Donald Trump may be a new Julius Caesar, the man who destroys American democracy – Scotsman comment

BBC documentary of Julius Caesar tells the story of a populist who overturned the centuries-old Roman republic

The BBC documentary Julius Caesar: The Making of a Dictator may be about ancient history but the parallels with the modern age are impossible to ignore. Caesar was a populist, a supposed man of the people, who robbed Romans of their power and took it for his own. He may have been murdered, but the republic was no more.

Next year will be a momentous one for global democracy. After Russian dictator Vladimir Putin wins a sham election, ironically held on the Ides of March, the US will likely re-elect Joe Biden or Donald Trump, who as president tried to subvert democracy and who recently ‘joked’ he wouldn’t be a dictator “other than day one… after that, I’m not a dictator”.

On the Caesar documentary, Rory Stewart, a former Conservative leadership contender, talked about how the rise of modern populism had begun during “a period of deep, deep uncertainty”, similar to the turmoil towards the end of the Roman republic. “It’s in that environment, [where] authoritarianism thrives, that strong men come forward to challenge democracy,” he said. Beware a new Caesar, lest democracy falls.