President Trump Speaks Latin: The Inaugural Speech (Latin Edition)

Judging by the outcome, Donald J Trump is the greatest orator of our times. The media were against him and so were women and ethnic minorities (according to the pundits). Moreover, the Republicans were even more hostile to his campaign than the Democrats. Surely no one has ever overcome such odds to achieve power. So, what's his secret? An answer might well be found in this Latin version of his inaugural speech. Latin is the language honed to perfection by the most consummate political fixers the world has ever known, and here we find that Latin's unambiguous clausal structures and unremitting realism strip away the metaphorical mush and resounding, but hollow phrases so characteristic of today's political discourse. If Trump means what he says and says what he means, his Latin will show it. Some may say his English does not rise to the high style, and so neither will his Latin. On this point, we should perhaps recall that several renowned patricians at Rome took up the plebeian cause and in doing so they no doubt abandoned style of Cicero when addressing the common people and spoke as straightforwardly as they did. Unfortunately, speeches of this sort have not survived, but would they have been so dissimilar to the speeches of Donald Trump when Rome was just as divided as America seems to be today?… (more)