Backstabbers, ancient and modern. I thought this short commentary on Putin, and his future, was fun, accurate, and applicable far beyond Russia’s current leader.
The article begins with a question: How secure is Vladimir Putin? The question could equally apply to anyone with dictatorial tendencies……including Donald Trump and Boris Johnson.
Putin’s Presidential Security Service consists of 2,500 personnel, his Federal Protective Service has 50,000 troops and his National Guard, essentially his personal army, is 350,000 strong. What could possibly go wrong for him? The author of this commentary, Peter Jones of the Spectator Magazine, thinks Roman Emperors might have had a view, as well as the experience of what can happen with personal security personnel – backstabbers
I should, perhaps, add here, that since we never seem to learn from history, and are therefore doomed to repeat it, Peter Jones may well be right. The experience of Roman emperors could be useful in determining the future of our current leadership. It may also give us some comfort as we face their dictatorial tendencies.
It was the Roman Emperor Augustus who invented the Praetorian Guard in 27 BC. He created a personal, prestigious protection force of 9,000 men, which always accompanied him both home and abroad. The invention did not prove auspicious for many of his successors. The second emperor, Tiberius, came within an ace of being displaced by his Captain of the Guard, Sejanus.
The next (insane) emperor, Caligula, was murdered by conspirators, including a Praetorian, and the Guard hauled out a terrified Claudius from behind a curtain and made him emperor.
In AD 68, the Guard deserted Emperor Nero and, as four successors fought for power, played a key role in deciding who would win, often at the flash of a checkbook.
We next hear of them (the Guard) in AD 192, when they orchestrated the murder of the Emperor Commodus. They then proceeded to assassinate his successor, Pertinax, after only three months. Finally, they auctioned off the post to the highest bidder, Julianus, for a cool 20 times their annual pay, each: He lasted 65 days.
Septimius Severus, a student of history, replaced the Guard with trusted legionaries, but posted most of them abroad, which made assassination a bit more difficult. Diocletian turned these legionaries into imperial administrators and, in AD 312, Constantine, apparently a student of history, disbanded the lot.
When you analyze all of this, the picture becomes quite clear for all despots, regardless of country, or political orientation.
Formidable servants are always necessary, but are often fatal backstabbers, to the throne of despotism…..the Roman emperors, inadvertently, taught their closest servants to: Understand their own strength; to realize the weakness of the civil government; to view the vices of their masters with familiar contempt; and to lay aside any reverential awe, which only distance and mystery can preserve. The result was that the “servants” realized that the persona of the sovereign, the authority of the senate, the public treasure house, and even the seat of the empire, were all in their hands, and prime targets for backstabbers. It’s a lesson that all autocrats/dictators, and those who seek to emulate them, should learn……but never seem to. Megalomania is not only infectious, but one of the symptoms is the development of acute blindness to reality.
Reading through this pocket-history of Roman emperors, it is difficult not to see the parallels in today’s world. Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Donald Trump and even the disgraced Boris Johnson are all experiencing the evolution of backstabbers, that seems to go with despotism. Today’s methods may be a trifle less murderous but they can be just as effective……..hopefully.
