This volume deals with the evaluation of powerful ruler figures. The direction of this evaluation is made clear by the work of the illustrator Tim O'Brien printed on the front cover: by depicting former US President Donald Trump in the style of a Roman emperor's bust, O'Brien establishes a direct connection between a modern head of state and the attributes of Roman imperial rule. In view of the numerous critics of this president, such a connection can hardly indicate a positive assessment of Roman emperors (on this, see N. Morley in this volume).
The critical judgement of Roman emperorship by many modern commentators is largely based on the concept of ‘Caesarenwahn’, which became famous through the 1894 essay ‘Caligula’ by the German historian Ludwig Quidde. In this essay Quidde draws a direct correlation between the absolute power of a monarch, in this case Caligula, and the supposed madness of many powerful rulers. Aimed at the reign of Wilhelm II and, according to Quidde, designed as a political satire (p. 58), the essay subsequently shaped the image of such ruler figures in many respects.
Quidde's notion of ‘Caesarenwahn’ serves as the central theme of this volume, which was produced as result of a series of lectures held during the winter semester 2015/16 at the Saarland University in Saarbrücken. In doing so, the volume pursues the goal of examining the cliché of madness as a disease of monarchs both in its historical genesis and in its effect in western popular culture. With regard to the extent of the subject area, only ‘Schlaglichter’ (‘highlights’) from this complex are featured here (p. 13).
The book is divided into three thematic complexes. The first part deals with the early development of the term ‘Caesarenwahn’, reprinting Quidde's ‘Caligula’ in its 31st edition together with later remarks by the author on its impact in Wilhelmine Germany. Following Quidde's essay, H. Schlange-Schöningen addresses the precursors of the ‘Caesarenwahn’ in early modern literature, with special reference to the novel ‘Die verlorene Handschrift’ by Gustav Frey. Finally, F. Sittig discusses the impact of nineteenth-century medical discourse on the further development of the concept. Particularly under the influence of psychoanalysis, the critical treatment of ‘Caesarenwahn’ ensured that this term was largely removed from the field of psychopathology and can now be understood primarily as a historical category of analysis.
The second part focuses on the ancient roots of Quidde's ‘Caesarenwahn’. The image of the ‘mad’ ruler already existed in ancient sources. Using Pliny the Younger and Dion Chrysostom as examples, Blank attempts to show that the topic of tyranny in Greek thought was an important basis for the Roman polemic against emperors as well as for Quidde's concept. It should be added, however, that such a resemblance between the Greek assessment of tyranny and ‘Caesarenwahn’ is based not only on Quidde's Greek-influenced cultural horizon, but is also a consequence of the diffuse nature of this term, which consists of a broad range of negative traits of monarchs and can therefore be associated with different historical precedents. Therefore, as Blank notes, a further investigation on the effects of Greek philosophy on Quidde's political thought and their significance for our understanding of ‘Caesarenwahn’ is needed.
E. Meyer-Zwiffelhoffer discusses the change in the use of the term ‘Caesarenwahn’ in historical research since the 1990s. Following E. Flaig and A. Winterling, Meyer-Zwiffelhoffer understands the negative depiction of ‘bad’ emperors in the ancient sources as a consequence of failed communication as well as the attempt of these emperors to establish a new political ‘vision’ of Roman emperorship (p. 203).
Finally, U. Wulf-Rheidt deals, in her posthumously published essay, with the palace buildings of Roman emperors as a sign of imperial megalomania. The comparison between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ emperors suggests that the critical assessment of ‘bad’ emperors’ building activity generally follows the narrative of senatorial historiography rather than representing a particular sign of the madness of these rulers.
The third section discusses the modern reception of ‘Caesarenwahn’. First, M. Lindner uses the example of popular representations of Caligula and Nero to examine the blending of various ancient ruler figures in modern entertainment media. In doing so, Lindner convincingly elaborates the use of Caligula as a ‘brand’, which, if not in its intention, at least in its presentation, largely follows Quidde's ‘Caesarenwahn’.
In the second contribution of this section A. Wieber examines the representation of powerful women in films set in antiquity, using Messalina as an example. While newer productions promise a more nuanced portrayal of female characters, the depiction of women in older films is largely based on outdated and one-dimensional gender roles. In this context, it becomes clear that the films considered in this essay blend information from ancient sources with contemporary values to characterise Messalina. Unfortunately, Wieber's conclusion on the application of Quidde's ‘Caesarenwahn’ to female characters remains ambiguous. As Wieber notes, Messalina's portrayal falls outside the role that Quidde grants to women in the sphere of ‘mad’ emperors, as Messalina appears as an actor in her own right and not merely as a victim of the emperors’ desires. Notwithstanding the frequent description of powerful women as corrupt, immoderate and cruel (pp. 271; 274), a possible application of ‘Caesarenwahn’ on influential women surrounding rulers is only discussed in passing. Although this is mainly due to the fact that the films, as Wieber points out, show a rather rational image of Messalina, an investigation of a possible connection between ‘Caesarenwahn’ and powerful empresses in films thus remains largely unanswered.
