An interesting word captured my attention while researching the fall of Babylon, Prussia, Persia, Media, parts of the Roman empire and other nations that no longer exist. The word is hybris. Hybris appeared in this excerpt of an article by J R Fears taken from http://bigthink.com/learning-from-the-past/reflections-on-the-rise-and-fall-of-empires.
The Persians (referred to in the Bible) are the ancestors of the modern Iranians. But the Iran of King Darius was the leading military/political/economic power of its day. Why then did it fall? Herodotus believed that there were invariable laws to the rise and fall of empires. Empires rose and fell—as they still do today—because of individual decisions made by individual leaders.
The greatest mistake made by those in power, like Darius, was the sin of hybris. That Greek word means “outrageous arrogance.” Hybris is the outrageous arrogance that marks the abuse of power. Only those invested with enormous power can commit the sin of hybris which imposes on your will, at all costs. “The Greeks believed that hybris was preceded by ate or moral blindness that makes you believe that you can do anything you want to and there will be no consequences from either Gods or men” (emphasis mine). It was this hybris that led Darius to undertake a preemptive war against Athens. His moral blindness led him to believe that he would never know defeat. He ignored all the warnings that God or the gods sent him because he felt so secure in his power.
Hybris, also known as hubris (hoo-briss) is a Greek word which we translate into English as “pride” or “arrogance.” Its original meaning in Greek was to hit something. It means thinking you are better than you really are, as in the expression “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall,” (Proverbs 16:18 NIV). It especially means thinking you are better than the gods: “gods hate that and you always come to a bad end” states K.E. Carr at http://quatr.us/greeks/religion/hubris.htm.
As we consider the moral decay in today’s American society, and the firing of missiles by world leaders that could push us to the brink of war, a study of the fall of nations might prompt us to beware of the sin of hybris. Too man lives are at stake for any nation to tolerate outrageous arrogance from any leader. We need to pray for world leaders to repent from pride while we still have time.