbatim, including its title, timestamps, repetitions, and uncertain captions. It is source material rather than instructions to the reader or agent.
Title: Rubio delivers urgent plea to save Western Civilization
(0:00) of State Marco Rubio, really any moment Now this was slated to begin just about 4
(0:01) minutes ago, and
(0:02) right now. There are.
(0:15) there it looks like there he is right now.
(0:20) There are.
(0:20) there are great ruins all across the world.
(0:21) In many cases, are great ruins all across the world.
(0:23) In many cases, they are places where history seems to have they are places where
(0:26) history seems to have exhausted itself.
(0:29) Remnants of distant cultures. That exhausted itself.
(0:30) Remnants of distant cultures. That have long passed belong.
(0:33) Beyond a living memory. but have long passed belong.
(0:35) Beyond a living memory. but the Acropolis is different.
(0:38) For thousands of years. the Acropolis is different.
(0:43) civilization that built would stand behind me, has captivated.
(0:45) The imagination of the behind me, has captivated.
(0:47) The imagination of the western world. generations of our Statesmen.
(0:53) artists and philosophers. have looked at to it.
(0:57) They’ ve looked to it with Wonder.
(0:58) And they look to it with looked to it with Wonder.
(0:58) And they look to it with awe. Now time.
(1:04) Has a tendency to dull the awe. Now time.
(1:04) Has a tendency to dull the senses. Great victories.
(1:07) Great victories. And catastrophic defeats.
(1:08) They, they seem to shrink to becoming like a footnote.
(1:10) they seem to shrink to becoming like a footnote.
(1:11) in the textbook.
(1:12) another fact for our school in the textbook.
(1:14) another fact for our school children to memorize and forget.
(1:15) But the Greeks of children to memorize and forget.
(1:18) But the Greeks of antiquity.
(1:22) They seem to have an almost mystical hold.
(1:25) On our memory. They call us back to them.
(1:29) They call us back to them. Again.
(1:31) And again.
(1:35) 480 years before Christ. the armies Again.
(1:37) the armies of Xerxes arrived in this city.
(1:38) and they put its of Xerxes arrived in this city.
(1:41) and they put its sanctuaries to the torch.
(1:42) Most the Athenians had by sanctuaries to the torch.
(1:45) Most the Athenians had by then evacuated by ship to a nearby Island.
(1:45) But there then evacuated by ship to a nearby Island.
(1:49) But there was a handful of them that refused to leave their home.
(1:50) was a handful of them that refused to leave their home.
(1:53) so instead they barricaded themselves in the Rocky so instead they barricaded
(1:55) themselves in the Rocky Fortress of the Acropolis, To fight.
(1:56) an Fortress of the Acropolis, To fight.
(2:00) an extraordinary. Last Stand.
(2:02) Heaving massive stones. down extraordinary.
(2:04) down the cliffs. Onto the Persian Invaders.
(2:07) and holding the greatest Empire of that age at Bay.
(2:12) For days. They were eventually overwhelmed.
(2:15) The Persians. were eventually overwhelmed.
(2:16) Plundered the Temple’ s. They burned the shrines.
(2:17) They Plundered the Temple’ s. They burned the shrines.
(2:21) but when the raised the Acropolis to the ground.
(2:23) but when the Athenians returned, they gathered the broken remains Athenians
(2:25) returned, they gathered the broken remains of the old Acropolis and
(2:26) buried them in the hill of the old Acropolis and buried them in the
(2:29) hill where it had stood.
(2:33) And decades later under Pericles. where it had stood.
(2:36) And decades later under Pericles. They raised the parthanon.
(2:39) For 25. centuries since. The They raised the parthanon.
(2:42) For 25. centuries since. The parthanon has stood.
(2:43) Empires have risen and Fallen parthanon has stood.
(2:44) Empires have risen and Fallen beneath its shadow.
(2:48) And the progeny. of The Men Who Built it.
(2:52) The sons of Athens and Rome.
(2:55) have carried their civilization with them to the ends.
(2:56) of carried their civilization with them to the ends.
(2:58) of the Earth. 2 and a half centuries.
(3:03) After the founding of the American Republic, halfway across the founding of the American
(3:05) Republic, halfway across the world from where I stand now, I stand here today as world
(3:08) from where I stand now, I stand here today as the Secretary of State of that Republic.
(3:13) and as the great grandson of settlers who, arrived in the new great grandson of settlers
(3:16) who, arrived in the new world from Spain, I stand here to testify to a debt.
(3:18) world from Spain, I stand here to testify to a debt.
(3:20) That no lapse of time. No distance of space.
(3:24) Can That no lapse of time. No distance of space.
(3:27) Can ever extinguish. The history of America.
(3:29) The history of ever extinguish. The history of America.
(3:32) Is covered with the Fingerprints of my country.
(3:33) Is covered with the Fingerprints of antiquity.
(3:35) Greece.
(3:38) Is literally carved into the architecture of our government.
(3:40) In the Towering architecture of our government.
