Of course, there is still a big difference between the situations of Caesar and his fellows, and that of the Americans; namely the degree of decadence of their institutions and constitutions. The Americans had, and still have, more public respect for their institutions. Incumbents may be incompetent and unworthy, the public light minded and indifferent, but there is still confidence in the legitimacy and effectiveness of the institutions. Political rivals do not have to take desperate measures to preserve their own lives by killing their opponents. In Caesar's world the constitutionalists who wanted to restore such good old ways wrung their hands ineffectually, as powerful individuals subordinated the institutions of the state to their own interests and egos, reconstituting their world around themselves, and the public sought their own safety by acclaiming them.
To be one of the rulers in such a world, and finally the supreme ruler, is a very different thing from being even the highest servant or hereditary monarch of a constitutional state. It is to be a predator, superior to ordinary men, but required to develop ones abilities and suspicions to the full, to always be on the alert against attack by someone stronger or more cunning. This must require and develop self confidence abilities and zest for life beyond the usual run,to greatness of some sort, to the divinity or beastiality predicted by Aristotle for those who are not bound by the usual rules of the polis, but it is likely to lead to one end; which is that of the criminal priest king of the grove of Nemi, "the one who slew the slayer, who shall himself be slain."
Wilson Bertram was born in Ireland, educated in England and lives in South Africa.
Caesar Study Guide
