Epstein's scandals may have made it clear, in my opinion, that the "new Rome" reproduces the conditions for the collapse of the old empire.
• Caligula on the Caribbean sands. When luxury becomes immunity
Afrasianet - Ayman Hamed Badr - The emulation of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America with Roman architecture in the construction of the Capitol and the adoption of political terms such as the Senate was not merely an aesthetic or mere coincidence, but an explicit declaration of Washington's quest to be the institutional and political heir to Rome's greatness and republican values.
But the Jeffrey Epstein scandals may have made clear, I think, that the "new Rome" reproduces the conditions for the collapse of the old empire, which was not only through foreign invasion, but was preceded by a structural erosion of the conscience of the elite, when the illusion of exceptionalism and brute force became a cover for the permissibility of values, and material power was transformed from a tool for protecting the state to a means of immunizing corruption against accountability.
Yes, I believe that the documents whose sad and shameful details have re-enacted the era of moral decadence that prevailed in the palaces of the emperors in the past, when absolute power penetrated as a tool of supremacy over legal systems, and virtue became a mere cover for power struggles and political blackmail.
An analysis of the leaked documents in the case made it clear that we are not facing individual criminal offenses, but rather a scene reminiscent of the decadent era of ancient Rome.
Jeffrey Epstein.. the new Tiberius!
The case of Jeffrey Epstein, the American billionaire convicted of sex crimes, who died under mysterious circumstances while in prison in 2019, saw a breakthrough earlier this year following the revelation of a huge archive of classified documents.
Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which was passed in late 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice made available nearly three million pages of documents in early February, backed by thousands of images and visual materials.
These files included air navigation records, digital correspondence, official statements from victims and witnesses, and references to prominent figures including former presidents such as Bill Clinton, Obama and Donald Trump, businessmen such as Bill Gates and Elon Musk, as well as members of royal families and academic elites.
From Capri to Little St. James.. Moral Corruption as a Political Tool!
An analysis of the leaked documents in the case made it clear that we are not facing individual criminal offenses, but rather a scene reminiscent of the decadence of ancient Rome. The similarity between the modern elites and the ancient aristocracy is evident in the transformation of absolute power into self-immunity that causes their owners to transcend legal frameworks and weave networks of dependency based on involvement, similar to what was practiced in Rome's palaces.
The island of Little St. James on the shores of the Caribbean seems to be the contemporary equivalent of the island of Capri, where Emperor Tiberius took his practice away from public censorship, where dignity is violated and unethical practices are harnessed as tools of political pressure and blackmail, to ensure that influential figures are held accountable to those who hold those sovereign records. This phenomenon is most evident when reviewing the reigns of Caligula and Nero, which embodied the height of the abuse of power.
The republic in Rome was founded on the principle of "ancestral customs" and integrity. When leaders began to prioritize their own personal interests and sensual pleasures over the public interest, the social contract collapsed.
"The genes of degeneration": Washington reproduces the great sin of Rome
Many similarities can be seen between Epstein and his documents, and what was known in Rome as the "degeneration of the elite," a similarity that usually precedes major transformations or collapses in which corruption is first manifested.
Above the Law: Immunity Earned by Wealth
In Rome, the aristocracy had networks of "patronage." If a nobleman committed a crime, his connections and wealth make his prosecution a political suicide for the judge.
In the recent case, the documents reveal how, through money and extortion, one man has been able to buy the silence of security and political institutions for decades, creating a "modern nobility" that is not affected by the laws that apply to the average citizen.
Bacchus Concerts and Political Use
Periods of decadence, such as the reigns of Caligula and Nero, were known for frenzied parties that were used to implicate or corrupt politicians to ensure their loyalty. The private island was not just a place of pleasure, but a trap for blackmail. The depiction of influential figures in depraved positions is the modern equivalent of using moral scandals to control the joints of the state, just as the imperial palace was run.
The erosion of the virtues of the republic
The republic in Rome was founded on the principle of "ancestral customs" and integrity. When leaders began to prioritize their own personal interests and sensual pleasures over the public interest, the social contract collapsed.
In our case, many see Epstein's case as conclusive proof that the ruling elite has lost its moral compass and no longer cares about the values on which the state was built, leading to a loss of faith in institutions, which is exactly what happened before Rome went from a republic to an imperial dictatorship.
Baking & Toys
In Rome, the authorities distracted the people with games and fighting in the Colosseum, and enjoyed killing innocent people from all over the world, to distract them from political corruption. On the shady island, leaked scandals sometimes seemed like a kind of "political entertainment" or cascading shocks that left the public distraught and distracted, while major struggles for power and money continued to slip out of sight.
Does Washington realize that the illusion of exceptionalism and exclusivity is the height of alienation from the Sunnah, and that it has reached the moment of moral sunset? Or will it continue in the footsteps of Rome, reigning in the narcissism and tyranny of power, until it is said and its record is folded?
The role of "whistleblowers" and public trials
In the late Empire, informants who exposed the scandals of the nobility abounded in order to obtain rewards or to settle political scores. The recent release of successive documents and testimonies resembles those ancient Roman trials, which aimed to purge the elite or replace one elite with another, by exposing the secret, to imply that no one is above the law.
I also believe that the new scandal has clearly exposed a structural crisis of trust in the American institutional system, which will widen and grow with the days and events and sharp polarization within the United States. Its strategic implications can be limited to:
• Undermining confidence in the principle of due justice: The case revealed a disparity in the legal standards applied to elites compared to ordinary citizens, reinforcing the popular impression that there is a parallel judicial system that protects the powerful.
• Suspicion of the conduct of security agencies: The case has put the FBI and the Justice Department in critical questions about the inadequacy of prosecution in 2008 and the circumstances surrounding Epstein's death inside a federal facility in 2019.
• Exploiting the issue for political polarization: Epstein's "lists" have become a tool of partisan conflict, as they are exploited to exchange accusations of corruption between political parties, exacerbating societal divisions.
• Diplomatic repercussions: The inclusion of the names of foreign heads of state and figures has made this file a sensitive issue in foreign policy, which opens the way for it to be used as political pressure cards in international relations, or perhaps this has already happened.
• Growing conspiracy-theory-based explanations: The ambiguity surrounding the course of the case, particularly the death or assassination, has provided a fertile environment for the promotion of notions of a "deep state" running illegal networks, making it difficult for officials to regain control of the public narrative.
Ultimately, Washington and Rome are mere representations of a cosmic order summarized by divine law: "If we want to destroy a village that has commanded us to be luxurious, and they have defiled it with the right to speak, and we have destroyed it." Herein lies the equation: when power becomes impossible for self-deifiability, and luxury becomes immunity from accountability, the existential erosion of the state begins.
But does Washington realize that the illusion of exception and exclusivity is the height of alienation from the Sunnah, and that it has reached the moment of moral sunset? Or will it continue in the footsteps of Rome, dominating the narcissism and tyranny of power, until it is said and its record is folded, as if it had not sung yesterday?
It is an inevitability (and those days we circulate among people), that other law that affirms that material power is not an instrument of immortality. Great powers that lose their moral justification do not delay their material funeral much later.
