Rome: The Throne of Caesar, Mussolini, and soon, Salvini

  

  1500 kilometers from Berlin, lies the capital of the Italians. Rome, the capital of a former empire that spans two continents and whom the world of antiquity kneels to. The hub of civilization before there was any scent of globalization. The "Caput Mundi" or the "Capital of the World". Also the birthplace of the Republican system of government. Which in turn gave birth to one of the most known figures in the history of mankind, Julius Caesar. The great Roman general, conqueror of Gaul and Goth, Consul of Rome, and the first to gain the title of "dictator" or more accurately "dictator perpetuo", which means dictator for life. His last name alone became the name of a political philosophy based on his leadership, Caesarism.

Caesarism is a political ideology which essentially means a sole dictatorship. One person controls everything in one nation. All authority in the control of one small human brain. Which has the right to decide everything and to prevent the rights of every other person in the country. It also emphasizes on character, or cult of personality. You might be asking, " Why didn't other Romans just team up to put him down? Surely 10 people would be enough to make him lose power", and that is exactly what happened. On the Ides of March (15th of March) , the majority of the senate conspired against him, even his loyal adopted son, Brutus. Caesar was stabbed multiple times. His death marked the end of the Roman Republic, and the birth of the Empire.

Fast forward 1900 years, a short-statured half bald man was leading an army of men wearing black shirts. His objective was Rome, still the capital of a nation. He intended to topple the Prime Minister and 'persuade' the King to sworn himself as Prime Minister of the Italian people. He was the first to introduce the concept of Facism to the world. The snobby speeches and 'tough man' behavior sealed himself as not only a leader, but as a symbol of the Italian people, or more accurately, of Italian Facism. This was a way to build his cult of personality. Yup, lets get back to Caesarism.

 
Facist Italy was filled with Mussolini propaganda, making him more popular than even the king. The state revolved around Mussolini, you could even say that Mussolini WAS the state. The end result of his reign was in short, disastrous. Italy was split in two, with his facist loyalist -with the help of Nazi Germany- forming the Socialist Republic of Italy arming against the real Italy, which had sided with the Allies. The facist were eventually defeated with Mussolini himself brutally killed and then hanged naked in the center of Milan.

70 years into the present, Italy is awaiting for yet another "Caesar". However, it seems that it is late to the party of Caesars, as other European nations have had their own caesars as right wing nationalism also has risen in the past couple years. Russia has Putin. Hungary has Orban, while Marie Le Pen almost became President of France. Then who is this incoming "Caesar" in Italy? His name is Matteo Salvini. Currently he's been sacked as Deputy Prime Minister by Prime Minister of Italy, Guiseppe Conte. He has been accused of endangering the economy to further his political and personal gains. He has also urged the parliament to organize a snap election. Why? His party, Lega Nord is receiving immense support and popularity due to its negative stance on immigration. Salvini is trying to benefit from this surge of popularity to ease his party controlling the parliament. Once that is done, he is basically invincible in politics. A trait usually found in Caesarist leaders. But, more often than not, caesarist leaders that have gained power by brutality, will also fall brutally. As they say, "History repeats itself".