The Presidential Emperor And The Imperial President

     I want to apologize to my readers (all three of them) for the unusual length of time between posts. Earlier this month it was my duty -- but also my pleasure -- to attend the wedding of my niece in St. Louis, Missouri, so I took about 10 days off from blogging.

     Marcus Aurelius was the Emperor of Rome during the Second Century A.D. (or C.E., if you prefer). He was arguably the only monarch in the classical West who truly deserved the title of philosopher-king. In the Meditations, Marcus suggests that his first love was philosophy but that he thought it was his duty as a Roman to succeed his adoptive father, the Emperor Antoninus Pius. The Meditations, which were apparently never intended for publication, reflect Marcus' internal struggles in ruling the Roman Empire near the height of its power. In Book 3, Marcus made clear that he had no intention of becoming a tyrant like Nero, the Roman Emperor who sentenced Seneca to death during the First Century C.E.

      Book 6 of the Meditations reveals that Emperor Marcus was, in many ways, the opposite of President Trump.  Trump loves luxury and ostentation; Marcus' model was his immediate predecessor Antoninus, who he remembered as a modest person content with basic living quarters, bedding, clothes, food, and servants; Marcus also wrote that his purple imperial robes were nothing but sheep's wool dyed with the blood of shellfish. Trump craves attention and validation; Marcus did not prize the clapping of an audience or "... the clacking of their tongues. Which is all that public praise amounts to ... ."  Those who disagree with Trump are subject to his ridicule, including Tweet-storms; Marcus asserted: "If anyone can refute me -- show me I'm making a mistake or looking at things from the wrong perspective -- I'll gladly change. It's the truth I'm after, and the truth never harmed anyone. What harms us is to persist in self-deceit and ignorance." But perhaps the most remarkable passage in Book 6, as translated by Gregory Hays, is the following:
          "To escape imperialization -- that indelible stain. It happens. Make sure you remain straightforward, upright, reverent, serious, unadorned, an ally of justice, pious, kind, affectionate, and doing your duty with a will. Fight to be the person philosophy tried to make you. Revere the gods; watch over human beings. Our lives are short. The only rewards of our existence here are an unstained character and unselfish acts." 

     Trump seems to be quite taken with the trappings of his office. Foreign leaders -- some of whom do not have America's best interests in mind -- have learned that the way to his heart is through pomp and circumstance as well as flattery. It is ironic, or perhaps sad, that a Roman Emperor who lived almost 2,000 years ago appears to have had more of the qualities of an ideal American President than the current occupant of the White House has.

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References:

     Marcus Aurelius, Meditations: A New Translation, with an Introduction, by Gregory Hays (The Modern Library, New York, 2003), Book 6, pages 70-76.