(3:42) In the Towering columns in the domes and The monuments of our capital columns in the
(3:44) domes and The monuments of our capital City.
(3:47) The city, where our constitution was born.
(3:48) The city, where our constitution was born.
(3:49) Philadelphia. Is itself.
(3:51) a Greek name? The, The men who Philadelphia.
(3:54) The, The men who founded my country were fascinated by the Heritage.
(3:55) founded my country were fascinated by the Heritage.
(3:58) We inherited from yours.
(3:58) There were exceptionally We inherited from yours.
(4:00) They they vividly aware of well read in history.
(4:02) They they vividly aware of their unique place in it.
(4:03) But no other age of the their unique place in it.
(4:06) But no other age of the past.
(4:08) held their attention or their imagination.
(4:09) held their attention or their imagination.
(4:10) quite like that of antiquity.
(4:11) Many many people are like that of antiquity.
(4:13) Many many people are surprised to learn that the most commonly cited author.
(4:15) surprised to learn that the most commonly cited author.
(4:17) In The Federalist Papers. was not.
(4:19) an an In The Federalist Papers. was not.
(4:20) an an Enlightenment, philosopher or a political theorist the Enlightenment,
(4:23) philosopher or a political theorist the most commonly cited author in The Federalist
(4:26) Papers most commonly cited author in The Federalist Papers was.
(4:29) Plutarch. The Greek biographer of Greece was.
(4:31) The Greek biographer of Greece and Rome’ s, Great Men.
(4:34) Now, M much has been written. and Rome’ s, Great Men.
(4:36) Now, M much has been written.
(4:36) and said about the influence of ancient Greece on the and said about
(4:37) the influence of ancient Greece on the idea of the American Founders.
(4:39) and for that idea of the American Founders.
(4:40) and for that matter on all of the western philosophers.
(4:41) and matter on all of the western philosophers.
(4:43) and Statesmen that preceded them.
(4:44) Most of us are Statesmen that preceded them.
(4:46) Most of us are familiar with the basic history.
(4:47) Athens gave us familiar with the basic history.
(4:49) Athens gave us democracy.
(4:51) Plato and Aristotle gave us Western philosophy.
(4:53) Our ideas of law of virtue of citizenship philosophy.
(4:55) Our ideas of law of virtue of citizenship and Republican government were shaped in the
(4:58) Greek and Republican government were shaped in the Greek city states.
(5:00) Even much of our political vocabulary city states.
(5:01) Even much of our political vocabulary words like democracy.
(5:03) tyranny. the the word words like democracy.
(5:05) tyranny.
(5:05) the the word politics itself, found its Origins here.
(5:07) All of that politics itself, found its Origins here.
(5:09) All of that is true. but the things we owe to this place.
(5:14) as Americans. and as westerners, Are actually.
(5:18) Far far deeper. These institutions, and ideas.
(5:23) These institutions, and ideas were the outward expression These institutions, and
(5:25) ideas were the outward expression of a of more fundamental qualities.
(5:27) We see in the of a of more fundamental qualities.
(5:29) We see in the ancient Greeks. Qualities, that can’ t be reduced.
(5:32) to ancient Greeks. Qualities, that can’ t be reduced.
(5:33) to any particular political system or Theory.
(5:38) Here. In Athens.
(5:40) we found the first 4, realized.
(5:41) That would Athens. we found the first 4, realized.
(5:45) That would come to Define. the West.
(5:49) Fears individuality and come to Define.
(5:50) the West.
(5:51) Fears individuality and Relentless ambition.
(5:52) daring, exploration. and invention.
(5:54) Relentless ambition. daring, exploration.
(5:55) and invention.
(5:56) a yearning for discovery for adventure.
(5:58) risk and glory.
(5:59) and insatiable curiosity about the world and the and insatiable curiosity
(6:01) about the world and the principles by which it operates.
(6:02) uh, a hunger to principles by which it operates.
(6:04) uh, a hunger to know the mysteries of nature.
(6:05) and grasp, the know the mysteries of nature.
(6:07) and grasp, the secrets of the cosmos.
(6:08) And in patience. with the secrets of the cosmos.
(6:10) And in patience. with the notion of impossibility.
(6:12) chafing at all boundaries notion of impossibility.
(6:13) chafing at all boundaries at all limits.
(6:16) straining to peer. And to the depths of the unknown.
(6:22) were not just the formulas or precepts of a particular School of philosophy.
(6:23) There precepts of a particular School of philosophy.
(6:23) There was a characteristic of a people.
(6:24) Expressed in their was a characteristic of a people.
(6:30) their imagination. And the tradition.
(6:31) Their stories. their imagination.
(6:35) And the qualities that they demanded of their citizens.
(6:36) qualities that they demanded of their citizens.
(6:38) And the things they lived and fought.
(6:40) and died for.
(6:44) To know them. Is to know ourselves.
(6:49) What blossomed here? in this place?
(6:52) was the Western desire to uncover all that ignorance?
