This article is part of a series about Julius Caesar
Personal Family Works Laudatio Iuliae amitae Anticato Commentarii de Bello Civili Commentarii de Bello Gallico De analogia Poems Quotes Alea iacta est Veni, vidi, vici Ut est rerum omnium magister usus Military campaigns Mytilene Gallic Wars Arar Bibracte Vosges Axona Sabis Atuatuci Octodurus Morbihan Invasions of Britain Ambiorix's revolt Avaricum Gergovia Alesia Uxellodunum Civil War Corfinium Brundisium Ilerda Dyrrhachium Pharsalus Alexandrian war Siege Battle of the Nile Zela Ruspina Corduba Thapsus Munda Planned invasion of the Parthian Empire Assassination Ides of March coin Theatre of Pompey Curia of Pompey Last words Et tu, Brute? Caesar's Comet Legacy Cultural depictions Eponyms Life of Caesar Temple of Caesar Caesarism Julio-Claudian dynasty Title Crossing the Rubicon
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In political science, the termCaesarism identifies and describes anauthoritarian,populist, andautocratic ideology inspired byJulius Caesar, theleader of Rome, from 49 BC to 44 BC.^[1][2][3]

The German historianJohann Friedrich Böhmer first used the termCaesarism in 1846, to describe the state's political subordination of the Roman Catholic Church.^[1] Published in 1850,L'ère des Césars byAuguste Romieu [fr] defined Caesarism as the military rule and régime of awarlord, and "following Romieu's polemic, 'Caesarism' quickly gained vogue status."^[1] In 1857, the religious writerOrestes Brownson used the term Caesarism to mean rule and régime ofabsolute monarchy.^[1] In 1858, the mainstream usage of the term occurs in aWestminster Review article of political criticism about the "clumsy eulogies of Caesarism as [being] incarnate in the dynasty of Bonaparte".^[1]

As an admirer of Julius Caesar, Napoléon Bonaparte espoused Caesarism as a justification of his rule and régime of France.^[4]Napoleon III's policy under theSecond French Empire, which combined an authoritarian regime and a proactive social policy, notably with theOllivier law of 1864, can be described as a form of "social Caesarism".^[5] According to historianLouis Girard (historian) [fr], this policy aims in particular to rally the workers to the regime in the face of hostile liberal bosses.^[6]

Benjamin Disraeli was accused of Caesarism in March 1878 when, in anticipation of war with Russia, he mobilised British reserves and called Indian troops toMalta.G. K. Chesterton made one of the most ringing denunciations of Caesarism in his workHeretics, calling it "the worst form of slavery".^[7]

SociologistMax Weber believed that everymass democracy went in a Caesarist direction. Professor of law Gerhard Casper writes, "Weber employed the term to stress,inter alia, theplebiscitary character of elections, disdain for parliament, the non-toleration of autonomous powers within the government and a failure to attract or suffer independent political minds."^[8]

A so-called "democratic" form of Caesarism has been advocated by theorists likeVenezuela'sLaureano Vallenilla Lanz inCesarismo Democrático (1919).^[9]ItalianDuceBenito Mussolini and the ideology ofItalian fascism espoused Caesarism.^[10]

Antonio Gramsci stated that the roots of Caesarism lie at the level of a "crisis of authority," which is also a crisis of representation that occurs when social groups no longer identify with political parties. These then become anachronistic, allowing a Caesarist solution to emerge. In the Italian case, Gramsci locates the causes of this socio-political disintegration in the destabilizing experience of the First World War, where the large peasant masses were forced to fight. At the same time, they had been passive during theRisorgimento. Caesarism is a macro-social phenomenon and cannot be driven by the emergence of an individual; this phenomenon, therefore, fulfills a political function. Furthermore, Gramsci evokes the possibility of a "Caesarism without Caesar" but implemented by a group like theBritish National Government bringing togetherthe Conservatives andLabour.^[11]

Oswald Spengler described Caeserism as a final phase of modernity that would succeed democracy.^[12][13]

According to French historianChristian-Georges Schwentzel in the 21st century, the AmericanDonald Trump, the RussianVladimir Putin and the TurkRecep Tayyip Erdoğan partly took over this Caesarean model by adapting it, responding at the same time to a desire for authority and grandeur emanating from their peoples.^[14][15] In the 2020s, parts of theAmerican right-wing, especially those associated with theClaremont Institute think tank, have advocated for "Red Caesarism" as an authoritarian solution to problems facing the US.^[16]

• Bonapartism
• Caudillo
• Caesaropapism
• Cult of personality
• Italian fascism
• The Decline of the West
• Stratocracy
• Strongman (politics)
• Third Rome
• Trumpism

• Autocracy
• Eponymous political ideologies
• Julius Caesar
• Political terminology

• CS1 interwiki-linked names
• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata