"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” Abraham Lincoln
November 26, 2014
By: Linda Case Gibbons
Chuck Hegel is out as Secretary of Defense. Rumor has it he was forced out. Rumor also has it that he disagreed with the president and sided with military opinion coming out of the Pentagon.
It doesn’t pay to disagree with Obama.
Some people end up being investigated. Some "targeted” by government agencies. Some are sued. Others end up in jail.
Times may change, but people don’t.
Take Roman Emperor Gaius, better known by his nickname "Caligula.” He ruled the Roman Empire in 37 A.D., and his leadership style might seem familiar to you.
In the first six months of his reign he was the darling of the people, described as "a noble and moderate ruler.” After that brief honeymoon, he seized total power for himself and adopted an "I-can-do-whatever-I-want” attitude.
And the Roman Senate couldn’t do a thing about it.
Yes, that approach to leadership was around even then.
His reign was dubbed "The 1400 Days of Terror.” During that time people were falsely accused, sentenced without full trials, killed and exiled for no reason except the head man’s paranoia.
This guy saw conspiracies everywhere. And the rule of law went to pot. If the Romans had had grand juries in those days, Caligula would have ignored their deliberations.
He enjoyed killing and torturing the foes who were on his "enemies list.” It was something that you could get away with in Roman times. Now you have to do it with silence and executive orders.
Caligula was a fella’ who liked to spend. He liked to party. And he really held himself in high regard. In fact if they had had iPhones back then, he would have been a shameless "Selfie” addict, taking photos of himself even at Roman state funerals!
In his first year, he blew through 2,700,000,000 sesterces (about $54 billion today) on political favors and his lavish lifestyle.
To make up the short fall he resorted to taxing and fining and putting to death wealthy citizens so he could confiscate their property. He came up with taxes which were wildly improbable, even levying taxes on lawsuits, marriage and prostitution.
They didn’t have government healthcare then, so he didn’t tax that. Or carbon emissions, so not that either.
Then he cleverly created a convoluted system which defined Roman citizenship on a sliding scale. Sometimes you were a citizen, sometimes you weren’t. It was all up to the emperor’s interpretation, sort of like our immigration situation today.
It was just another way to seize even more wealth from whomever he wanted. He needed the money and he loved the power!
He was a law unto himself. The Roman Senate may have had legislative powers, but he claimed for himself the right to decide what was law and what was not, what were facts and what were not.
He was also not above fibbing when necessary. When he didn’t succeed in invading Britain, he just told the folks back home that he did!
Just a little lie.
But the "folks” weren’t stupid. They didn’t buy it. They knew he was lazy and that he had no experience, especially in foreign affairs and that he was lousy at waging war. His timing was always off.
But what do you do with an emperor gone amok? The answer was, not much.
So the senators and the people sat by, fearful and helpless, watching while he power grabbed, built lots of monuments, mostly to himself, and kicked into high gear, building a "bridge to nowhere.”
The bridge led to Baiae, a poshy resort frequented by Caligula, the Roman senators and other well to do citizens. It was a vacation setting sort of on a par with today’s Martha’s Vineyard.
But the bridge was not intended to be "infrastructure.” He didn’t do infrastructure.
No, it was intended to put the fear of Jupiter and Mars into the Roman senators. It was to show them who the heck was boss as he rode his horse triumphantly over the bridge, in celebration of his non-victory in Britain as a returning, non-conquering hero.
He was something else again.
And even overwhelming debt didn’t deter him from enjoying himself. He loved partying, and to do it in style he outfitted barges the size of football fields as floating palaces, just because he wanted to.
The Rock Star Emperor denied himself nada.
He was criticized for it, but it didn’t stop him.
Of course none of this would fly today in the United States.
We have laws who tell us who are citizens and who are not.
We have a Constitution and branches of the government, separation of powers, all of which ensure that power never comes to rest in the hands of any one leader.
Don't we?
Because if a leader could make decisions alone, that would make him an emperor, wouldn't it? And the United States doesn’t have an emperor.
Does it?
Think about that one over your turkey, friends. Happy Thanksgiving.
Hold the line, America.