At the time of Cicero, Rome was in crisis and infested with all sorts of corruption in the senate and in the judiciary, so much so that electing the consul was subject to it. What saved Rome then? The consul Sulla seized the moment, ordered the military to occupy the senate, exposed the corrupt judges and senators and got them all tried and swiftly executed. Sulla became a dictator for a few years and cleaned Rome thoroughly, thanks to him it became stable more just, and became more powerful. Sulla being a good man, retired at the end, gave back power peacefully to the senate and made a set of laws making it difficult for any other dictator to seize power again. and btw, Cicero was himself one of the corrupt and he was forced to commit suicide by Sulla's soldiers.
Trump must pull off a Sulla. He would do great and save the republic.
Sulla was considering a legend for generations to come. The Caesars used his popularity and claimed that they were following in his footsteps when they created the empire decades later.
Obviously the legend of someone like Sulla can be used by tyrants in the future, but it's important to know why Sulla was so popular. As you said, he cleared out the corrupt leaders who were making a mockery of the republic, and therefore did nothing short of saving Rome.
Edit: Sulla wrote his own epitaph to be inscribed on his tomb, "No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full". I think Trump, and all of us, should take inspiration from that.
At the time of Cicero, Rome was in crisis and infested with all sorts of corruption in the senate and in the judiciary, so much so that electing the consul was subject to it. What saved Rome then? The consul Sulla seized the moment, ordered the military to occupy the senate, exposed the corrupt judges and senators and got them all tried and swiftly executed. Sulla became a dictator for a few years and cleaned Rome thoroughly, thanks to him it became stable more just, and became more powerful. Sulla being a good man, retired at the end, gave back power peacefully to the senate and made a set of laws making it difficult for any other dictator to seize power again. and btw, Cicero was himself one of the corrupt and he was forced to commit suicide by Sulla's soldiers. Trump must pull off a Sulla. He would do great and save the republic.
Sulla was considering a legend for generations to come. The Caesars used his popularity and claimed that they were following in his footsteps when they created the empire decades later.
Obviously the legend of someone like Sulla can be used by tyrants in the future, but it's important to know why Sulla was so popular. As you said, he cleared out the corrupt leaders who were making a mockery of the republic, and therefore did nothing short of saving Rome.
Edit: Sulla wrote his own epitaph to be inscribed on his tomb, "No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full". I think Trump, and all of us, should take inspiration from that.