Obama and the Caesars

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

A classicist in the Times yesterday compared Obama and several politicians with each of the Caesars. Well not the whole 12 that Suetonius wrote about for she missed out the first, Julius and the last Domitian.

She started with Titus (no. 11) and linked him to Barack Obama and speaks of how well they were both thought of. My worry is that Titus only reigned for 2 years and I hope that Obama gets a longer term.

Then to the first emperor, Augustus and here she links him with Tony Blair on the grounds of spin and survival. Well Augustus reigned 45 years and was the George Washington of Rome so the comparison is a bit thin. Mind you the lady writer observed that Augustus was frequently outmanoeuvred by his scheming wife, Livia. Yeah I always wondered if Cherie was pulling the strings.

On then to Tiberius and Gordon Brown, both miserable gits. Tiberius had a ruthless advisor, Sejanus - Peter Mandelson maybe? Sejanus was eventually murdered so I'll say no more. But then our Gordie hasn't spent his time on the Isle of Capri chasing little boys around in the swimming pool - good for him.

We get Caligula and Richard Nixon next. Thought that was unfair. Caligula was a complete raving loony and a pervert to boot. Nixon was naughty but nothing like that. I think she struggled to find anyone like Caligula and so would I.

She put Claudius with Ronald Reagan on the grounds that both appeared stupid but were actually quite smart. She may well be right. And there is no doubting the affection that America held for Reagan even though he stoked the fires of the Cold War. (Did I write an oxymoron there?)

She moved on to Nero and linked him with David Cameron, our Tory opposition leader. However, she confessed that the only link was that they both came to power on the back of a powerful woman, in Nero's case, his mom who poisoned her husband Claudius and in Cameron's case, Margaret Thatcher. Crap, Cameron and Thatcher are generations apart.

The next 3, Galba, Otho and Vitellius survived for only weeks or months are are totally forgettable. They were linked to equally forgettable Liberal Democrat luminaries so the link is completely apposite.

Finally, cus she missed out Domitian and nattered about Titus first (if you are still following this), we get Vespasian and George W. Bush, the links apparently being having a folksy charm and waging war in the Middle East. Well Vespasian certainly whacked the Jews at Masada which is more than Hamas or Hezbollah have managed but I do not recall he made any impression on Iraq or anywhere else further East. But then if you weigh it all up, neither has Dubya if you discount the destruction.

So there you have it. A light hearted article I am sure but flawed nonetheless.

Incidentally, if you are so inclined, you can see a nice collection of busts of all 12 Caesars in the Ufizzi gallery in Florence and what is more, they are all in order. Are they not, Vanessa?