On March 15, 44 B.C.E., Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in Rome, Italy. Caesar was the dictator of the Roman Republic, and his assassins were Roman senators, fellow politicians who helped shape Roman policy and government.
Military Success & Reforms
Gaius Julius Caesar had returned to Rome in triumph, hailed as a hero. During his time as a Roman general, he claimed to have killed almost two million people in fifty decisive battles. Although loved by the citizens of Rome, he caused, in many ways, worry among those in the Roman Senate - especially the old elite, the Optimates. The man who was soon to be hailed as dictator for life (dictator perpetuo) transferred his skill as a military commander into the ability to lead the Republic. Seeing the need and demonstrating that he truly loved the people of Rome, he decreed a number of significant and necessary reforms - reforms that further endeared him to the Roman citizenry.
While these reforms made him popular among the commoners, they brought panic to many of his enemies and even some of his friends. To these men, their beloved republic no longer existed, especially after Caesar was named dictator for life in February 44 BCE - a completely unconstitutional act. They believed they no longer had a voice as Rome was quickly coming under the control of a would-be tyrant. Caesar's extreme arrogance and vanity offended many in the Roman Senate.
A Conspiracy Rises
The time had come to save the Republic from this would-be king, and thereby a conspiracy was borne. The four leading men of the conspiracy were an unusual mix of both friends and enemies. The first two men believed they had not been rewarded substantially enough for their service to Caesar: Gaius Trebonius served as a praetor and consul and had fought with Caesar in Spain; Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus was governor of Gaul and had been victorious against the Gauls. The next two conspirators were obviously not friends of Caesar: Gaius Cassius Longinus who had served with both Crassus and Pompey as a naval commander and who some believe conceived the plot, and lastly, the greedy and arrogant Marcus Junius Brutus who had also served under Pompey and who was the brother-in-law of Cassius.
After considerable debate, the final decision was to strike during a session of the Senate at the Theater of Pompey on March 15, 44 BCE, the Ides of March. The attackers had chosen their weapon of choice wisely - a double-edged dagger or pugio of about eight inches long instead of a sword. Daggers were better for close contact and could be hidden under their togas.
The Attack
A large crowd accompanied Caesar on his way to the Senate. The dictator entered and sat on his throne. Mark Antony, who had accompanied Caesar, was conveniently delayed outside by Trebonius, as planned. In the theater, there were 200 senators in attendance along with ten tribunes and a number of slaves and secretaries.
Cimber approached the unsuspecting Caesar and handed him a petition on behalf of his exiled brother; Caesar, of course, did not rise to greet him. Cimber grabbed at Caesar's toga and pulled it back. Caesar reportedly said, "Why, this is violence?" Casca dealt the first blow with his knife; Caesar immediately tried to defend himself by raising his hands to cover his face. The remaining conspirators surrounded the shocked Caesar - Cassius struck him in the face, Decimus to the ribs. Caesar collapsed, dead, ironically at the foot of a statue of his old enemy Pompey.
Aftermath
While the conspiracy had all the makings of a great plan, little attempt was made to prepare for afterwards. The conspirators made their way to Capitoline Hill and the Temple of Jupiter. Brutus spoke from a platform at the foot of the hill, trying in vain to calm the crowd.
Brutus believed the death of Caesar would bring a return of the old Roman spirit; unfortunately, the city was in shock, and people became increasingly more hostile. On March 17 the Senate sought a compromise with the urging of Mark Antony: While the laws of Caesar would remain intact, there would be amnesty for the conspirators. Unfortunately, peace was impossible and the conspirators fled Rome and would all ultimately meet their end.
For Rome, the young Octavian, the adopted son of Caesar, received not only his war chest but also the support of the army. A final conflict between Mark Antony (with the help of Cleopatra) and Octavian would bring Octavian to power as Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire.
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Theory:
An issue with this convo is that people are not really being clear on what they mean by 'fascism'.
I mean if you ask Trump and his supporters any reasonable fascism-checking questionnaire to check their beliefs then they both pass the test with flying colors. Check Trump's comments in any rally, answering fan questions, from China to LGBT+ issues to critical race theory or socialism. Those are all classic superstructural signs or symptoms.
If we understand fascism materially as a political formation that is always latent in capitalism and which resolves the tension between capitalism and democratic or socialist political forces by crushing the latter through outright violence and coercion, in a terroristic dictatorship of capital, then I think that both can be understood as fascist.
