Sometimes the modern day United States of America is compared to the ancient Roman Empire, with the dire predictions of a likewise fall or collapse. Whether that may be the case or not, we do know that historically, great civilizations, empires, republics, and states have been formed and created only to disappear or be incorporated into a newly formed entity.  I think that one of the comparisons that I was not previously aware of between the United States and the Roman Empire is the incorporation of so many diverse cultures and peoples into one great homogenized society. Like the Romans, the descendants of the original European settlers in the U.S. are the minority, and the myriad of other cultures and peoples who now make up the U.S. are the majority. Like the Romans, the U.S. offers a kind of slow or soft assimilation for peoples who speak other languages, practice other religions, and have different cultural norms and values.  I think compared to say the Chinese style, of a more forced assimilation of language and culture like in past empires and modern day Tibet, the Roman/U.S. model is preferable to create a free and healthy republic, that over generations will find the common thread of freedom as a unifying cultural force.