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Notes -
Which is better, other things being equal, peace or war?
This is the fundamental place where we depart from Rome. In Western modernity, peace is better, and the purpose of war is to preserve peace by threatening it or to restore peace by winning it. That comes from the medieval Church - in particular the Peace of God movement. Mainstream historiography holds that the first International Peace Conference was hosted by Cardinal Wolsey in 1518 (history does not reveal whether he had help from Alec Baldwin and the Film Actors' Guild), and the Treaty of London signed there purported to ban war between European Christians. The Romans would have considered Wolsey a pussy for thinking that this was a good idea, as well as an idiot for thinking it might actually work. But somehow the Christians keep trying.
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