Donald Trump has been called many things, but he’s never been called Emperor Elagabalus before.
Although we cannot presume to speak for Trump, you’d imagine a man of his rare vintage and monstrous ego would kind of wallow like a happy hog in the muck at the thought of being compared to one of the power-crazed Roman Emperors of old.
Here’s the rub. Although the Telegraph has reported that classicist Mary Beard has compared Donald Trump to a Roman ruler on the Instant Classic podcast, she wasn’t speaking of the big three, such as Julius Caesar, Augustus, or Nero, but a lowly emperor who has never been a household name and went by the name of Elagabalus.
Still, a tyrant from the ancient world is still a tyrant, and although Trump would have wanted to be compared with one of the greats, it is still probably nonetheless flattering for the commander in chief to be hailed as following in the footsteps of one of the crazed despots who have gone before.
When he was still a teenager, Elagabalus became the ruler of Rome from 218 to 222AD. He was known for his sadistic streak.
Mary Beard explained that Trump was like Emperor Elagabalus because he too was known for “killing with kindness.”
Beard explained, “You cannot trust an emperor, even when he is being generous.
“The famous anecdote about Emperor Elagabalus is that he invites a load of people to dinner, fantastic generosity, everybody having a wonderful time. And at the end of the evening, millions of rose petals fall out of the ceiling. It’s a well-known Roman trick, actually, but Romans love things falling from the ceiling.
“And the rose petals fall onto the guest, Elagabalus is safe, he’s sitting on a higher dais, and they completely smother and kill the guests.”
Beard compared Trump’s generosity to people such as Elon Musk as being two-sided, and explained, “In fact, the generosity of imperial power kills you. You know, Elagabalus was killing with kindness. And I think there are factors of that sort of message that we see in Trump’s generosity to people.
“I mean. I think Elon Musk might have some stories to tell along those lines.”
Trump is no stranger to being compared with Roman Emperors. In 2016, the historian Tom Holland compared him to Caliguala, you know, the guy who has been branded as one of the most mad, bad, and dangerous to know emperors. The one whose name is forever associated with the worst excesses of power and who loved routinely hurting and humiliating people.
The Guardian reports that Holland said, “What Caligula did was to trample the dignity of the senatorial elite into the dirt, and what he discovered in doing that was that the mass of the Roman people really enjoyed it.
“Trump has said and done things that are utterly shocking by the standards of traditional political morality, but far from making him unpopular with the masses, there is a sense in which he has become the toast of the people.”