(6:55) darkness and distance had all that ignorance?
(6:56) darkness and distance had kept hidden.
(6:59) From the mind of, man. The Greeks did not kept hidden.
(7:02) The Greeks did not just shape history.
(7:03) The Greeks gave us history just shape history.
(7:06) The Greeks gave us history itself.
(7:07) Much of our much of what we know about itself.
(7:08) Much of our much of what we know about many ancient civilizations.
(7:10) comes.
(7:11) almost entirely many ancient civilizations.
(7:12) comes.
(7:15) almost entirely from the records of Greek explorers and historians.
(7:16) from the records of Greek explorers and historians.
(7:20) Explorers and historians who didn’ t just Chronicle the Explorers and
(7:22) historians who didn’ t just Chronicle the histories of their own people.
(7:23) But ventured histories of their own people.
(7:24) But ventured outward.
(7:25) To observe and record the sagas of foreign people.
(7:30) And cultures. All across the world.
(7:33) All across the world. Where others looked inward?
(7:34) The Greeks were the first to others looked inward?
(7:36) The Greeks were the first to direct their focus outward.
(7:36) to chase the thrill and direct their focus outward.
(7:40) to chase the thrill and Glory of seeing all that was strange and new.
(7:41) It was Glory of seeing all that was strange and new.
(7:46) It was this trait.
(7:47) It was this trait, that would push the this trait.
(7:47) It was this trait, that would push the West to create and build things.
(7:48) That others could West to create and build things.
(7:51) That others could not.
(7:55) Marking us out from so many other cultures, and not.
(7:57) were stability. and subsistence.
(8:00) civilizations. were stability.
(8:00) and subsistence. were the highest ends of life.
(8:02) but it is not just were the highest ends of life.
(8:04) but it is not just the ambition to explore the unknown that we inherit
(8:05) the ambition to explore the unknown that we inherit from the Greeks.
(8:09) It is the conviction. That the unknown.
(8:12) can be known.
(8:14) The confidence that the world can be charged and measured and mapped and understood.
(8:16) can be charged and measured and mapped and understood.
(8:17) and that there is a rational order to the and that there is a rational order to the
(8:20) cosmos governed by certain fundamental.
(8:22) flaws.
(8:22) Laws, cosmos governed by certain fundamental.
(8:24) flaws. Laws, that men can observe.
(8:26) And the mind can come to that men can observe.
(8:28) And the mind can come to understand.
(8:34) This. Was the foundation.
(8:35) of the western understand. This.
(8:38) Our math, or science. our medicine.
(8:41) our medicine. our philosophy, ethics and religion.
(8:42) it paved the way for the Gospel ethics and religion.
(8:44) it paved the way for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
(8:46) To find fertile soil in Europe. And of Jesus Christ.
(8:49) And flourish into the Empire of Christendom.
(8:51) It was the flourish into the Empire of Christendom.
(8:52) It was the foundation of the riches of Christian.
(8:54) Of foundation of the riches of Christian.
(8:56) theology.
(8:56) Of Augustine, and aquinus and the whole tradition.
(8:57) of Augustine, and aquinus and the whole tradition.
(9:00) of natural law. It gave birth to a civilization.
(9:05) marked, not just by a common culture.
(9:06) It was marked by not just by a common culture.
(9:08) It was marked by a common anthropology.
(9:10) a common view of man and of a common anthropology.
(9:11) a common view of man and of his place in the universe.
(9:13) Its descendants. would his place in the universe.
(9:16) Its descendants.
(9:16) would share, not just the idea of a natural order.
(9:17) But a share, not just the idea of a natural order.
(9:21) But a distinctive understanding of virtue.
(9:21) Of Destiny of distinctive understanding of virtue.
(9:24) Of Destiny of faith. of Truth.
(9:25) Goodness. and beauty.
(9:29) of a code that dictates how men ought to live.
(9:30) Of objective standards dictates how men ought to live.
(9:33) Of objective standards and ideals to strive towards.
(9:35) For the Greeks of and ideals to strive towards.
(9:37) For the Greeks of antiquity. The pursuit of Excellence.
(9:42) was the very antiquity. The pursuit of Excellence.
(9:42) They organized principle of man’ s existence.
(9:46) They organized all of Civic life around contests and ambition.
(9:47) and all of Civic life around contests and ambition.
(9:48) and competition. and philosophy and poetry.
(9:52) and sculpture and competition. and philosophy and poetry.
(9:54) and sculpture and drama. and Athletics and art.
(9:56) and Athletics and art. and a war.
(9:58) and States craft. The classical Greek City.
(10:01) Was an arena. For craft.
(10:03) For Great Men to test and prove themselves.
(10:05) To hone their Great Men to test and prove themselves.
(10:07) To hone their potential through Perpetual struggle.
(10:10) To be the best. The strongest.
(10:13) The most beautiful. Straining to inch ever closer.
(10:16) To perfection. Now, I know inch ever closer.
