Nero and The Upcoming Elections

      It may surprise some people, but the first five years of Nero's reign as Roman emperor were considered some of the best governance Rome had seen up to that point and afterwards. Why is this? Because the actual governance wasn't being done by Nero, but by Burrus, who handled the military affairs, Seneca, who handled most of the day to day running of the Empire, and at times, Aggripina, Nero's mother who had a large influence over him up to a certain point. Seneca, a Stoic philosopher, in particular had been Nero's tutor when the emperor was a boy and a young man, and when he ascended the throne, Seneca along with Burrus became his right and left hands while Nero indulged his fancies, and while they didn't hold any official rank or title, for all intents and purposes, they were the de facto co-emperors while Nero did what he wanted otherwise. It was only after Nero was persuaded by ambitious and jealous men, and disinformation had been spread about them, that Nero turned on all three, starting with his mother, and freed himself from the restraints of their good governance. Anyone who's heard the name Nero pretty much knows what happened after that.
     Many people remember the first couple of years of Trump's administration as being reasonably good governance in accordance with conservative principles. I don't believe it's a coincidence that those first few years he was mostly surrounded by men who had been recommended to him for his cabinet who were, regardless of their political beliefs, patriots with a deep commitment to the United States first. Men like General Mattis, General Kelly, even William Barr who had served in past administrations, as well as others. These men would later, to a man, testify that they increasingly had to keep the restraints on Trump, and as his term wore on, this became increasingly difficult, if not next to impossible. By the end of his term, most of his original cabinet members had resigned or left, and as they did, his behavior became more and more focused on who was loyal to Trump himself rather than who was loyal to the United States and its interests.
      This election season, we are facing the prospect of a Trump presidency without the restraints of the good men who had first advised and served him, much like Nero without Seneca. This Trump presidency will be surrounded by men and women who are only concerned about how their own ambitions might be advanced through connection with Trump, much like Nero's latter reign. We know how that emperor's reign ended. I don't think we want history to repeat itself with our modern Nero.