this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2024
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[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 19 points 3 months ago (3 children)

He wants to be Ceaser, so we all know where this is headed.

"You have all these good and bad and complex figures. I think Augustus is one of the most fascinating," Zuckerberg told The New Yorker. "Basically, through a really harsh approach, he established two hundred years of world peace.”

In case you aren't up to date on your Roman history, Augustus is not the worst of the Caesars — that would be his great uncle and adopted father, Julius. While Augustus had room to be worse, that didn't make him the best. He did a lot of conquering: Egypt, northern Spain, and a great deal of central Europe. He killed people. He banished his allegedly promiscuous daughter. His heirs kept mysteriously dying.

"What are the trade-offs in that?" Zuckerberg told the magazine. “On the one hand, world peace is a long-term goal that people talk about today. Two hundred years feels unattainable.” On the other hand, he said, "That didn’t come for free, and he had to do certain things."

https://mashable.com/article/mark-zuckerberg-augustus-caesar-comparison

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 13 points 3 months ago (1 children)

In case you aren’t up to date on your Roman history, Augustus is not the worst of the Caesars — that would be his great uncle and adopted father, Julius.

This is such a weak take. Julius Caesar was a really terrible person in many, many ways. He was basically Donald Trump, if Trump were also an extremely accomplished statesman and military commander. But to just flat-out state he's the worst of the Caesars? We're talking about a dynasty that also had Nero and Caligula. There's an argument to be made for Julius because of the fact that he established the whole thing and caused the downfall of the Republic. But that argument actually needs to be made, not just asserted. Or at the least, couch your comments with words like "possible" or "maybe".

But also, wtf Zuck? How is Augustus the most fascinating? I'm deeply suspicious of anyone who doesn't find Julius the most interesting.

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 9 points 3 months ago

It's awesome to see that the really smart people came over from Reddit. I was hoping someone knew their Roman history.

[–] JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl 11 points 3 months ago

I do love how many autocratic regimes had "X years of peace" only because fighting the wars conquering additional land and wars with less powerful or small nations/tribes during that time don't seem to count

[–] fossilesque@mander.xyz 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)