US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke on Wednesday from the Pnyx, the Athenian hill where citizens once held their assemblies, with the Parthenon behind him. He told Western nations that under President Trump the United States had chosen “the unapologetic pursuit of national power”. About 1,500 people had protested his visit and the war in Iran the night before, and police banned demonstrations in central Athens on the day.
Rubio is seen as a possible 2028 Republican contender, and the AP said the staging, with a hired local crew and a camera crane, looked like a campaign speech. CNN called it “jarring and contradictory”, and the Washington Post said it suited a politician trying to inherit the MAGA movement. It also came with a $4 billion arms sale attached, announced the same day.
Ancient Greece Taught More Than Loyalty
Reuters reported that Rubio said the men of ancient Greece “knew that there was nothing selfish or wrong about loyalty to your nation”. He also praised their courage, ambition and spirit of exploration as qualities that defined the West. That is one lesson from Greece, but it is far from the only one.
Athens ran a direct democracy that excluded women, slaves and foreigners, while Sparta valued military hierarchy. City-states defended their independence, formed alliances, broke them and fought each other. Athens even turned a defensive alliance of Greek cities into an empire it ruled. That mess is why antiquity is so useful to politicians: almost any movement can find an ancestor there.
The Speech Stumbles on History
The AP said the speech contained several historically dubious points. One was that the founders of the United States embraced Athenian direct democracy, when they distrusted it and built the Electoral College as a check on popular majorities. A republic designed partly to avoid Athens’ mistakes makes an awkward heir to Athens.
Rubio also hailed the conquistador Hernán Cortés as an heir to the Greek urge to explore and learn for its own sake. The AP noted that Cortés is viewed very differently in Latin America, where his toppling of the Aztec empire is remembered for mass deaths and stolen treasure. Rubio described himself in the speech as the great-grandson of settlers from Spain, so the choice may have been personal as well as political.
Alliance Deals Meet National Interest First
The two governments announced $4 billion in Foreign Military Sales to support Greece’s long-term defence plan, plus a new counterterrorism information-sharing deal between law enforcement agencies. Rubio called Greece a model ally, and Greece’s foreign minister offered maritime help in the Strait of Hormuz if a viable peace process exists. Reuters noted that Greece offers key military facilities in the Eastern Mediterranean and leads an EU mission protecting Red Sea shipping.
That bargain does not contradict Rubio’s message, since states can pursue national interest through alliances. CNN’s analysis said Washington now expects allies to act as military multipliers for the United States. Smaller partners then worry about dependence, as Greek cities did in Athens’ own alliance. The worry feels sharper after Democrats opened probes into Wall Street Journal claims, which Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle denies, that she said Washington could undermine Greece’s government.
Protest Belongs to the Inheritance Too
About 1,500 people gathered outside parliament on Tuesday to protest Rubio’s visit and the war in Iran, in a demonstration organised by left-wing groups. Organisers said similar protests were held in at least 12 other Greek cities. Police banned demonstrations in central Athens on the day of the speech.
The Pnyx is linked to isegoria, the principle that citizens had an equal right to speak in the assembly. Ancient Athenian politics was noisy: speakers were shouted down, leaders were prosecuted and policy changed abruptly. A police ban on protest in the city centre sits awkwardly with a speech that praised that inheritance.
The West Is Still Arguing With Greece
France 24 reported that Rubio told Western nations they stand “at a crossroads” between national power and decline. Reuters noted that the speech echoed JD Vance’s 2025 Munich address and Trump’s 2025 security strategy, which warned that migration threatened Europe’s civilisation. European governments have rejected those complaints and accused the Trump administration of similar behaviour, the AP noted.
Recovering confidence does not require pretending the past offered one answer. Ancient Greece produced extraordinary culture because its cities argued about democracy and empire, citizenship and duty, without ever settling them. Rubio can claim Athens for national loyalty, but the hill he stood on was built for argument, and any alliance worth keeping has to survive it.
Keep up with Daily Euro Times for more updates
Read also:
Adapting to New Realities: Sweden’s Military Strategy In Flux
Why is Somaliland Strategically Important to the United States?
Talking Diplomacy at a Time of War
