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Why Are People Comparing Barron Trump To Augustus Caesar? The Bizarre Trend Of Trumpist Romeposting Explained
In 2024 AD, Barron Trump turned 18 and began attending some of his father Donald Trump's campaign events. In 44 BC, following his adoptive father Julius Caesar's death, Augustus Caesar launched a civil war that consumed the Roman world for over a decade and ended in the establishment of one-man rule.
According to some Trump-supporting posters online, these two historical events are intertwined — as evidenced by a slew of bizarre posts, memes and discussions increasingly making the rounds online this year.
Let's explain how this odd political discourse began on social media back in January 2024 and what it means.
Where Did The Augustus Caesar-Barron Trump Comparison Come From?
A photo of Barron Trump and his father Donald at the funeral of his grandmother was originally published on January 18th, 2024, showing Barron in a side profile. After the image appeared online, some posters thought the silhouette of Barron's face looked like the pictures of emperors on Ancient Roman and Greek coins.
People then imaginatively speculated about how Barron's situation mirrored the historical story of Augustus Caesar, and how the present moment in the United States resembled the late Republican period in Ancient Rome.
The lore around the so-called "Emperor Barron Trump" was subsequently born, which then continued spreading among MAGA diehards and other social media users over the following weeks and months.
What Is The Real History Of Augustus Caesar?
The situations of Barron Trump in 2024 AD and Augustus Caesar in 44 BC are not really that comparable upon closer inspection. Augustus Caesar was first known as Octavian and was adopted by Julius Caesar as his son (a common practice in Rome). Julius Caesar was a politician and general who took on dictatorial powers as the Republic fell into civil war and chaos. He was killed by a group of Senators who objected to his autocratic rule.
Following Julius Caesar's death, Octavian and Caesar's righthand man Marc Antony fought a war against the politicians who had killed Caesar and then turned on one another. After a long struggle, young Octavian emerged victorious and declared himself the first Roman Emperor.
Posters comparing Barron to Augustus seem to also compare Donald Trump to Julius Caesar. They are predicting the end of the Republic and a large war that would result in Barron turning into a dictatorial emperor. They're also finding similarities between Barron Trump and Paul Atreides of Dune, another story about a son avenging his father.
Why Are People Posting About Donald Trump's Son Becoming A Roman Emperor?
It's worth pointing out that much like anything on the internet, some of the posting appears to be ironic. Barron is somewhat of a mysterious presence because he rarely talks and he is remarkably tall. But some of it also seems more unironic. There are groups of people who advocate for autocratic or monarchical rule by the Trump family. This meme trend likely shares some DNA with the God Emperor Trump memes, which similarly went over the top imagining the Trumps as dictators.
After the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in mid-July 2024, an image of Barron in the audience at a Trump rally circulated, with posters declaring that Barron witnessed the shooting and was plotting his next moves. However, he was not actually present at the rally in Pennsylvania where the shooting took place.
Despite both the more humorous and genuine proponents of the strange ideology, Barron Trump is probably not the Lisan al Gaib, nor will he be emperor of America.
To learn more about Emperor Barron Trump memes, check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for all the lore.