(10:19) To perfection.
(10:20) Now, I know that to Modern ears, what I just described this way that to
(10:21) Modern ears, what I just described this way of life may sound odd.
(10:23) It may even sound cruel the of life may sound odd.
(10:25) It may even sound cruel the ideal of many ideologies in our time.
(10:29) Is frankly, ideal of many ideologies in our time.
(10:31) Is frankly, become a world of perfect safety.
(10:32) A world devoid of become a world of perfect safety.
(10:34) A world devoid of risk. or failure.
(10:36) Or neither the glory of risk. or failure.
(10:38) Or neither the glory of victory. Nor the shame of defeat.
(10:40) Too often. These victory.
(10:41) Nor the shame of defeat. Too often.
(10:44) These days. We build downwards.
(10:48) we design our standards to ensure that no 1 will lose.
(10:49) We preoccupy ourselves ensure that no 1 will lose.
(10:51) We preoccupy ourselves more with the comfort of the worst.
(10:53) and the potential more with the comfort of the worst.
(10:55) and the potential of the best.
(10:56) We hold the most exceptional things of the best.
(10:58) We hold the most exceptional things among us Hostage to the average.
(11:00) The ordinary.
(11:00) The among us Hostage to the average.
(11:03) The ordinary. The mediocre.
(11:08) The Men Who made the parthanon, they built upwards.
(11:12) They held that the highest and most noble upwards.
(11:15) They held that the highest and most noble aspiration in life was to
(11:15) surpass, All others To aspiration in life was to surpass, All others
(11:16) To strive to be the best.
(11:20) in all things.
(11:24) And faction. and conflict.
(11:26) and conflict.
(11:30) But from that constant, struggle for distinction.
(11:34) From that came, the great flowering of Art.
(11:36) and philosophy. and political and intellectual energy.
(11:39) and political and intellectual energy.
(11:41) That would transform.
(11:41) A collective of Mediterranean would transform.
(11:43) A collective of Mediterranean cities.
(11:46) Into the birthplace. of the greatest cities.
(11:48) Into the birthplace. of the greatest civilization.
(11:50) In the world. The fumas civilization.
(11:53) The fumas says the ancient Greeks called it.
(11:54) The fire of says the ancient Greeks called it.
(11:56) The fire of passion strength. courage Pride.
(11:56) is the heart of passion strength. courage Pride.
(11:59) is the heart of great civilization. And without it.
(12:04) Without it Nations lose their will to fight.
(12:07) the will to strive. The will to survive.
(12:12) today too much of the West. has forgotten this quality.
(12:16) Over time. we in the West.
(12:18) forgotten this quality. Over time.
(12:19) came to feel ashamed of the very things that came to feel ashamed of the very
(12:22) things that made us exceptional.
(12:23) We felt embarrassed that our made us exceptional.
(12:23) We felt embarrassed that our achievements set us apart from the rest of the world.
(12:25) achievements set us apart from the rest of the world.
(12:28) our prosperity. Somehow became a source of guilt.
(12:32) We no longer believed we deserved and had earned our We no longer believed we
(12:33) deserved and had earned our greatness.
(12:37) The word nationalism became a dirty greatness.
(12:40) And so we tore down our monuments. We condemned word.
(12:42) And so we tore down our monuments. We condemned our own history.
(12:44) and in too many places we taught our own history.
(12:46) and in too many places we taught our children to be ashamed of the countries they would
(12:48) children to be ashamed of the countries they would inherit In the process.
(12:51) we opened our borders.
(12:53) and outsourced our industry and allowed our military to outsourced our
(12:56) industry and allowed our military to wither and to decay.
(12:58) and with every passing year, we wither and to decay.
(12:58) and with every passing year, we seem to Outsource more of our sovereignty.
(13:01) seem to Outsource more of our sovereignty.
(13:04) Transferring, our decisions to Global bureaucracies.
(13:07) far beyond the reach of our control.
(13:09) We’ re all too happy far beyond the reach of our control.
(13:12) We’ re all too happy to fill the vacuum that we left.
(13:13) The vacuum left to fill the vacuum that we left.
(13:14) The vacuum left behind by our weakness.
(13:15) and as the West’ s confidence behind by our weakness.
(13:18) and as the West’ s confidence faltered.
(13:20) Its adversaries and its Rivals Only grew more assertive.
(13:24) Building up their own wealth. and assertive.
(13:24) Building up their own wealth. and their own power.
(13:26) in our stud. and now, today, we their own power.
(13:30) and now, today, we find ourselves at a Crossroads.
(13:32) because the next find ourselves at a Crossroads.
(13:34) because the next decade. And the decisions we make.
(13:36) Or write the story of decade. And the decisions we make.
(13:37) Or write the story of the Next Century.
(13:38) the course we take will the Next Century.
(13:40) the course we take will determine whether we West maintains, its place at the
(13:42) determine whether we West maintains, its place at the head of the world.
(13:44) Or resigns itself to a future head of the world.
