At the risk of getting into another argument with Edmund M. about the sources of imperial Roman history, I don't really see the similarities between Trump and Tiberius. Tiberius (if our sources are to be believed, and it's a big 'if') was morose, pensive, paranoid, violent, withdrawn, cruel, a lover of philosophy, a brave and distinguished soldier, a frustrated lover, a notorious sexual deviant, and a very reluctant emperor who fled the capital to play sex-games with little boys at his villa on Capri. I can't really see any striking similarities with President Trump, unless perhaps it's a tendency to delegate power to unscrupulous and corrupt henchmen. I'm aware that others have compared the President to Nero and Caligula. Personally, I think he's most like Trimalchio - the boorish, egotistical nouveau riche in the Satyricon of Petronius. |