Just some late night curiosity. I was wondering which Roman republic/empire leader resembled Trump the most in terms of:
- stupidity
- narcissism
- harm done to the republic/empire
Basically, someone who was hilariously stupid, narcissistic and just really harmful to the state. Byzantine emperors can be considered as well, okay?
Elagabalus is the one who immediately comes to mind, you can’t get more narcissistic than trying to change the entire religion of Rome.
Commodus is less well known, but is infamous for leading the empire into a civil war, debasing the currency, rampant corruption even by Roman standards, and being more interested in gladiatorial spectacles than actually running the empire.
Commodus seems like the right fit.