by B. R. GOWANI
Meta’s Zuckerberg is mesmerized by the founder of the Roman Empire
Emperor Augustus Caesar (also Octavian) (63 BCE–14 CE) (27 BCE-14 CE)
Mark Zuckerberg & his wife Chan went to Rome for their honeymoon
“My wife was making fun of me, saying she thought there were three people on the honeymoon: me, her, and Augustus. All the photos were different sculptures of Augustus.”
(they have named their daughter August)
talking to Evan Osnos of The New Yorker, Facebook’s Zuckerberg said
“You have all these good and bad and complex figures. I think Augustus is one of the most fascinating. Basically, through a really harsh approach, he established two hundred years of world peace.”
this is Fuckerbergian shit coming from the Meta world’s authoritarian
founder of empire can never be equated with any good
the empire is founded on annexed, conquered, stolen, … territories
the wars to start or to expand an empire always involve
death, destruction, torture, rapes, enslavement, widows, orphans, injured …
The Cambridge Ancient History consists of 26 volumes
the volume “The Imperial Peace” covers the years CE 70–192
“but peace is not what one finds in its pages” writes author Walter Goffart
Zuckerberg, worth $209 billion, is a dangerous man
he has destroyed many many lives …
through hooking them up on Facebook and his other social media sites
now Zuckerberg has joined Donald Trump to save his social media empire
the US capitalist system allows rich to silence, buy, or legally shut people up
a mansion across his house could have interfered with his privacy
Zuckerberg bought all the houses surrounding his at the cost of $44 million
for several years, he ended Facebook meetings with the word “Domination!”
later on, he stopped using that word
once he played scrabble with a friend’s daughter, a high school-er
she won the game; Zuckerberg won the second game — by cheating
the people taking sides said: “Team Human and Team Machine”
but Zuckerberg is a dangerous machine
Twitter’s ex CEO Dick Costolo on Zuckerberg
“He’s a ruthless execution machine, and if he has decided to come after you, you’re going to take a beating.”
last year, at a conference Zuckerberg wore a tee shirt with a Latin phrase
“Aut Zuck aut nihil” which means “Either Zuck[erberg] or nothing”
ruthless Catholic cardinal Cesare Borgia’s (1475–1507) motto was:
Aut Caesar, aut nihil (“Either Caesar or Nothing”)
that is, I want to be at the top, all alone, or else, I am insignificant
Borgia was son of Catholic Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza Catanei
Vannozza Catanei was the most famous of Pope’s many mistresses
Niccolò Machiavelli‘s famous work The Prince was based on Borgia
this year, Lantian* “Jay” Graber, wore a T-shirt at SXSW 2025 with words
“Mundus sine caesaribus,” that is, “A world without Caesars”
such appropriate words in a world full of Caesars:
Trump, (Biden’s gone), Musk, Bezos, Pichai, Modi, Netanyahu, and so many
we really want a world without Caesars
(Graber’s shirt is being sold at worldwithoutcaesars.com for $40
all proceeds will go to fund the AT Protocol)
*(Lantian in Chinese means “blue sky“)
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com