Sam Morril

So let's dig into this a little bit. So obviously, because we don't have many other sources here, it's pretty hard for us to get a sense of how grounded in reality these accusations are. You make the point, don't you, that Suetonius doesn't present this as a continuous chronological narrative. It's just a sort of bullet-pointed list of the bad things that Killegiller is supposed to have done.

So let's dig into this a little bit. So obviously, because we don't have many other sources here, it's pretty hard for us to get a sense of how grounded in reality these accusations are. You make the point, don't you, that Suetonius doesn't present this as a continuous chronological narrative. It's just a sort of bullet-pointed list of the bad things that Killegiller is supposed to have done.

So let's dig into this a little bit. So obviously, because we don't have many other sources here, it's pretty hard for us to get a sense of how grounded in reality these accusations are. You make the point, don't you, that Suetonius doesn't present this as a continuous chronological narrative. It's just a sort of bullet-pointed list of the bad things that Killegiller is supposed to have done.

So it's a massive grovel. Crikey. So my question to you, Tom, so I compared him with Ramzan Kadyrov in the first half. You could compare him with Kim Jong-un in North Korea. Again, hereditary, but not in a monarchy, right? So my question is, what's the power base for doing this? So he hasn't had a command. He doesn't have powerful allies yet.

So it's a massive grovel. Crikey. So my question to you, Tom, so I compared him with Ramzan Kadyrov in the first half. You could compare him with Kim Jong-un in North Korea. Again, hereditary, but not in a monarchy, right? So my question is, what's the power base for doing this? So he hasn't had a command. He doesn't have powerful allies yet.

So it's a massive grovel. Crikey. So my question to you, Tom, so I compared him with Ramzan Kadyrov in the first half. You could compare him with Kim Jong-un in North Korea. Again, hereditary, but not in a monarchy, right? So my question is, what's the power base for doing this? So he hasn't had a command. He doesn't have powerful allies yet.

or before he became emperor, he didn't have powerful allies in the Roman establishment. How can he possibly do this, stand up to these very powerful, prestigious patrician people and boss them around in this way?

or before he became emperor, he didn't have powerful allies in the Roman establishment. How can he possibly do this, stand up to these very powerful, prestigious patrician people and boss them around in this way?

or before he became emperor, he didn't have powerful allies in the Roman establishment. How can he possibly do this, stand up to these very powerful, prestigious patrician people and boss them around in this way?

trying to avoid a bully's eye. So this is the moment, really, for the first time since... Really, for the first time since Augustus... inaugurated the empire, it's the first time that somebody has torn away what Augustus had worked so hard to create, which was the veil of legality and tradition. And somebody has just said, that's all rubbish. This is a pure military dictatorship.

trying to avoid a bully's eye. So this is the moment, really, for the first time since... Really, for the first time since Augustus... inaugurated the empire, it's the first time that somebody has torn away what Augustus had worked so hard to create, which was the veil of legality and tradition. And somebody has just said, that's all rubbish. This is a pure military dictatorship.

trying to avoid a bully's eye. So this is the moment, really, for the first time since... Really, for the first time since Augustus... inaugurated the empire, it's the first time that somebody has torn away what Augustus had worked so hard to create, which was the veil of legality and tradition. And somebody has just said, that's all rubbish. This is a pure military dictatorship.

I am the dictator. And I will humiliate you. I will torture you. And I will kill you if you step out of line.

I am the dictator. And I will humiliate you. I will torture you. And I will kill you if you step out of line.

I am the dictator. And I will humiliate you. I will torture you. And I will kill you if you step out of line.

Yeah. Albert Camus wrote a play about him.

Yeah. Albert Camus wrote a play about him.

Yeah. Albert Camus wrote a play about him.

So possibility number one, obviously, and this I'm sure is the case for some of the stories, is that they're just not true. That they're either propaganda or they're literary formulae or they are... you know, sort of folk urban myths, rather like there are loads of urban myths about politicians today that people believe, aren't there?

So possibility number one, obviously, and this I'm sure is the case for some of the stories, is that they're just not true. That they're either propaganda or they're literary formulae or they are... you know, sort of folk urban myths, rather like there are loads of urban myths about politicians today that people believe, aren't there?