S. Becker examines the impact of Quidde's ‘Caesarenwahn’ on popular representations of the Borgia. In doing so, Becker points to a central problem in the discussion of ‘Caesarenwahn’: the reception of the Borgia in particular shows how difficult it is to distinguish between Quidde's ‘Caesarenwahn’, genuine characteristics of examined ruler figures and general tropes of the ‘bad’ ruler. This ultimately leads to Becker's important conclusion that the concept of ‘Caesarenwahn’, due to its openness, offers an explanatory model for the behaviour of critically evaluated ruler figures that can be applied to many historical examples.
S. Nuy deals with the presentation of Adolf Hitler in film, with a particular focus on examining his portrayal as an artist-politician in films of the early twenty-first century. Drawing on narrative patterns of ‘Caesarenwahn’, the image of the artist-politician is used to explain his political career, serving a general reduction of complexity in dealing with the Nazi era. According to Nuy the vividness of the ‘Medienimago’ based on Hitler's own self-image can be seen in numerous popular artefacts (pp. 327–8) that still exist today.
N. Morley explores contemporary US politics in his essay ‘Gaius Iulius Caesar Augustus Trump’. Against the backdrop of a growing number of newspaper and blog articles, the comparison between US presidents – especially Donald Trump – and Roman emperors takes on a new quality, according to Morley, primarily because of their circulation across various types of media and a broad ideological spectrum. While still dominated by those texts that criticise Trump for his non-conformist behaviour, directly or indirectly invoking the topos of ‘Caesarenwahn’, the implausibility of many analyses could change the use of such comparisons. Moving away from personalised criticism of the former president to an examination of the US political system as a whole could, according to Morley, potentially entail an increasingly positive equation with Roman emperors as reformers of a supposedly dysfunctional system. It remains to be seen whether Morley's outlook will prove true in light of Trump's electoral defeat or whether Roman emperors will lose relevance in political comments.
The volume concludes with an essay by C. Endres on the portrayal of artificial intelligences in science fiction and the reasons why the exercise of power by such artificial constructs has often been perceived as a threat.
Large parts of the volume are compelling. The various articles offer a broad picture of the genesis and impact of Quidde's ‘Caesarenwahn’, with a particular focus on the modern reception of ‘mad’ rulers. Repeatedly, the relevance of Quidde's concept for the interpretation of negatively connoted ruler figures becomes clear, which apparently has lost none of its appeal – at least as far as popular representations are concerned. In addition, the first two sections offer a good introduction for all those who are not yet familiar with the basics of the term or who would like to expand their study of individual aspects of ‘Caesarenwahn’.
Despite the overall good impression, some weaknesses of the volume should be noted. These lie primarily in its structure: especially the thematic openness of the volume as well as the deliberately selective treatment of various partial aspects (p. 13) provide disadvantages. To a certain extent, the design of the book is indebted to the openness of the ‘Caesarenwahn’ itself. Conversely, this also contributes to the fact that not all the essays succeed in referring directly to Quidde's concept. As an example, Endres vividly describes the connections between technological progress and the psychological fears born out of this change, which are expressed, among other things, by depicting artificial intelligence as a threat to human society in many pop-cultural works. However, possible connections between the attribution of insane tendencies to artificial beings within science fiction and the notion of ‘Caesarenwahn’ developed by Quidde – for example, in the subjective attribution of ‘madness’ to powerful figures whose courses of action elude the viewer's supposedly rational interpretation – are only hinted at.
While this in no way diminishes the quality of the individual articles, it does manifest a fundamental weakness of the volume: in the end the concept of ‘Caesarenwahn’ as well as its significance for modern historical scholarship remains elusive. Although the editors reject in the introduction the intention to present a comprehensive media sociological or political science analysis (p. 13), the volume lacks consolidation into a coherent evaluation of ‘Caesarenwahn’, especially in regard to the deconstruction of negative popular representations of powerful ruler figures, with which the last section of the volume deals. In this context, future research would benefit from further exploring the connective power of the topoi that recur in such representations, as they seem to have wide resonance as explanatory patterns of nonconformist rule to this day. This is evident not least from the illustration by Tim O'Brien on the cover of the volume.