(13:47) Or resigns itself to a future of atrophy.
(13:48) And servitude. and decline.
(13:50) We will of atrophy. And servitude.
(13:52) and decline.
(13:55) or lose the choice to either choose to act now.
(13:57) or lose the choice to act. at all.
(14:03) Under President Trump the United act. at all.
(14:04) Under President Trump the United States has made its choice.
(14:05) We choose the Unapologetic States has made its choice.
(14:06) We choose the Unapologetic pursuit of National Power.
(14:06) to take Back Control of our pursuit of National Power.
(14:08) to take Back Control of our critical Supply chains to reinstate our economy to
(14:11) critical Supply chains to reinstate our economy to rebuild our defense to fight for
(14:14) dominance of the rebuild our defense to fight for dominance of the Technologies and
(14:16) industries of the future.
(14:17) We?
(14:24) in advanced Manufacturing. and super intelligence.
(14:27) in drones. weapons and warfare.
(14:28) and super intelligence. in drones.
(14:30) weapons and warfare. in chips.
(14:31) minerals.
(14:31) Cyber and every other domain of in chips.
(14:34) minerals.
(14:34) Cyber and every other domain of human possibility To unleash our
(14:36) energy to rebuild our human possibility To unleash our energy to rebuild
(14:37) our factories to return our astronauts to the moon and factories to return
(14:39) our astronauts to the moon and launched a new age of exploration.
(14:43) in space.
(14:45) Now, for all their lofty ideals the ancient Greeks.
(14:47) Were not naive.
(14:48) They understood that Nations Were not naive.
(14:51) they understood that statecraft. have interest.
(14:54) they understood that statecraft. requires prudence, and diplomacy.
(14:56) but they also requires prudence, and diplomacy.
(14:59) but they also understood that it requires the ability to understood that
(15:01) it requires the ability to wield Force when prudence and diplomacy fail,
(15:03) They wield Force when prudence and diplomacy fail, They understood.
(15:06) That power requires not only having the means to defend yourself.
(15:10) It requires The means to defend yourself.
(15:11) It requires The credibility. That you are willing to use it.
(15:16) Is the classical understanding of politics.
(15:18) and of the classical understanding of politics.
(15:21) and of statecraft. that the Trump Administration.
(15:22) hopes to statecraft. that the Trump Administration.
(15:23) hopes to reclaim. Reclaim not just for our country.
(15:26) but for the reclaim. Reclaim not just for our country.
(15:27) but for the whole of our civilization, We believe that Europe can whole of our
(15:30) civilization, We believe that Europe can awaken from its long Slumber
(15:32) and rekindle the awaken from its long Slumber and rekindle the fire.
(15:37) That was lit here.
(15:37) Millennia ago, There are already signs.
(15:42) Across this continent. We are witnessing.
(15:43) What we hope will be the beginning are witnessing.
(15:44) What we hope will be the beginning of a generational shift.
(15:47) skyrocketing defense spending a flurry of new Partnerships and programs.
(15:49) spending a flurry of new Partnerships and programs.
(15:52) expanded manufacturing and production.
(15:53) following on the expanded manufacturing and production.
(15:54) following on the historic defense commitments made last year.
(15:55) in The historic defense commitments made last year.
(15:57) in The Hague Greece. has been at the center of this shift.
(16:02) the people of this nation have proved themselves the people of this nation have
(16:03) proved themselves once again.
(16:06) to be an indispensable.
(16:11) where Greece from energy to migration to defense.
(16:12) where Greece has been a model Ally, It is our sincerest hope That has been a model Ally,
(16:16) It is our sincerest hope That all of Europe will follow your example.
(16:19) Though, all of Europe will follow your example.
(16:23) Though, Passions May at times have strained, the bonds of Passions May at times
(16:25) have strained, the bonds of affection between the United States and Europe.
(16:28) It must affection between the United States and Europe.
(16:30) together, we must not be allowed to break them.
(16:32) together, we must strengthen Alliance capable of confronting the threats.
(16:34) strengthen Alliance capable of confronting the threats.
(16:37) Of our age. And we can.
(16:41) Because we do not believe the transatlantic friendship.
(16:42) should be zero sum quite the transatlantic friendship.
(16:44) should be zero sum quite the opposite.
(16:47) our vision is an alliance who the opposite.
(16:49) our vision is an alliance who strength is greater than the sum of its parts.
(16:51) it is a strength is greater than the sum of its parts.
(16:53) it is a vision we saw in action, just last month.
(16:54) In an vision we saw in action, just last month.
(16:56) In an unprecedented, new agreement between the United States.
(16:57) unprecedented, new agreement between the United States.
(16:59) Denmark. and Greenland.
(16:59) and agreement. That will Denmark.
(17:00) and Greenland. and agreement.
(17:01) That will reshape the Arctic and bolster the security of all reshape the Arctic and
(17:03) bolster the security of all of NATO.
(17:07) All 3 Partners in that deal. Emerged Victorious.
