Bolsonaro Caligulam
Between Insanity and Misery
Caligula, Roman Emperor from 37 to 41 AD, is known as one of the vilest, most inept and most megalomaniac governors of all humankind, in spite of his brevity in power. None of this is by chance. He is accused by Seneca in De Ira of torturing senators and Roman gentlemen for mere pleasure, as well as having nominated a horse to the Senate and planning to lift a statue of his own in the Temple of Jerusalem. I don’t cite Caligula for mere illustration, instead, I do it for an obvious reason. Whoever writes about Rome writes about their own time. I write about mine, even if it is “the less obvious possible in my sight”.
In Caligula: Corruption of Power, Anthony Barrett highlights that in the Republican Period, after a victory on the battlefield, a commander, even if he already was an imperator by virtue in exercise of his imperium, could receive the title of imperator from his soldiers, as a special remark for his honourship. The Senate, as well as the soldiers, had the right of acclaim a victorious general as emperor. Though Caligula could not, by any perspective, be considered victorious in a relevant battle, Barrett argues, it was of notable interest to exercise this right in his specific case. As Caligula was very inexperienced — or so did the Senate believe — , it would be easy to manipulate him. This way, the Senate proved that their decisions were not actually due to profound political deliberations; instead, they were fruit of Roman troops’ actions, which were already loyal to Caligula by the time he was acclaimed by the Senate. When they were convoked to consider Caligula’s vindication, they simply did not have other choice but to confirm it: Caligula already had the power de facto in Rome. This way starts his tragedy, and, most importantly, a sad leitmotiv in history of humankind: the use of military force to the subjugation of what could be called democracy.
In 28 March 37, when the young emperor arrives at Rome and goes to the senate for the first time to be vested, he is awarded great authority. Cassius Dio observes that the powers Augustus (27 to 14 AD) gradually accumulated were conceded to him in just one block. One of his new powers was to do anything — literally—he considered beneficial to the State, which was technically a permission for him to violate the current laws. Caligula was celebrated as an astro, much due to his father Germanicus’ affective memory. Regarding the conquer of the army’s good will, one of his first acts as emperor was the benefit of the urban troops, his guards and the border troops. This way, his social support bases were founded. Caligula had it all to become an scrupulousness tyrant, and did not let anyone down. Philo of Alexandria reports that Caligula fell for a implacable disease in October that year, which he recovered from. However, he started to commit excesses that culminated in his complete perdition, changing for ever his way to reign.
The year of 38 AD was very disturbed, marked by bad decisions and abuses. Caligula effectively started to exerce his tyrannical powers and commanded the assassination of several relevant figures without previous judgement, among those one of his most important allies, Macro. The extravagance of his populist policies dried the public coffers, taking him to the point of harshly taxing every activity of the Roman citizens, leading to general famine and misery in Rome. In 39 AD, Caligula starts to prosecute and replace senators, which led to multiple tries of conspiracy against him. Finally, in 41, Caligula fell to the hands of the same senators who conceded him unlimited power 4 years earlier. However, in the attempt of restoring Republic and counting on the military forces to do that, the Senate found an obstacle which survived to Caligula’s death: the army was already loyal to the image of the next emperor, which was the condition of Caligula’s ascent. Both his successors in reign, Claudius and Nero — that exact Nero — , used these means to take power. Caligula passed, but caligulism did not.
Caligula’s history adresses Bolsonaro for terrible and appalling resemblances. Bolsonaro is, like Caligula, an insane man whose vileness occurs from a psychopathy and an inexorable will of power, a tragic narcissism and a disgusting ineptitude. It’s up to think, consequently, why has Bolsonaro emerged to power. The political class, practically immutable, always formed of conservative, sometimes even reactionary, elites, independently from time or space, always gives margin, in account of ingenuity or by simple moral hazard, to the ascent of authoritarian figures, hoping to control them later. This has happened to Von Pappen in Germany, to the Roman Senate, to Giovanni Giolitti in Italy. The Brazilian elite chose the same path in 2018. All the 500,000 Covid-19 deaths are inextricable from this choice. Caligula has past. Bolsonaro will pass, like a nightmare; however, while he passes it is still a pain. In spite of that, all indicates that bolsonarism won’t pass. Five hundred thousand lives lost to the pandemic, a depressed economy and a scenery of scorched earth to science. Meanwhile, the agribusiness is expanding, indigenous lands suffer consistently from more attacks and Brazil goes, grain by grain, in the path of becoming world’s pasture. Who does this project attend to? A hundred years from now, when neither me nor you are here anymore, Bolsonaro will be remembered like Caligula is today remembered. This is, of course, if Brazil still exists by then. I believe it will, but I am too afraid to think about what will it be. As the prophet Mário de Andrade would say, “we shall not serve as an example to anyone. Instead, we can serve as a lesson”.
