Was statesman Alcibiades the Donald Trump of Ancient Greece?

What do prominent Ancient Greek statesman and general Alcibiades and US President Donald Trump have in common? Allegedly a lot of …unpleasant character features. “Privileged and narcissistic, a man who considered truth to be subjective, who casually manipulated facts to suit his own ambitious ends, who believed that the world was divided into winners and losers, and was determined to win at any cost, no matter whom he trampled on,” is the thesis of author David Stuttard.

“Like Trump, Alcibiades loved to win and manipulate the masses,” the author write in an article “The Donald Trump of Ancient Greece” posted on historynewsnewtwork.

Alcibiades was born to wealthy Athenian aristocrats in the middle of the fifth century BC, his city’s Golden Age. Orphaned as a child, he became ward of the powerful Pericles, and as a young man forged a close friendship with Socrates, who (it is said) saw his potential for both good and bad, and tried to steer him towards the former.

[…]

Alcibiades loved winning, and he desired passionately to win victory at the Olympic Games, the four-yearly festival that attracted competitors, businessmen and potentates from across the Greek-speaking world. Only the super-rich could afford a racing chariot. But in 416 bc, Alcibiades entered seven. Of course, he won, but not without skewing the odds. Not only was he alleged to have acquired the winning chariot through dodgy dealing, but by entering seven he could ensure that many would obstruct opponents and dash their chances. But for Alcibiades, even rigged victories were sweet. To celebrate, he commissioned songs and paintings, entertaining all the spectators to a lavish banquet – in part funded by friends from allied states, who, scenting future glories, were eager to bask in his success.

[…]

But sporting triumph, delicious as it was, was never his ultimate goal. Alcibiades was more than just a pampered dilettante. He was determined to shine in politics, too, and (being well-aware of the jingoistic Athenian public’s imperial ambitions) he knew that war would afford him the opportunities he craved. So undermining peace treaties, he deliberately fomented conflict, and carved a glittering career as military commander. However, while he was preparing a strategically astute expedition against Sicily, whose success would massively increase his power and kudos, his enemies hit home. And they did so by targeting his private life.

For all his statesmanship, Alcibiades was morally a loose canon. Flagrantly consorting with prostitutes nearly cost him his marriage, but it was scandal of another sort that brought him down. On the eve of the Sicilian expedition, public statues of Hermes (believed to keep the city safe) were found to have been systematically smashed. A second outrage followed: blasphemous young men were accused of profaning one of Greece’s most sacred rituals. And implicated in both was Alcibiades. Even at the time no one knew the truth. Today it is impossible to tell. But the powerful threat of potentially fake news was such that, rather than be impeached and stand trial, Alcibiades escaped while he still could.

[…]

Riven by internal faction, defeated in war, and plunged into economic crisis, the Athenians voted to drop all charges and recall him. At last he was where he wanted to be: Commander-in-Chief, the most powerful man in Athens.

Clever and hypnotic, but loyal only to himself, Alcibiades epitomized Athens. Heedless of his weaknesses, he exploited his city’s failings, exacerbating fault lines for his private ends, and undermining hard-won democratic principles. To some he was a ruthless traitor, dangerously self-obsessed, a would-be tyrant (in Greek, an “unelected autocrat”). Others, swayed by his common touch, found stories of his excesses endearing. Once, when asked why he had cut off his handsome hunting dog’s fine tail, he replied, “So people will be so obsessed with that, that they ignore anything worse that I might do.” 

Media savvy politicians, fake news, alternative truth: Karl Marx once wrote that “history repeats itself first as tragedy, then as farce.” But we, the people, should beware. Sometimes farce can be deliberately engineered, an alternative to blindside truth. Remove its bloated, grinning mask, and you’ll still find politicians every bit as dangerous as Alcibiades.

Stuttard’s book Nemesis: Alcibiades and the Fall of Athens was published in April 2016.

Good for Trump he was elected in Nov 2016…. Otherwise the title would rather be Is Donald Trump the Alcibiades of Modern Times?

PS No, there was no Twitter in Ancient Greece and Alcibiades did not made his policies public in 140 ancient Greek characters…