(17:11) All of Europe, and NATO. and the United Victorious.
(17:13) All of Europe, and NATO. and the United States.
(17:14) emerged safer. Stronger.
(17:18) and more secure States. emerged safer.
(17:20) Win because of it. We want to win together.
(17:21) We must. Win together.
(17:22) Now, it’ s become fashionable that today to together.
(17:29) Now, it’ s become fashionable that today to believe.
(17:30) that enlightened foreign policy means believe.
(17:32) that enlightened foreign policy means prioritizing the global
(17:33) community over 1’ s own prioritizing the global community over 1’
(17:34) s own people.
(17:35) and I think here, too, we have much to people.
(17:36) and I think here, too, we have much to learn from the men of ancient Greece.
(17:39) Because they learn from the men of ancient Greece.
(17:41) Because they knew that there was nothing selfish or wrong about knew
(17:43) that there was nothing selfish or wrong about loyalty to your nation.
(17:45) Nor anything.
(17:46) selfish or wrong loyalty to your nation.
(17:47) Nor anything.
(17:47) selfish or wrong about fighting to defend its interests?
(17:48) Above All about fighting to defend its interests?
(17:51) Above All Else. They believed fiercely.
(17:54) In the ideal of Else. They believed fiercely.
(17:55) In the ideal of the great man. The exceptional individual.
(17:58) who the great man. The exceptional individual.
(18:00) but, They obtains immortality through his own Deeds.
(18:03) but, They believed that glory and fame.
(18:05) Those things were 1 believed that glory and fame.
(18:07) Those things were 1 through striving.
(18:10) sacrificing and achieving greatly. For through striving.
(18:12) sacrificing and achieving greatly. For something.
(18:14) larger than yourself. The recurring hero.
(18:17) The recurring hero. of the ancient Greek world.
(18:19) was the man who was willing of the ancient Greek world.
(18:20) was the man who was willing to pay any cost.
(18:23) For a Cause worthy of his loyalty.
(18:28) We see this in Socrates.
(18:29) Who refused to abandon the see this in Socrates.
(18:31) Who refused to abandon the inquiry into refused even at the cost of his
(18:33) own life, inquiry into refused even at the cost of his own life, we see
(18:35) it in the legendary stand of 300 Spartans.
(18:36) we see it in the legendary stand of 300 Spartans.
(18:40) Surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered by the vast.
(18:43) armies of Persia.
(18:43) Who refuse the chance to save armies of Persia.
(18:44) Who refuse the chance to save themselves.
(18:46) choosing to fight to the last man. themselves.
(18:49) choosing to fight to the last man. Rather than abandon their post.
(18:52) or abandon their Duty. And we see it.
(18:56) in the Epic myth of Achilles.
(18:57) Whose offered the choice to return home and live a offered the choice to return home
(19:01) and live a long and peaceful life?
(19:03) But chooses instead to remain a long and peaceful life?
(19:03) But chooses instead to remain a Troy.
(19:06) And perish in pursuit of eternal glory.
(19:10) These.
(19:11) These are the qualities that would shape the Western moral These are the qualities that
(19:13) would shape the Western moral imagination.
(19:16) From the Christian martyr, who refused to betray his faith.
(19:18) To The patriot who gave his to betray his faith.
(19:20) To The patriot who gave his life for his country.
(19:24) From St. Thomas Moore. to the life for his country.
(19:26) running through the immortal closing words of the Declaration of Independence closing
(19:28) words of the Declaration of Independence of the United States.
(19:30) which says, we mutually pledge of the United States.
(19:34) Our Lives, our fortunes, And our sacred to each other.
(19:37) Our Lives, our fortunes, And our sacred honor.
(19:42) it is from the Greeks. that the West honor.
(19:44) that the West inherited its sense of Duty.
(19:45) and unbreakable loyalty to 1 inherited its sense of Duty.
(19:47) and unbreakable loyalty to 1 code, 1’ s, cause 1’ s country.
(19:51) Our Heroes. the code, 1’ s, cause 1’ s country.
(19:53) Our Heroes.
(19:53) the heroes of the West are those who choose to remain heroes of the West are those who
(19:55) choose to remain faithful to their Duty?
(19:56) precisely.
(19:57) when it is most faithful to their Duty?
(19:59) precisely.
(19:59) when it is most difficult and painful to do.
(20:00) So.
(20:00) the man who is bound by difficult and painful to do.
(20:03) So. the man who is bound by his word.
(20:06) the soldier, who will not abandon his post.
(20:07) the soldier, who will not abandon his post.
(20:09) the captain, The proverbial captain.
(20:11) Who goes down the captain, The proverbial captain.
(20:12) Who goes down with the ship.
(20:14) This is wholly different from what with the ship.
(20:15) This is wholly different from what we see even now.
(20:17) for example, from Fanatics, we see even now.
(20:18) for example, from Fanatics, like the radical mulas of Iran.
(20:21) Whose Cult of death.
