Autocrats and the lessons they don't learn

2026-02-14 13:15:00, Opinione Ardi Stefa

History has an unwritten law, but proven over the centuries: one day comes and all autocrats fall. Some with noise, some quietly. Some with popular trials, some with a closed chapter in the history books.

The fact is that no one has been eternal.

The autocrat lives with the illusion of political immortality. He builds monuments, controls the media, intimidates opponents, and rewrites history. But he cannot control time. Time is the greatest enemy of any absolute power.

The history of the first civilizations is also the history of autocrats who believed they were equal to the gods. But... no one stays on the throne forever.

In ancient Rome, Julius Caesar rose to prominence as the most powerful man in the republic. A loyal army, immense popularity, and a single-handed power. He made no secret of his ambition to become an eternal ruler. But at the height of his power, in the Senate that was supposed to honor him, he was assassinated by his own allies. His story stands as a warning: the autocrat is often overthrown not by his enemies, but by the fear he instills in his relatives.

The example of Nero is even more significant. Intoxicated by power and adoration, he saw himself as both an artist and a god. Rome was filled with statues and arbitrary decrees, while opponents disappeared. But when the support of the army and the elites faded, the all-powerful emperor found himself abandoned. His end came in solitude, far from the glory he thought was eternal.

In the East, Xerxes I, the great king of Persia, ruled one of the greatest empires of his time. He believed that no power could withstand him. But even he collapsed under the weight of his greatness.

Even Alexander the Great conquered half the known world, but he could not conquer time. After his death, the empire immediately fell apart. Autocracy without institutions is always temporary.

In ancient Greece, tyrants of city-states often seized power with the promise of order and ended up being overthrown by their own citizens. The history of the tyranny of Athens, overthrown to make way for democracy, shows that even in the earliest ages people sought limits on absolute power.

The 20th century offers plenty of examples.

Adolf Hitler built an empire on terror and propaganda. He seemed invincible. Germany was under total control, Europe was in flames, opponents were wiped out. But in the end, the dictator who sought to rule the world ended up locked in a bunker, alone and defeated. His empire lasted only twelve years.

Even Benito Mussolini, who dreamed of a new imperial Rome, ended up hanging upside down by an angry mob. From cheering stands to a square filled with hatred — this was the journey of an autocrat who believed that fear could replace respect.

In Eastern Europe, ironclad regimes seemed eternal. Nicolae Ceau?escu built a grotesque cult of personality. Palaces, parades, absolute control. But one day in December 1989, enough was enough: the people who were supposed to worship him overthrew him. Within days, he was tried and executed.

Even dictatorships that are not brought down by bullets fall with time. Enver Hoxha built one of the most closed regimes in the world, with bunkers and fear. It seemed that his system would last forever, until it was overthrown by the very people he had isolated.

In the Middle East, history repeated itself. Saddam Hussein ruled with an iron fist for decades. His portraits filled every city. But one day he was found hiding in a hole in the ground.

While Muammar Gaddafi, who called himself "eternal leader", ended up overthrown by the very people who claimed to love him.

History is brutally honest: autocracies don't fall because the autocrat sometimes realizes his mistake and reflects.

It falls because reality becomes stronger than propaganda and because fear has an expiration date. Even the most oppressed peoples get tired one day.

Even those around autocrats get tired...

Every autocrat believes he is the exception to the rule and thinks he will last longer than others. But history knows no exceptions.

Absolute power can last for years, even decades. Never forever.

There always comes a day, and on that day, even the most formidable empires collapse like sandcastles./ CNA