It looks to me like the main real, material difference has to do with the nature of the movements or groups supporting them and which faction with the right would be more effective at actually carrying these out from within the state. Alot of yankie comrades here seem to think that Desantis is more dangerous because he's more genuinely, unironically fascist in his ideology (which seems true), and that he's more competent. Not sure what I think. Would like comrades to point to evidence that he's more competent.
I mean, for one he oversaw torture at Guantanamo bay (which should tell you about his connections/the company he keeps). He’s also been overtly enacting anti trans legislation that’s actually causing other states to follow suit, so that’s enough evidence I need. Thankfully, trump has always been all bark and no bite
I disagree that Trump had no bite.
For one he stacked the courts across the US, with is important because as Yankieland descends deeper into fascism and the most reactionary parts of the state increasingly flout any pretense of actually even giving a shit about bullshit like 'checks and balances' and 'democratic norms', then the courts become a key non-democratic institution for wielding class power for the right, especially if they can't pass stuff in Congress and don't wanna go mask-off with Pompeo's 'Executive authority' thesis and making even more use presidential executive priviledge. Like the Roe vs. Wade supreme court decision, where the right is basically saying 'okay women, time to go back to being white baby-factories', was a direct result of stacking the Supreme Court.
Also internationally, I think the idea that he was actually less imperialist is something of an illusion. Generally his regime maintained the imperialism in place. Drone programs and aggression towards China were ramped up. He just didn't really open any new fronts, as far as I'm aware. And let's not forget the selling-out of the Kurds.
Also, from what I understand from non-white and LGBT comrades across the pond, there were in fact differences for them and their safety once Trump came into office. If we want to understand Desantis as a key driver of a wave of increasingly aggressive reactionary policy-making and enaction in republican states, I think we can say similar things about how Trump's regime catalyzed alot of fascistic violence throughout his presidency, or how he cracked down hard on the George Floyd protests, even threatening to use presidential authority to declare a state of emergency. But yh Jan. 6 looked like ineptitude to me. Or maybe he just didn't give a fuck and wanted to use it for further radicalizing his base.
Which gets me thinking that maybe it's useful to think of them as reflecting two necessary dynamics within the Republican party, where the Trumpian one attempts to increasingly mobilize the Republican base and the Desantians increasingly apply pressure within states' political structures.
i wouldn't say that trump had no bite personally. it's more that trump as an enthusiastic amateur fascist and desantis is a relatively cold-blooded professional fascist. trump was a celebrity businessman that had a daddy that kept bailing him out of bankruptcy. desantis was a navy lawyer and professional torturer. even found himself in fallujah. desantis scares me more because he has the specific knowledge to implement fascism from within the american system. i think he has a much better material understanding of what would actually harm people materially.
I'd actually frame it the other way around, namely that Trump might be inept as a political operator except as a demagogue (yanks around here at least seem to think that he's way better at this than Desantis), but it's the people around him that matter. The Trump regime wasn't just Trump but the far-right republicans who rallied around him to increase their power within the state.
If Trump gets in again I'm not convinced that the people around him won't be equally as ideological fascistic and compentent. as Desantis. Like Pence, Pompeo and Bolton were no idiots. Again, he can pack courts even further, further wield executive authority in a reactionary way, pass demonic legislation at not only a state but a federal level if they win the Congress, and the broad far-right will feel, and be, even more empowered.
Also people seem to have forgotten Suleimani's assassination, a clear imperialist attempt to goad Iran into open military conflict, and as we know, fascism is intimately linked to imperialism. As Putin repeats in his interviews, presidents change, but the officialdon and its interests and preferred policies stay the same, so I think there would be sufficient fascist momentum both within the bureaucracy and from the Republican party (especially if the Christo-fascist evangelicals support him and the neocons fall in line). I don't think a Trump government is going to lack for competent fascists.
I could be wrong, but I think when we focus so much on Trump we can slip into 'Great-Man' theory (which i'm guilty of as well).
All I'm saying is that I personally think they'd be equally fucked up, especially if you're a racial minority or LGBT.
ok, definitely fair. i suppose i would still give a slight edge to desantis simply due to trump's narcissistic penchant for fucking up the well-greased wheels.
Yh I know that, at least on my end, there's a kind of morbid fascination with Trump, partly because it really can be funny how insanely ridiculous he is, that means that I feel the temptation to join in with the semin-ironic championing of him over Desantis. But yh at the end of the day Trump also mass murdered people through COVID negligeance, did a bunch of fascist shit, and we know how he behaves around women. I'll still indulge the 'our big wet beautiful orange boi' cos its jokes but in more lucid moments I gotta remind myself I'd put them roughly equally low down in hell.