Posted on 08/31/2014 7:05:07 AM PDT by grumpygresh
In the West, Imperial Rome begins in 27BC with the reign of Augustus and ends in 476 with Romulus Augustulus. Throughout this period, we can find good, mediocre and horrible rulers. America has often been compared to Rome, and today, like Rome, we see the transformation of our country from a republic to something closer to a dictatorship or autocracy. I know that many Freepers are Roman history bufffs, so we should come up with a pretty convincing consensus view.
Emperor Norton.
I read an interesting book on the lives of the Caesars and it said several were definitely homosexual.
Exactly, but I can’t think of one head of state that so actively and eagerly sought failure for his country. There are many leaders that lead their countries and empires to destruction, but they always have sought victory for their country. Other leaders merely focused on their own pleasures and ignored their country. But now we have this freak of history that engages in self-indulgence while he takes delight in undermining and tormenting the most productive and moral people in society.
Maybe he’s a lazy version of Mao.
Nero fiddled, Obama golfed.
Nero, hands down.
Wasn’t he the one that burned down Rome and blamed it on the Christians?
Wasn’t he the one who fiddled around the bathhouses too much instead of TCB?
Obama does not seem to me to resemble any of the Roman emperors. After all, they are all dead and he isn’t.
Not really, it means Little Augustus.
Yes. It was a nickname, like "johnson" or "dick".
Umm, Obama lived for about 5 years in Indonesia, not the Phillipines.
Syria had been part of the Roman Empire for some centuries when Elagabulus lived there.
You have something vaguely resembling evidence for that? Throughout their history, the Romans revered Augustus, which is more or less what the name/title means. I find it highly unlikly they’d use it to mean “penis.”
But willing to accept evidence.
Emperor Jones.
Yep. Rome had (in order): Caligula, Claudius, Nero.
We had: Clinton, Bush, Obama.
Somehow history repeats itself, or at least it rhymes.
With comments like yours it could be upbringing not studies
The list is screwy — Diocletian was definitely one of the best emperors the Empire ever had, apparently he made this list because he persecuted Christians; he didn’t put the empire back together (that was the role by my personal favorite, Aurelian, who ruled for but five years, then was murdered by someone on his staff who was an embezzler), but he did split the empire into two halves, set up an orderly system of succession — there had never been one — built a retirement villa which still stands (at Split, in Croatia), retired, compelled his eastern empire colleague to do the same, and watched as their designated successors actually succeeded them both.
Tiberius also doesn’t belong on this list, and I noticed that the plot against him by his former daughter-in-law (and grand-niece) and Lucius Sejanus isn’t mentioned, even though Sejanus himself is. Tiberius was a delegator, as were all the better emperors, but he took power when he was already fairly old (his adopted father and predecessor Augustus ruled for over 40 years), so it’s not surprising he wouldn’t live in noisy, smelly old Rome if he didn’t have to — not least because he moved to Capri. Tiberius and his brother Drusus were probably the best brothers and generals Rome ever produced.
And any list of worst emperors that doesn’t put Elagabalus at the number one spot was clearly compiled by someone with their heads up their keisters (this doesn’t take into account the short-lived successors who bridged the gap between Nero and Vespasian, they weren’t up to the task, but didn’t rule long enough to give them a fair rating).
http://madmonarchs.guusbeltman.nl/madmonarchs/elagabalus/elagabalus_bio.htm
Can I get two votes? (no I am not a demonrat)
Nero and Caligula
So he's fooled you too.He masquerades as a goofy,carefree guy but that's just a mask.His heart is as dark as any darkness you can find in the universe.Remember who his three most important heroes/mentors are...Saul Alinsky,Bill Ayers and Jerimiah Wright,three of the most vile individuals who've ever walked American soil.
Couldn’t be Domitius, he was a fiscal conservative, apparently:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-31/currency-reform-ancient-rome
He hasn’t fooled me at all. He’s trying hard to be evil he’s just not half as bright as Joseph Stalin. One doesn’t have to be bright to fkkk things up.
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