President Donald Trump’s first mandate recorded a record rate of rotation between the members of his cabinet and his main advisors. To date, his second term has presented much less exits.
However, some political commentators have indicated that, on this occasion, the president has mainly appointed loyal advisors who do not contradict him.
As Thomas Friedman observed in The New York Times June 3, 2025:
“In Trump I, the president surrounded himself with influential people who could act as shock absorbers. In Trump II, he has surrounded only flatterers who act as amplifiers.”
The teacher of classical studies, Kirk Freudenburg-student of Greco-Roman antiquity-has dedicated many years to the analysis of how the truth disappears in contexts of political agitation. The Roman Empire, which extended from 27 a. C. at 476 d. C., continues to offer valuable lessons about what happens when political leaders interpret useful advice as dissent.
An especially revealing case is that of Emperor Nero, who ruled Rome between 54 and 68 d. C. His response to the devastating fire of the year 64 was characterized by extreme cruelty and egocentrism that did not offer any relief to desperate citizens.
The suppression of directors under the reign of Nero
The first emperor of Rome, Augusto, created a circle of carefully selected directors – the Council of Princessor “Emperor Council” – to give republican appearance to its autocratic regime.
Augustus assumed power in the year 27 a. C. and ruled until his death in 14 d. C., directing an empire that covered from Europe and North Africa to the Middle East. He valued to listen to different opinions about the needs of the Empire and public policies.
Some of his counselors dared to contradict him, even at the risk of retaliation. Cornelio Galo paid his boldness with life, while others, such as Cilnio Mecenas, managed to politically influence more discreetly and preserve their influence.
Emperors after Augustus were less skilled – or less interested – in maintaining that republican facade.
Nero was the last emperor of the Julio-Claudia dynasty. Historians consider the first five years of their reign – known as quinquennium Nero– As a stage of relative stability and prosperity for the empire.
Because Nero was only 16 years old when he rose to power, he was assigned counselors in an influential voice in his decisions. However, five years later, annoyed by constant supervision, Nero began eliminating his advisors through executions, forced suicides and exile.
Instead, he brought together a small group of facilitators interested in obtaining personal power encouraging the delusions of its leader, including his desire to be seen as an incarnation of the solar god Apollo.
The most corrupt and nefarious of these was an funeral Tigelino. At the beginning of the year 62, Tigelino attracted Nero’s attention upon urging the Senate to condemn a Roman magistrate who had written poems considered offensive. Later that year, he was appointed head of the Emperor’s personal guard.
Read: ‘I direct the country and the world’: Trump
As Praetorian Prefect, Tigelino had the responsibility to protect not only the physical integrity of the emperor, but also his public image. He encouraged him to organize continuous theatrical shows and athletic competitions to project himself as a divine ruler.
Burning; The acceleration of its decline
It is believed that by instigation of Tigelino, after the great fire of Rome in the year 64 – which lasted six days – Nero organized a sumptuous party in his gardens, where Christians were soaked in flammable oil and burned alive as human torches to illuminate a night banquet.
Despite these cruel maneuvers, Nero failed to divert the attention of devastation. Large areas of the city were razed, thousands of citizens were left without clothes, food or home.
In search of answers, the victims went to their emperor, their “earthly apolo”, waiting for compassion. Instead, they found a man desperate for blaming others. The emperor diverted his attention blaming foreigners from the East, especially Christians.
To silence rumors that he had caused the fire, Tigelino ordered the arrest and execution of Christians, falsely accusing them.
This reaction showed that Nero did not focus on the poor, who had once idolized him, but in reconstructing his divine image.
Once the rubble was removed, Nero ordered the construction of a new and lavish palace: the House of goldor “Dorada Casa”, which covered more than 50 hectares in the heart of Rome. It had sources, works of art, and a colossal statue 36 meters high that represented it as Apollo.
No one dared to tell him the truth: that perhaps it was not appropriate to scrub his people the suffering lived.
Nero’s delusional response to the fire did not cause his immediate fall, but he accelerated his decline. Less than four years later, with the armies approaching Rome, he committed suicide. The Empire fell into a civil war.
Self -machinery in the Trump era
Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to see his face carved on Mount Rushmore, the National Monument in South Dakota that shows Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.
That dream took a step towards reality in July 2025, when Tennessee’s congressman, Andy Ogles, asked the interior department to study the possibility of adding Trump’s image to the monument, although experts have indicated that it might not be feasible for geological reasons.
Trump’s critics have long pointed out their tendency to focus on their own figure, their greatness and power, rather than in the needs of the people.
As distant from the Roman Empire, the rise and fall of Nero warns us about the risks of replacing honest criticism with idolatry.
Instead of real solutions to concrete problems, the Romans obtained a colossal statue that presented their leader as a god on earth.
*Kirk Freudenburg is a professor of classics at Yale University.
This article was originally published in The Conversation
Follow the information about the world in our international section
