Our Dutch correspondent H. Numan looks back to Ancient Rome to shed some light on the current political situation in the Netherlands.

In the year of Geert and Wilders

by H. Numan

When Caesar became consul for the first time in 59 BC, his colleague was Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus. They were of the same age, and followed the cursus honorum together. They ended up being colleagues several times. Everybody knows Julius Caesar, at least by name. Hardly a soul knows Bibulus. In his time, Bibulus was an important man, part of the Roman nobility. So was Julius Caesar. The difference was their wealth and social status. The Bibulus family was very rich but plebian, Caesar’s family was relatively poor and patrician. Julius was a doer; he had to work hard to get what he wanted. Marcus was not, he just got whatever he wanted. Bibulus hated Caesar with a passion. He wasn’t particularly gifted or bright; that made it even worse. He probably never understood or comprehended why. If Caesar voted yes, Bibulus voted no. Just to spite him.

Bibulus was member of the boni or optimates faction. Those were the rich and well-to-do. The people who ruled and owned Rome. Caesar was member of the populares. They were everybody else. Faction is a big word here. Rome didn’t have parties. People moved from one to another (there were more) according to their personal needs. The boni (‘good men’) did whatever they could to snub the populares. Basically to show them their place and who was boss.

As Caesar was one of the most important populares, he felt their wrath often. After his tenure and campaign as governor in Hispania he was entitled to a triumph, the highest military honor a man could get. He planned to run for consul at the same time, in absentia. He couldn’t hold his triumph first and then run for consul, or the reverse. It was one or the other. Of course the boni blocked his request for running in absentia. They hoped he would take his triumph and forego the consulship that year. A triumph trumped everything, in their minds. Few people were awarded a triumph, and far fewer more than one. Nobody would forgo a triumph, right?

Wrong. That’s exactly what Caesar did. He canceled his triumph, ran for consul — and won. Caesar was hugely popular; he couldn’t lose even if he tried. His colleague was going to be Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus. The boni made sure of that. They did everything the law allowed to spite Caesar, and then some more. Bibulus happily complied, and did his best.

Unfortunately, for Bibulus, it didn’t work out that way. Julius Caesar ran rings around him. Whatever Bibulus tried, Caesar found a way out. Not only that, he made him look like the fool he was. The public loved it!

Caesar proposed a bill in the senate. Bibulus and the boni walked out, trying to prevent it. No problem; Caesar went to the Centuriate Assembly and got his bill approved there. This bill was to give land to Pompeian veterans, who were present en masse in the Centuriate Assembly, not exactly a coincidence. Bibulus tried to have the bill vetoed by one of the tribunes of the plebs. The people (mostly veterans) manhandled both, and emptied a few buckets of manure over them. The people fell all over themselves with laughter. Bibulus was crowned with what he richly deserved!

Later Bibulus tried to thwart Caesar by claiming inauspicious omens, making governance impossible. Bibulus was an augur, the lowest type of priest. He had to read the entrails of sacrifices to decide if a meeting was auspicious or not. However, Caesar was pontifex maximus, the high(est) priest in the Roman religion. He outranked him all the way and did the auguries himself. Again, the people were much amused.

Next Bibulus went stargazing. Literally. By observing the stars he made meetings of the senate impossible. He forgot that the pontifex maximus had to approve, and Caesar didn’t. All he did was make himself absent for a couple of months on the political scene. The Roman audience immediately called this consulship the year of Julius and Caesar.

Our modern calendar didn’t exist. Part of it would be invented later by Caesar, the Julian Calendar. Romans didn’t use AD or BC, they called it after the consuls of the year. That? Oh, that happened ten years ago, in the year of Pompeius and Gratianus. The year in which Caesar governed together with Bibulus officially was known as ‘the year of Caesar and Bibulus’. But forum wits, probably Cicero himself, called it ‘the year of Julius and Caesar’. As a pun on the absence (in every way, mostly mental) of Bibulus. It had the Romans rolling with laughter.

Why this lengthy story?

Well, you may see a resemblance with Geert Wilders here. I most certainly do. The boni, or ‘good men’ are the Gutmenschen. Our elites consider themselves far better in every possible way than everybody else. Gutmensch is a German word that translates to good person. The description is very appropriate for both boni and our elites.

Julius Caesar is — of course — Geert Wilders here. And who else but Pieter Omtzigt can fill the role of Marcus Calpernius Bibulus? The boni did everything legal and illegal possible to sabotage Caesar. Exactly as our left-wing opposition is trying to do.

Right now their best shot is to sabotage his premiership. They know they can’t prevent the PVV from governing, that ship has sailed. But at least they can block, with their own Bibulus, his premiership. They really don’t care about the country or the people. Neither did the boni back then. Of course the railed about the rights of the people being trampled. Like today, they meant their rights. They are the people. You and I are not. We are supposed to vote for them, work for them and admire them. We are nobodies. Votes. Nothing more.

How did it end back then? Caesar had to fight every step of the way to get his dues. Eventually the boni forced him to revolt, which he did and won. His revolt was exactly that: an illegal grab of power, but if not justifiable at least quite understandable.

In our case it’s different. Rome was never a democracy. The Netherlands is. Sort of, anyway. You need a lot of votes for one seat. In the last elections 69,551 votes per seat, to be precise. Of course anyone important votes for his or her own interests. However, the number of elites or really important people who run the country or influence politics is quite limited. If you put together everybody who matters, from the king down to a lowly community councilor, and add business, media and civil service leaders you get no more than 250,000 persons. About four seats in parliament. If you want more, you really do need to get the riffraff behind you.

After all, the king and everybody else have one vote each. That’s why Wilders will prevail and our boni will loose. They can scream and shout all they want, but in the end they lack the numbers. They can insinuate Geert Wilders is Hitler reincarnate, but he is not. Most people will accept that he is right-wing, but extreme right-wing? So is just about everybody else, in that case. They can forecast he will run a dictatorship, but he doesn’t need to. All he needs is the vote of the ordinary man in the street. And he’s getting it!

Look at Bud Light. Anyone drink that? There was no media campaign to stop Bud Light; nevertheless, the brand is dying. No organization called for a boycott, but somehow people had enough. It’s the same here. There is no popular movement other than: we have had enough!

— H. Numan