# Trump compared to Roman Emperor Commodus (180–192 CE) or other megalomaniacs **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [June 13, 2026, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-compared-to-roman-emperor-commodus-180-192-ce-or-other-megalomaniacs/1030881 "2026-06-13T21:16:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2026, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-compared-to-roman-emperor-commodus-180-192-ce-or-other-megalomaniacs/1030881/21 "2026-06-16T18:14:15Z")
Yes, hard to believe Commodus was the son of Marcus Aurelius. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2026, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-compared-to-roman-emperor-commodus-180-192-ce-or-other-megalomaniacs/1030881/22 "2026-06-19T09:18:10Z")
for some reason, when I think of Trump, Auric Goldfinger comes to mind ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2026, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-compared-to-roman-emperor-commodus-180-192-ce-or-other-megalomaniacs/1030881/23 "2026-06-25T15:02:14Z")
coincidentally, today on page 9 of St Louis Post-Dispatch (STLTODAY), there’s an article making same comparison between Trump and Commodus ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-compared-to-roman-emperor-commodus-180-192-ce-or-other-megalomaniacs/1030881/24 "2026-06-25T15:04:09Z")
Okay, some newspaper person has been reading the Dope! Could you possibly provide a link, even if I’m not able to open it. I’m on my phone right now and can’t research easily. Thx. A few years ago the Atlantic cited one of my posts! It was about how NPR reporters have really cool names. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2026, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-compared-to-roman-emperor-commodus-180-192-ce-or-other-megalomaniacs/1030881/25 "2026-06-25T15:08:50Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > A few years ago the Atlantic cited one of my posts! It was about how NPR reporters have really cool names. Did they credit you and/or the SDMB? ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2026, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-compared-to-roman-emperor-commodus-180-192-ce-or-other-megalomaniacs/1030881/26 "2026-06-25T15:31:52Z")
if you’re online, just type in STLTODAY, and they’re take you to it ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2026, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-compared-to-roman-emperor-commodus-180-192-ce-or-other-megalomaniacs/1030881/27 "2026-06-25T17:06:07Z")
I did but had to do some poking around to find it. It wasn’t obvious. But I found it. > **[Opinion: Is Trump taking America the way of Roman Emperor Commodus?](https://www.stltoday.com/opinion/column/article_d88e310c-4f14-4866-9466-5f1ddb061a3a.html)** > > Does history really repeat itself? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2026, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-compared-to-roman-emperor-commodus-180-192-ce-or-other-megalomaniacs/1030881/28 "2026-06-25T17:15:35Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Did they credit you and/or the SDMB? Not exactly. Amazingly, I was able to find the 2013 Atlantic article. **I hope** this is a gift link. Sorry, if it’s not. > **[Why Do NPR Reporters Have Such Great Names?](https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/why-do-npr-reporters-have-such-great-names/275493/?gift=QgO_LHw-skz7EqtMG0lcxnCNnVf-QzGuh-yBAcauw5o&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share)** > > Radio figures Ira Glass, Sylvia Poggioli, Neda Ulaby, and others have inspired restaurants, pets' names, license plates, and songs. I hope you can access it. It’s very clever. Here’s the salient paragraph: > … > But perhaps no reporter’s name is more beloved than Sylvia Poggioli, NPR’s Italian correspondent. Sylvia has had a [cow in Cambodia](http://www.bb2c.org/about/) named after her, and [a restaurant](http://www.npr.org/news/specials/poggioli/) in Salem, Oregon. “Every time Sylvia says her name,” the restaurateur said, “I envision Italy, I see and smell good food.” > > Others just like that cozy round way she pronounces her name. “I whisper it along with her when I am in the car—Sil-vyah Poh-zjoly, Rome,” a commentator wrote on a “[Best Name Ever](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-665984.html)” thread. Italian Americans write in to say that hearing Sylvia pronounce her name correctly inspired them to do the same. But could even Sylvia’s name be improved? “Sylvia Poggioli and Jim Zarroli have always had our admiration as first-rate news reporters” a listener once wrote into _Saturday Edition_. “We feel that the two should get married so that she could be Sylvia Poggioli-Zarroli.” But what if, the presenter wondered, he wanted to be Jim Zarroli-Poggioli? > … [HA! I learned how to add highlighting!] The “Best Name Ever” link goes to an SDMB thread, but the link doesn’t work. Here’s a link to the thread in question that **does** work: > [@The best name ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-name-ever/635171): > > NPR correspondent, [Ofeibea Quist-Arcton](http://www.npr.org/people/4513318/ofeibea-quist-arcton), has THE best name ever. And possibly the best voice, too. When she signs off, the way she says her name and her city, Dakar, is heavenly You can hear her [here](http://www.npr.org/2012/09/10/160864049/for-many-s-africans-strikes-recall-apartheid-era). That is all. * * * * * * > [@Atamasama](#): > > I did but had to do some poking around to find it. It wasn’t obvious. But I found it. Thank you! ETA: Well, I couldn’t get past the paywalls/hurdles. But it’s cool that others are noticing it. When you watch the original _Gladiator_ movie, it’s impossible to miss the resemblance. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2026, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-compared-to-roman-emperor-commodus-180-192-ce-or-other-megalomaniacs/1030881/29 "2026-06-25T17:26:16Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > ETA: Well, I couldn’t get past the paywalls/hurdles. But it’s cool that others are noticing it. When you watch the original _Gladiator_ movie, it’s impossible to miss the resemblance. Same; I couldn’t read it either, but it exists and we can see the title at least! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2026, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-compared-to-roman-emperor-commodus-180-192-ce-or-other-megalomaniacs/1030881/30 "2026-06-26T06:22:03Z")
It’s no Sylvia Poggioli, but [Soterios Johnson](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ4Oycujt7k&ra=m) has a pretty metal name. _emphasized text_ Link goes to his song. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2026, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-compared-to-roman-emperor-commodus-180-192-ce-or-other-megalomaniacs/1030881/31 "2026-07-21T02:07:31Z")
if you want, provide email address and I can send you copy (it’s half page, too big for upload) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-compared-to-roman-emperor-commodus-180-192-ce-or-other-megalomaniacs/1030881.md?page=1)