But Caesar was THE BAD GUY. He was the law breaker who seized control of a floundering republic and essentially killed it.
But Caesar was THE BAD GUY. He was the law breaker who seized control of a floundering republic and essentially killed it.
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HELLOOOOOO!!! People? If Trump=Caesar, we are totally screwed.
I would rather Trump=Andrew Jackson. Or even Trump=Lincoln.
Best of all Trump=Reagan.
But not Caesar!
As they say, the winner writes the history books.
Actually, if any one person killed "the floundering republic", it would be Sulla, not Caesar.
Sulla's ended the republic, in spite of reforms he thought would save it, because he made it clear the military (and hence the wealthy generals whose legions were loyal to them, not to the Republic) was in charge of Rome.
As Pompey is quoted as saying, "If Sulla could, why can't I", and don't forget that Pompey was one of Caesar's backers who made it possible for Caesar to become powerful enough to seize power.
All Caesar did was openly shatter the illusion of a republic the wealthy depended on to hide fact that the republic had been dead as anything except an elaborate hoax for quite a while.
Trump may or may not be Sulla although I personally believe he's a lot more like Tiberius Gracchus, but he's no Julius Caesar.
Caesar was one of the bad guys, not "THE", bad guy and one of "the bad guys" was going to do pretty much the same as he did within at best a decade.
Without a doubt, though, he'd have never gotten the chance to be such a "bad guy" had it not been for Pompey. By the time Caesar made his move, the question boils down to whether or not Pompey would have been any better and whether Octavian would have risen to the top if Pompey rather than Caesar had struck first.
The "great man" theory points to individuals when reality points to the powerful and wealthy who back individuals willing to do their bidding. That the backers sometimes, or often, lose control of those they back doesn't change the fact that without their efforts those individuals wouldn't rise to the level where their becoming independent actors alters history.