Friends, Romans and Coalition Partners

Since 5 May pundits have had a field day arguing about whether coalition government can work and the life chances of the current coalition. Reading some commentators, it is almost as though we are now in a brave new world with little precedent.

However, as a recent event at the Institute showed, coalitions are nothing new. Far from it. They played, for example, a key role in the politics of the Roman Republic in the first century BC as it struggled for survival. What we did at the event was to take Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar', which, unusually for him, is reasonably closely based on historical fact, and use it to look at how coalitions are built and mobilised.

Reasons for the coalition

In the play the main motivation for the plotters was to maintain the purity of the Roman Republic and prevent it falling into tyranny under Caesar’s leadership. What was needed was to bring together people who shared that common aim although who, in most other respects, were not natural allies. This meant that the faction which emerged and led to Caesar’s assassination included some very different personalities who, in other circumstances, would certainly not have been natural bedfellows. The key player in this was Cassius who knew that, to succeed, he had to get Marcus Brutus on side. They both shared the common aim of getting rid of Caesar but otherwise held very different values (which, fortunately for Mark Antony, meant that he was spared assassination).

Building and mobilising a coalition

The first two Acts of the play focus on building the faction and mobilising it for action. Cassius understands clearly what he needs to do to get what he wants and how he can secure support for his aims.

He knows that using logic alone to win people over will not be enough. He understands the sources of power that also need to be exercised if he is to influence others effectively. What was so remarkable as the day progressed was the realisation of how much the play captures the intricacies of coalition building and what is needed to ensure that a coalition works effectively. It showed the extent to which any coalition will comprise different strengths and it is important that these are utilised to maximum advantage. Decius Brutus, who had served loyally under Caesar in Gaul, for example, was chosen to persuade him to go to the Senate where he would be killed. There was also the need to compromise in some areas to ensure that someone, Marcus Brutus, who was essential to the faction’s success but who potentially could be very difficult, was kept within the camp.

The coalition's ultimate failure

'Julius Caesar' also shows that without a strategy, short term gains do not mean long term success. Caesar’s assassination notionally saved the Roman Republic but then what? There was no agreed plan amongst the faction about what to do next. So the Republic fell into decay anyway until seventeen years later Octavian saved it from annihilation and, as Augustus, laid the foundations of the Roman Empire. Does any of this sound familiar? The importance of at least:

• some shared values
• an overriding common objective
• using sources of power effectively to get success
• acknowledging differences
• the importance of networking
• maximising different strengths and abilities including emotional intelligence and influencing
• recognising the importance of compromise
• having a strategy which is for the long term

...all of these were central to the discussions from which the coalition government was formed. Also, from left field and to no avail, Calpurnia warned Caesar about the dangers of over confidence – a timeless message to all political leaders. So what goes around, comes around and events two thousand years ago can help us understand what happens today. We didn’t fall into the trap of drawing exact parallels between then and now. But we did all come away from the day realising that the factors which are essential to a coalition’s success are largely constant regardless of time and place.