Empire and Decadence

The notion that “history rhymes” captures the eerie parallels between the moral and societal decay of ancient Rome and the contemporary global scandal surrounding Jeffrey Epstein’s network of sex trafficking and kompromat gathering. In both eras, the intoxicating allure of power seems to transform those at the pinnacle of society into figures who indulge in unchecked excess, often at the expense of the vulnerable. The Roman Empire, particularly during the reign of emperors like Nero, was marked by decadence, where elites wielded their authority to gratify personal desires, often through exploitative and perverse means. Similarly, the Epstein case—allegedly involving powerful figures from the U.S., UK, Israel, and Russia—reveals a modern elite class entangled in a web of exploitation, enabled by wealth, influence, and a lack of accountability.

Roman Decadence: Power and Perversion in the Empire

Ancient Rome’s sexual mores were shaped by a patriarchal society where power and status dictated acceptable behavior. Elite men could engage in sexual relationships with subordinates—slaves, prostitutes, or youths—without stigma, provided they maintained the dominant role. Pederasty, the practice of older men mentoring and engaging in sexual relationships with adolescent boys, was socially accepted, particularly among the aristocracy, as a rite of passage. Women, however, faced strict expectations of chastity, reflecting a double standard rooted in gender and class. While sensuality was celebrated in art and festivals like Lupercalia, excess that undermined public dignity or political stability was criticized, especially when linked to emperors whose near-divine status amplified their indulgences.

Nero’s reign (54–68 CE) epitomizes this decadence. Known for his theatrical displays of sexuality, Nero reportedly engaged in pederastic relationships, most notoriously with Sporus, a young boy he castrated and married publicly. Such acts, while not inherently taboo in Roman society, shocked elites when they became excessive or cruel. Nero’s enabler, Ofonius Tigellinus, as praetorian prefect, orchestrated spectacles to bolster Nero’s image as a divine ruler, including a grotesque garden party after the Great Fire of 64 CE, where Christians were burned as human torches. Nero’s failure to address the needs of Rome’s poor, instead building the lavish Domus Aurea (Golden House) with a 120-foot statue of himself as Apollo, underscored his self-obsession and detachment from reality. His actions, unchecked by honest criticism, hastened his downfall, culminating in his suicide in 68 CE as armies closed in.

Roman elites, like Nero, surrounded themselves with sycophants who enabled their delusions, shielding them from accountability. The absence of truth-tellers allowed emperors to indulge in excesses that destabilized the empire, a pattern that resonates with modern elites who exploit their power in similar ways.

The Epstein Network: A Modern Mirror of Decadence

The late 20th and early 21st centuries provide a parallel to Rome’s moral decay through the activities of Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged network of influential figures. Epstein, a financier with connections to the highest echelons of power, operated a sex-trafficking ring that exploited vulnerable young women and minors, often under the guise of legitimate enterprises like modeling agencies. His network, allegedly involving Leslie Wexner, John Casablancas, Jean-Luc Brunel, and others, leveraged wealth, privilege, and international connections to perpetrate and conceal its crimes, much like Roman elites used their status to indulge without consequence.

The Rise of Epstein’s Network

Epstein’s ascent began in the early 1980s when, after being fired from Bear Stearns, he founded Intercontinental Assets Group Inc. (IAG), engaging in transnational financial dealings that reportedly linked him to figures like Adnan Khashoggi, a Saudi arms dealer with ties to Mossad and the CIA. By 1987, Epstein became Leslie Wexner’s financial manager, gaining access to the billionaire’s wealth and properties, including a New York townhouse later central to trafficking allegations.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989–1991 opened Eastern Europe to exploitation, particularly through modeling agencies. John Casablancas’s Elite Model Management and Jean-Luc Brunel’s MC2, funded by Epstein, allegedly recruited young women from impoverished regions like Russia, promising modeling careers but subjecting them to sexual exploitation. Virginia Giuffre, a key Epstein accuser, claimed Brunel lured girls from “poor countries” under false pretenses, a tactic consistent with trafficking networks exploiting post-Soviet economic instability. Court documents and victim testimonies describe a system where girls, some as young as 13, were brought to Epstein’s residences—Palm Beach, New York, and Little St. James—for abuse by Epstein and his associates.

Alleged Intelligence and Mafia Ties

Speculation about Epstein’s ties to Russian and Israeli intelligence adds a layer of complexity. Epstein’s financial dealings, including payments to women with Eastern European surnames, were flagged in a 2020 Reuters report about Deutsche Bank’s $150 million fine for failing to monitor suspicious transactions from 2013–2018, suggesting a pattern that may have begun in the 1990s. A 2024 Dossier Center report links Epstein to Sergei Belyakov, an FSB Academy graduate who facilitated connections with Russian models and officials, hinting at Russian mafia or intelligence involvement. Similarly, Epstein’s association with Ghislaine Maxwell, whose father, Robert Maxwell, was a known Mossad operative, and his ties to the Mega Group—a secretive organization of wealthy Jewish businessmen with pro-Israel leanings—fuel speculation of Israeli intelligence connections. A 2019 Daily Beast article cites former U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta, who claimed he was told Epstein “belonged to intelligence” during his 2005 plea deal, suggesting a possible blackmail operation. Definitive evidence of coordinated intelligence involvement remains elusive.

The Role of Modeling Agencies

Modeling agencies like Elite, MC2, and Trump Model Management, launched by Donald Trump in 1999, followed a pattern of exploiting vulnerable women. Trump’s agency, criticized for overcrowding models in apartments and creating debt traps, mirrors the coercive tactics of Epstein’s network. Trump’s ties to Casablancas, through their collaboration on the Look of the Year competition at Trump’s Plaza Hotel in the early 1990s, and his documented friendship with Epstein, place him within this orbit. While allegations of Trump’s direct involvement in mafia-linked trafficking lack primary source confirmation, a 2024 Reddit post alleges a “ring of conspirators” involving Casablancas, Brunel, and Epstein, financed by Russian oligarch banks. These claims, though speculative, highlight the broader pattern of exploiting young women through seemingly legitimate enterprises.

Allegations Against Prominent Figures

Court documents, particularly from Virginia Giuffre’s 2015 defamation lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell, allege Epstein’s network involved “prominent American politicians, powerful business executives, foreign presidents, a well-known prime minister, and other world leaders.” Specific individuals implicated include:

• Leslie Wexner: Accused of complicity due to his financial support for Epstein and access to his properties, though no direct evidence confirms abuse.

• Glenn Dubin: Alleged by Giuffre to have had sexual relations with her as a minor at Epstein’s residences, though he denies the claims.

• Prince Andrew: Accused by Giuffre of abuse at Epstein’s New York townhouse when she was 17, settling a lawsuit in 2022 without admitting guilt.

• Bill Richardson: Alleged by Giuffre to have been involved in abuse at Epstein’s New Mexico ranch, though he denied the claims before his death in 2023.

• Alan Dershowitz: Accused by an unnamed accuser of abuse at Epstein’s residences, though allegations were later withdrawn or stricken.

• Jean-Luc Brunel: Heavily implicated in supplying underage girls to Epstein’s residences, facing charges in France before his suicide in 2022.

Other figures, like Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, and Ehud Barak, appear in court documents but lack substantiated allegations of abuse at Epstein’s properties. The absence of a confirmed “client list,” as noted by the Justice Department and attorney Bradley Edwards, underscores the speculative nature of some claims, yet victim testimonies and financial records confirm a pattern of exploitation at Epstein’s residences.

The “Katie Johnson” Testimony

A particularly harrowing account comes from “Katie Johnson,” who alleged in a 2016 interview that she was abused by Epstein and Trump at age 13 during parties at Epstein’s residences in 1993–1994. Johnson claimed Epstein knew her age and forced himself on her, while Trump requested sexual acts, including a “rape fantasy” where she was tied to a bed and assaulted. She described Trump’s obsession with dominance and control, including racist remarks and derogatory behavior toward other victims, such as a Hispanic girl named Maria. Johnson’s testimony, though unverified by primary sources and dismissed in a 2016 lawsuit due to procedural issues, aligns with broader allegations of Epstein’s network exploiting minors. Her account, if true, paints a chilling picture of elite indulgence.

History Rhymes: Power Breeds Degeneracy

Power, unchecked by accountability, fosters degeneracy. Epstein’s network relied on enablers like Brunel, Maxwell, and possibly Wexner, who provided the infrastructure—modeling agencies, financial support, and social connections—to sustain his operation. The absence of truth-tellers in both eras—whether due to fear, complicity, or elimination—allowed these excesses to flourish until external forces exposed them.

Modern discourse, as seen in conversations between Scott Galloway, Ezra Klein, and Mehdi Hassan, highlights a broader societal decay. They note the “delight in sadism” projected from the highest levels of power, conflating leadership with cruelty; a global trend where authoritarian figures—like Orban, Erdogan, and Modi—silence dissent through media control, a tactic mirrored in the U.S. by attacks on public media and journalism.

The Inevitability of Degeneracy

Those who end up in the highest circles of power almost inevitably become degenerate monsters, if they didn’t start out that way. Power insulates elites from consequences, fostering a sense of entitlement that manifests in exploitation. In the modern era, wealth and influence enable figures like Epstein to exploit vulnerable girls and young women, with complicity from banks, agencies, and possibly intelligence networks. The lack of accountability—seen in Epstein’s lenient 2008 plea deal—creates a feedback loop where power begets more power, and degeneracy escalates. Chris Hedges’s warning about the erosion of democracy and civil society resonates here. The Epstein case, with its allegations of Russian and Israeli mafia or intelligence involvement, suggests a global playbook where power protects itself through manipulation and coercion, much like Rome’s elite used patronage and violence to maintain control.

The decadence of Rome, exemplified by Nero’s excesses, finds an echo in the Epstein scandal, where wealth, power, and privilege enabled a network of exploitation across the US, UK, Israel, and Russia. Both eras illustrate how those at the apex of power, surrounded by enablers and shielded from accountability, descend into moral corruption. Nero’s Domus Aurea and Epstein’s residences symbolize not just personal indulgence but systemic decay, where the vulnerable are sacrificed for elite gratification. History rhymes in the patterns of power, excess, and exploitation, reminding us that without checks on authority, degeneracy will persist, threatening the fabric of society. The fight against such corruption requires courage to expose the evil at the top.