(20:23) hails, child suicide, Bombers is national heroes.
(20:27) And portrays martyrdom as an end to itself.
(20:31) Our Heroes May be willing to die for their cause but our heroes do not worship death.
(20:34) It is cause but our heroes do not worship death.
(20:38) It is precisely because we value life.
(20:41) That we come to precisely because we value life.
(20:43) That we come to recognize the heroism and those who would sooner recognize the heroism
(20:44) and those who would sooner sacrifice it.
(20:47) and to betray their principles.
(20:49) now, we take the West conception of these things.
(20:51) heroism take the West conception of these things.
(20:53) heroism honor Duty.
(20:53) We take these things for granted We honor Duty.
(20:54) We take these things for granted We assume that these somehow are Universal to all
(20:57) people, assume that these somehow are Universal to all people, and all times and
(20:58) in all places they are not.
(21:02) They and all times and in all places they are not.
(21:05) They are the product of a distinct character.
(21:05) A are the product of a distinct character.
(21:07) A distinct character, which arose here.
(21:09) and shaped the distinct character, which arose here.
(21:10) and shaped the whole story of the civilization that came whole story of
(21:11) the civilization that came after it.
(21:14) A civilization that we must fight to defend today.
(21:17) with the same passion. As our forefathers did.
(21:23) the man who built the parthanon. Were forefathers did.
(21:25) the man who built the parthanon. Were succeeded.
(21:27) By the Architects of European Christendom.
(21:30) Who raised the cathedrals of Milan? Christendom.
(21:31) Who raised the cathedrals of Milan? cologne and Florence?
(21:33) The quest to perfect the human cologne and Florence?
(21:35) The quest to perfect the human form that moved the ancient Greek sculptors found a new
(21:37) form that moved the ancient Greek sculptors found a new expression in Michelangelo, the
(21:38) Greek philosopher.
(21:38) expression in Michelangelo, the Greek philosopher.
(21:43) searched for the structure of the universe.
(21:44) Was inherited by Copernicus. Then Galileo.
(21:45) and Kepler. Was inherited by Copernicus.
(21:47) Then Galileo. and Kepler.
(21:48) and Newton. the hunger for new knowledge.
(21:51) That’ s what and Newton. the hunger for new knowledge.
(21:51) That’ s what gave birth to Magellan’ s first expedition around the
(21:53) gave birth to Magellan’ s first expedition around the world.
(21:55) The Columbus’ s discovery of the Americas.
(21:58) world.
(21:58) The Columbus’ s discovery of the Americas.
(21:59) and ultimately to Apollo 11’ s Journey, to the Moon.
(22:02) and ultimately to Apollo 11’ s Journey, to the Moon.
(22:03) And the qualities that led Alexander to conquer the And the qualities that led
(22:05) Alexander to conquer the entire known world.
(22:10) Reappeared in Caesar. And Charlemagne.
(22:12) and Cortez.
(22:16) and in America, that same Charlemagne. and Cortez.
(22:19) And open and tradition, rediscovered itself in you.
(22:22) And open and Wild Land.
(22:24) Became the sight of a great Revival of Western imagination.
(22:26) and ambition. The Greek Western imagination.
(22:30) and ambition.
(22:30) The Greek aspiration for New Horizons.
(22:31) Became the American aspiration for New Horizons.
(22:34) Became the American frontier spirit.
(22:37) The civilization of Athens and frontier spirit.
(22:39) transformed, an infant Seaboard Republic.
(22:43) Into a continental Empire. The greatest.
(22:47) The greatest. Americans.
(22:48) of every generation.
(22:49) have carried the unmistakable every generation.
(22:50) have carried the unmistakable features of their forefathers.
(22:52) Born in features of their forefathers.
(22:54) Born in Athens. formed by Rome.
(22:57) baptized in Christendom Athens. formed by Rome.
(22:58) baptized in Christendom Hardened in the furnace of medieval Europe, endowed Hardened
(23:00) in the furnace of medieval Europe, endowed with the English genius for Liberty.
(23:02) And then carried with the English genius for Liberty.
(23:05) And then carried the Atlantic.
(23:06) To be reborn of the shores of a new the Atlantic.
(23:08) To be reborn of the shores of a new world.
(23:10) together, we must now read the Discover that world.
(23:12) together, we must now read the Discover that spirit We are at an inflection point.
(23:15) An spirit We are at an inflection point.
(23:16) An inflection point, inflection point.
(23:17) inflection point.
(23:17) An inflection point, not only in the history of my An inflection point, not
(23:19) only in the history of my nation.
(23:21) But an inflection point in the whole of our civilization.
(23:27) The threats we face today. are every bit civilization.
(23:29) The threats we face today. are every bit as real.
(23:29) As they were. on the dramatic stage of as real.
(23:32) As they were. on the dramatic stage of antiquity.
(23:36) National interest did not vanish in antiquity.
(23:37) institutions. War.
(23:38) Did not the face of international. institutions.
(23:41) Did not disappear, Simply because we preferred piece.
