The Manifesto of the Soil
By General Maximus Decimus Meridius
Preamble
I was once a servant of Rome. I stood in the dust of battlefields and fought for the glory of emperors. Yet today I fight a greater war—not with the sword, but with the plough. For the soil itself is under siege.
The European Union calls itself the new Rome, uniting many nations under one banner. But an empire without fertile land is a skeleton without flesh. And if the soil is poisoned, then the very foundation of this empire will crumble.
Let this be my decree: that the soil of Europe must be protected, restored, and honored, as once Rome honored Ceres, goddess of fertility.
Book I: The Crimes Against the Soil
- Chemical Fertilizers – The soil has been enslaved to artificial nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. These salts do not feed life; they burn it. They reduce soil to dust that cannot breathe.
- Herbicides and Pesticides – Glyphosate and its kin are weapons of war against creation itself. They do not distinguish between weed and flower, between pest and pollinator. Bees, worms, and unseen billions in the soil are slaughtered by these poisons.
- Monoculture – Wheat upon wheat, corn upon corn, year after year. Diversity is banished, and with it, resilience. The land becomes barren, vulnerable to pestilence and drought.
- Waste Mismanagement – The excrement of cities, the ashes of hearths, and the food of tables are cast away as refuse, when they should return to the earth as nourishment.
- The Death of the Farmer – The farmer has been replaced by the technician, the steward by the shareholder. Fields are no longer tended with love but managed as machines.
Book II: The Laws of Renewal
If the soil is to live again, then let these laws be written upon the hearts of the people:
- The Law of Urine
All urine, once despised, shall be recognized as golden water. Rich in nitrogen, it shall be returned to the earth in measured cycles. As Rome recycled every fragment of bronze and iron, so must the new Rome recycle this gift. - The Law of Ashes
Ash from wood fires shall no longer be discarded, but spread upon the fields. Potash shall replenish what grain removes, and the cycle of fire shall return to soil as life. - The Law of Dung
Manure from beasts is not waste but treasure. It must be gathered, composted, and applied as the true wealth of farmers. Without dung, Rome would have perished; without it, the EU will perish also. - The Law of Compost
All organic refuse—food scraps, fallen leaves, plant stalks—shall be composted and returned to the earth. What dies shall feed what lives. - The Law of Green Soldiers
Fields shall not be left fallow but sown with clover, vetch, beans, and peas. These living soldiers capture the breath of the heavens and return it to the soil as nitrogen. - The Law of Trees
Hedges and orchards shall be restored along the fields. Their roots shall bind the soil, their shade shall shield it, and their fallen leaves shall enrich it.
Book III: The Oath of the New Rome
If the European Union desires to be heir to Rome, then it must take this oath:
- To protect the soil as sacred, not as commodity.
- To turn away from chemical dependence and return to the natural cycle.
- To honor the farmer as Rome once honored the soldier.
- To ensure that every village, every city, every empire understands: civilization stands or falls by the fertility of the earth.
Final Exhortation
I was once General of the Armies of the North. I am now General of the Soil.
Rome fell because it forgot the virtues that made it strong. The New Rome—the European Union—will fall if it forgets that the soil is the foundation of all wealth, all strength, all life.
Therefore, let the people arise, let the leaders listen, and let the soil be healed.
For as the soil lives, so too shall Rome live again.