"Listen to me. Learn from me. I was not the best because I killed quickly. I was the best because the crowd loved me. Win the crowd and you will win your freedom."
— Proximo
As discussed under the Claudians, the old ruling elite from ancient Rome is not only to be found in modern America, but is to be seen embedded in positions of political power across states and borders. Their loyalty and hostility toward each other as either Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals, can be better understood if we look at their intersecting biographies and, hence, interrelated karma. Here are but a few examples.
From Capitolium to Capitol Hill
Elon Musk appears to have been a former Prefect of the Praetorian Guard who provided Nero with every vice and vicarious pleasure imaginable. His name was Ofonius Tigellinus. Tigellinus was Nero's trusted advisor until the Great Fire of Rome (64 CE) when, suspected of arson, he deserted the emperor to avoid the villainous despot's inevitable downfall. His return can be seen as two-fold: to pay back his dues and/or call in his favours?
Kellyanne Conway is said to have been Locusta, Rome's notorious poison maker who assisted in the assassinations of Claudius and Britannicus. She was Nero's favoured poisoner for several years, even after she was forced to leave court. She returned to become Trump’s senior counsellor and to manage his poisoned tongue during his first presidency. George Conway had been Gaius Julius Vindex, the Roman governor who led a revolt against Nero, setting in motion rebellions across the empire that led to the emperor’s rapid demise. He returned to become a vocal critic of president Trump’s re-election and became involved with the Lincoln Project, a merger of rebel Republicans revolting against Trumpism and its radicalised supporters. He would go on to endorse the Democrat’s 2020 rival presidential candidate, Joe Biden, formerly Nero’s successor Galba. John McCain had been Gaius Calpurnius Piso, an eloquent Roman senator and leading figure in the Pisonian conspiracy, a widely-supported plot to have Nero dethroned and replaced. He returned to become a veteran Republican who, late in life, refused to support Trump’s 2016 presidential election and administration (2017 – 2021).
Nancy Pelosi had been the beautiful strong-willed Poppaea Sabina, Nero's vigorous second wife whose smart ambition became a thorn in his side until her untimely death. A woman of intrigue then as she is intriguing today. Pelosi's political accomplishments have set her apart from other American women, second only to Kamala Harris. Lindsey Graham was allegedly Sporus, a young slave boy whom Nero had castrated and made to look like Poppaea after he had her killed, possibly poisoned. Nero took him as his empress and named her Sabina. We could say Sporus has returned desiring a “political marriage“ and to be part of the White House family or "inner circle" (2017 – 2021). All considered, these transpersonal lives are far less dangerous than the evil Trump himself brings to the White House again today.
From Nero's Golden House to Trumps' White House
Dr Antony Fauci was, as might be expected, a physician in the time of Nero: Thessalus of Tralles. On the invitation of Nero himself he served for a while as court physician, but was often at odds with the quacks that Nero liked to keep around him — including those who sought to visit his Golden House (Domus Aurea) in the heart of ancient Rome. Thessalus came from Tralles in Lydia (modern-day Turkey) and advanced the Methodic school which advocated an empirical approach to medical practice. He incurred the ire of Nero through his refusal to accede to the emperor's demands for more potent poisons. As discussed above, Nero consorted with poisoners like Locusta who aided his nefarious plots against perceived enemies. Thessalus also refused to assist Nero in the execution (ultimately forced suicide) of the philosopher Seneca. ​ Inevitably, Nero vilified Thessalus, casting a pall over his reputation which would persist into the next century and be largely amplified by Galen (Claudius Galenus). Since none of Thessalus' works survived — Nero ordered it all destroyed — his legacy was at the mercy of references to him in the writings of others, comprising contemporary calumny and even later libel. Galen, writing a century later, was scornful of him and contemptuously propagated every purported aspersion and lampoon of him. Thus it was said that Thessalus was arrogant, bombastic, boastful, avaricious, vainglorious, and so on. Given recent events, we may well wonder what posterity will make of Dr Fauci's sterling career. (El Ochre, 27 January 2025)