(23:42) Other disappear, Simply because we preferred piece.
(23:47) Other states can continue to arm. To seek influence.
(23:50) states can continue to arm. To seek influence.
(23:50) to compete for territory and technology.
(23:53) and resources and markets. And energy.
(23:56) and power. and now, there is markets.
(23:57) and now, there is war again. There is new competition between.
(23:59) great war again. There is new competition between.
(24:01) great Powers again. There is vulnerability.
(24:03) There is vulnerability. aggression.
(24:06) terrorism a whole universe of new threats and attacks.
(24:07) again.
(24:11) And so, we must rebuild our institutions.
(24:13) together. our alliances to face these threats.
(24:14) Understanding that the purpose of these things is Understanding that the
(24:16) purpose of these things is not to abolish the sovereignty of the Nations
(24:18) not to abolish the sovereignty of the Nations that constitute them.
(24:24) and that Nations need not abandon their distinct that Nations need not
(24:27) abandon their distinct identities.
(24:31) in order to recognize, their common interests.
(24:36) We have built a model of that, with our interests.
(24:38) here in Greece. In our defense Partnerships.
(24:40) In our defense Partnerships. in energy and Technology.
(24:42) in our shared ambition, to in energy and Technology.
(24:43) in our shared ambition, to secure Europe’ s borders.
(24:44) from the threats of mass secure Europe’ s borders.
(24:47) from the threats of mass migration you know, our friendship dates back to migration
(24:49) you know, our friendship dates back to the earliest years of my nation.
(24:52) When Greece Rose the earliest years of my nation.
(24:55) When Greece Rose in 1821, to recover, its independence after
(24:57) centuries in 1821, to recover, its independence after centuries of
(24:59) Ottoman rule, Americans recognized something from of Ottoman rule,
(25:02) Americans recognized something from familiar in that struggle.
(25:06) 3 years later the Great American statesman.
(25:06) Daniel Webster. He delivered a American statesman.
(25:08) Daniel Webster.
(25:09) He delivered a famous address to Congress.
(25:10) Helping.
(25:11) bring the cause of famous address to Congress.
(25:12) Helping.
(25:12) bring the cause of the Greek Revolution before the representatives
(25:14) of the Greek Revolution before the representatives of the young
(25:15) American Republic.
(25:16) and he began by calling their young American Republic.
(25:18) and he began by calling their attention to everything around them.
(25:19) This is what attention to everything around them.
(25:20) This is what he said in his speech He said this free form of he said in his speech
(25:22) He said this free form of government.
(25:25) This the popular assembly this practice of free debate and public discussion.
(25:26) the contest of free debate and public discussion.
(25:30) the contest of mind with mind, even the edifice.
(25:32) in which we mind with mind, even the edifice.
(25:33) in which we Assemble.
(25:35) these proportion columns these ornament architecture All remind us.
(25:39) That Greece has ornament architecture All remind us.
(25:41) That Greece has existed.
(25:43) and that we like the rest of mankind.
(25:47) Are greatly her debtors.
(25:49) Those words are as true today as greatly her debtors.
(25:50) Those words are as true today as they were when he sat him.
(25:54) And all of us. not just Americans.
(25:57) But Europeans and our friends across the West.
(25:59) must relearn the lessons. our forefathers took.
(26:02) From must relearn the lessons. our forefathers took.
(26:03) From this place. And from its history.
(26:08) The history of Greece.
(26:09) The history of Greece. Shows us an image of ourselves.
(26:10) It shows us that ours is the inheritance of great It shows us that ours is the
(26:11) inheritance of great Heroes.
(26:12) And that we should be proud that we should Heroes.
(26:13) And that we should be proud that we should be intensely proud.
(26:15) of where we come from. We be intensely proud.
(26:18) of where we come from. We should Marvel at what?
(26:19) Our forefathers carved out of should Marvel at what?
(26:21) Our forefathers carved out of this Countryside.
(26:22) The story, you are the this Countryside.
(26:23) The story, you are the civilization is the greatest story ever known
(26:26) civilization is the greatest story ever known to man and it began here.
(26:29) With a first man and women to man and it began here.
(26:31) With a first man and women of the West.
(26:33) From them. from them, We we, we can of the West.
(26:36) From them.
(26:36) from them, We we, we can ReDiscover the virtues.
(26:37) the courage. and the strength.
(26:40) ReDiscover the virtues. the courage.
(26:40) and the strength. to confront the dangers
(26:41) that we face. In our time.
(26:55) to confront the dangers that we face.
(27:06) All right, so we were just listening Thank you.
(27:10) All right, so we were just listening into a secretary of state Marco Rubio as he
(27:12) was into a secretary of state Marco Rubio as he was speaking there.
(27:15) live at the Acropolis in Athens speaking there.
(27:17) live at the Acropolis in Athens Greece.
(27:17) Now, it does look like this live shot has Greece.
(27:19) Now, it does look like this live shot has since Frozen right here.