Benito Mussolini Essay

Benito Mussolini tried to compare himself to Augustus Caesar throughout his career as Prime Minister of Italy. Mussolini looked up to Augustus and wanted to be a similar leader because of what Augustus accomplished and what his people thought of him. To compare himself to Augustus, Mussolini renovated several of Augustus' landmarks. For example he restored Mausoleum of Augustus to a place of prominence featured in Mussolini's ambitious reordering of the city of Rome which strove to connect the aspirations of Italian Fascism with the former glories of the Roman Empire. Even though Mussolini was trying to be a similar leader to Augustus, he was actually doing things very differently and these next three points will illustrate that.

Augustus Caesar was arguably the best leader Rome has ever had and was the leader of Rome at it the peak of its empire. Mussolini wanted to bring Italy back to that prominence by trying to be an identical leader to Augustus. But Augustus was a very humble and genuine leader. "I celebrated two ovations and three curule triumphs and I was twenty-one times saluted as imperator. The senate decreed still more triumphs to me, all of which I declined" (Augustus 26). This quote in Augustus' Res Gestae illustrates Augustus' humility and that he did not want to be like Julius Caesar and take all the names he was given. He thought more of peace than war. He wanted to rebuild Rome that was damaged by civil wars. Augustus wanted to do the opposite of Julius Caesar, by building landmarks not for himself, but for the people of Rome. He wanted to please the Senate and think for his people to make everyone happy. "Four times I assisted the treasury with my own money, so that I transferred to the administrators of the treasury 150,000,000 sesterces" (Augustus 27). I am telling you this because these are prime examples of what Benito Mussolini did the opposite.