Little Caesar Marco

Published in Der Standard
(Austria) on 9 October 2026
by Hans Rauscher (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Peter Carioca. Edited by Patricia Simoni.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio lectured Europeans on classical antiquity.

Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state under Donald Trump, once again gave a stern lecture to complacent Europeans. This time, he spoke in Athens against the backdrop of the Acropolis, warning again of the decline of Europe and the West. Then he resorted to classical rhetoric, saying, "The greatest Americans of every generation have carried the unmistakable features of their forefathers — born in Athens, formed by Rome, baptized in Christendom, hardened in the furnace of medieval Europe, endowed with the English genius for liberty, and then carried across the Atlantic to be reborn on the shores of a new world."

He claimed that the civilization born in Greece was being reborn in the United States. But Rubio (or "little Marco," as Trump calls him) conveniently overlooked a few small things: In ancient Athens, women and foreigners couldn't vote, and slaves certainly couldn't either. His boss, Trump, could indeed be a Roman reincarnation — specifically, one of the more peculiar emperors, such as Caligula and Nero.

Finally, Rubio heaped praise on conquerors Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. This is a little problematic because, after Caesar’s genocidal Gallic Wars, there were at least 20% fewer inhabitants in Gaul. Alexander, on the other hand, was a maniacal expansionist who was only stopped by a mutiny of his own soldiers deep in India. Antiquity and the core of Christianity have indeed shaped human culture, but Rubio should have mentioned Greek philosophy, Roman legal thought and Christian humanism instead.


Little Cesar Marco

US-Außenminister Marco Rubio hielt den Europäern die klassische Antike vor

Marco Rubio ist amerikanischer Außenminister unter Trump und hielt jetzt wieder einmal den schlappen Europäern einen strengen Vortrag. Diesmal sprach er in Athen vor der Kulisse der Akropolis und warnte wieder einmal vor dem Niedergang Europas und des Westens. Dann wurde er klassisch: Die heutigen USA seien "geboren in Athen, geprägt von Rom, getauft in der Christenheit". Die Zivilisation, die in Griechenland ihren Ursprung habe, sei in den Vereinigten Staaten wiedergeboren worden. Rubio (den Trump als "little Marco") bezeichnete, vergaß dabei ein paar Kleinigkeiten: Im alten Athen durften Frauen und Fremde nicht wählen und Sklaven schon gar nicht. Und seinen Boss Trump könnte man schon für eine römische Wiedergeburt halten, allerdings eine der etwas speziellen Kaiser wie Caligula und Nero.

Schließlich hob Rubio noch lobend die Eroberer Cäsar und Alexander den Großen hervor. Das ist ein bisschen problematisch, denn nach Cäsars genozidalen „Gallischem Krieg“ hatte Gallien um mindestens 20 Prozent weniger Einwohner. Alexander wiederum war ein manischer Expansionist, den nur eine Meuterei der eigenen Soldaten tief in Indien stoppte. Die Antike und der Kern des Christentums sind sehr wohl kulturbildend, aber da hätte Rubio eher die griechische Philosophie, das römische Rechtsdenken und den christlichen Humanismus erwähnen müssen.
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