larry johnson speaks of rome compared to our current empire and emperor; 

 

During my long trek returning home to Florida from Russia, I watched a three hour documentary on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire and I gained an appreciation of why Trump is often labeled as a reincarnation of various leaders of the Rome. Caligula is the favorite of those who see caprice and cruelty, the emperor who reportedly planned to make his horse a consul, invoked whenever loyalty seems to outrank competence. Nero is summoned for the performer-ruler, the emperor-artist blamed for fiddling while Rome burned. Julius Caesar is the go-to for warnings about a strongman crossing the Rubicon and hollowing out a republic’s norms.

Each comparison captures something, and I think each overreaches. Caligula and Nero are remembered mainly for murder and madness. Caesar destroyed a republic with his legions. The comparisons say more about their authors’ fears than about the man.

After watching the documentary, I think the most apt comparison is Commodus, the son of Marcus Aurelius, who ruled from 180 to 192 AD. Ridley Scott’s movie, The Gladiator, brought Commodus to life via the actor Joaquin Phoenix. Commodus is less famous than the others, but the parallel rests on something more concrete than temperament. Unlike Trump, Commodus inherited a stable order from a revered predecessor. However, Commodus governed as a showman, and above all compulsively stamped his own name on the institutions of the state while he held power.........more.............