The macho fantasy driving Elon Musk to father countless children... and why so many men are turned on by it too

If America is genuinely headed for civilizational collapse, Elon Musk surely sees his relation arsenic the 'deus ex machina.'

For years, Musk has demonstrated his fascination with the Roman Empire - from his affinity for gladiator garb, to his multi-million-dollar backing of the survey of antiquity, to his obsession with siring Augustan 'legions' of offspring with a modern harem of babe mommas.

'To scope legion-level earlier the apocalypse, we volition request to usage surrogates,' Musk reportedly texted Ashley St Clair, a self-styled MAGA influencer and the alleged parent of Musk's 7-month-old son, Romulus, the sanction itself a motion to Rome's fabled founding brothers, Romulus and Remus.

Indeed, Musk's evident fixation connected Rome (and procreation) seems to beryllium intertwined with his idiosyncratic crusade to prevention humanity from extinction.

'Rome fell due to the fact that the Romans stopped making Romans,' Musk, 53, has dubiously argued, claiming that the past empire's debased fertility rates were the crushed for the imperial kingdom's collapse.

Et tu, America?

On X past month, Musk warned the falling fertility complaint successful the US 'will extremity civilization.' No wonderment helium calls the United States a 'late-stage empire,' oregon the 'New Rome.'

'Low birthrate is under-appreciated arsenic causal successful the autumn of civilizations,' Musk said connected X successful 2023, adding: 'Rome was having commencement complaint issues adjacent during the reign of Caesar.'

Musk's striking 'savior complex' has also, it seems, driven the once-in-a-generation innovator and entrepreneur to recovered the abstraction exertion institution SpaceX which is dedicated to establishing the archetypal self-sustaining quality colony connected Mars, which helium plans to telephone 'New World.'

'There's precocious urgency to making beingness multi-planetary,' Musk said past year. 'We've got to bash it portion civilization is truthful strong.' 

And backmost connected Earth, Musk is surely doing his part.

His alleged 'legion' (a notation to a Roman subject portion of arsenic galore arsenic 6,000 soldiers) of 14 children and counting (an Atlantic writer claimed recently that the existent fig of Musk children whitethorn beryllium higher than publically known) has attracted important contention and fascination, arsenic has his bizarre behavior.

Notably, Musk's 'Roman salute' delivered connected signifier astatine President Donald Trump's inauguration rally successful Washington, DC, successful January sparked aggravated debate, arsenic critics drew comparisons betwixt his stiff, one-armed question and the Nazi salute.

Contrary to the name, determination is small impervious that the 'Roman salute' was ever utilized successful antiquity – but it has not stopped Musk's supporters from utilizing it arsenic justification for the gesture.

'The Roman Empire is back, starting from the Roman salute,' Andrea Stroppa, an Italian cybersecurity researcher referred to arsenic a Musk lobbyist, wrote successful a since-deleted X station astatine the time, per the New York Times.

On X, Musk erstwhile referred to himself arsenic 'Kekius Maximus.' The connection 'kek' - utilized by gamers to mean 'laugh retired loud' - has besides travel to beryllium associated with alt-right groups.

But the connection is besides the sanction of the Egyptian deity of darkness, portion 'Maximus' could beryllium an homage to a Roman wide of the aforesaid name, oregon the fictional 'Gladiator' character.

It's a moniker cleanable for a antheral who erstwhile propositioned Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg – who has himself expressed his admiration for Ancient Rome and Emperor Augustus (62 DC – 14 AD) – to a duel successful the Coliseum.

On galore occasions, Musk has shared AI-generated images of himself arsenic a gladiator.

For Halloween 2022, helium walked the reddish carpet astatine supermodel Heidi Klum's yearly costume bash dressed successful a $10,000 warrior ensemble, implicit with reddish leather breastplate with a demon caput emblazoned successful the halfway of his chest.

The Tesla titan posed, flexing his biceps and roaring for the frenzy of flashing cameras successful his armor, a riff connected lorica segmentata worn successful the Roman Empire.

But it's not each amusive and games for Musk.

He has recommended superior literate works similar Julius Caesar's 'The Gallic Wars' and the William Bolitho publication 'Twelve Against the Gods' arsenic must-reads to his fans.

And helium has donated $3 cardinal to the survey of Ancient Rome, successful summation to launching the 'Vesuvius Challenge,' a 'machine learning, machine vision, and geometry competition' successful which the challengers decipher scrolls recovered from the Roman metropolis of Herculaneum which was destroyed by volcanic eruption and buried nether ash successful 79 AD.

One victor was adjacent hired to Musk's squad astatine the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Though determination are disturbing turns arsenic well.

The billionaire has suggested online that America is successful request of a 'modern time Sulla' - Sulla was a Roman wide who led a convulsive coup successful the twelvemonth 88 BCE.

After installing himself arsenic the caput of a short-lived dictatorship, Sulla wiped retired governmental rivals successful bloody purges.

Mike Duncan, a past podcaster and author, told the Daily Mail that antiquity aficionados, similar Musk, look to respect the subject autocracy of the Roman Empire and the imaginable of wielding specified power.

The symbols of overt masculinity, helium added, 'excite the imaginativeness of a definite benignant of man.' And Musk's fascination isn't fringe - successful fact, it's fitting for a mogul truthful enmeshed successful the increasing 'manosphere.'

'In immoderate ways, past Rome is simply a benignant of harmless spot for macho fantasies. It's wherever men tin unreal to beryllium macho men,' Mary Beard, a classicist who specializes successful Ancient Rome, antecedently told Time magazine. 

Ex-Trump strategist and MAGA grandee Steve Bannon has a bust of Julius Caesar successful the antheral cave wherever helium records his amusement 'War Room.'

A arguable media property known for his openly misogynistic views, Andrew Tate called the empire 'brutally effective,' 'aesthetically beautiful,' 'militarily successful' and 'economically brilliant.'

'The Romans were an intensely patriarchal society,' Duncan told the Daily Mail. 'The men were successful complaint and the women were not, and that was existent successful government, and it was existent wrong the family.'

Even successful Roman society, failed emperors were blamed for being 'too effeminate' - oregon excessively acrophobic with luxuries similar silk and finery that were 'coded arsenic female,' which were seen arsenic 'sapping the vitality of the empire,' said Duncan.

Finally, Musk has besides argued that non-citizens volition lend to the illness of society, penning past twelvemonth connected X: 'Near the autumn of the Roman Empire, the Roman Army... progressively relied connected non-citizens.'

This idea, Duncan said, seems to beryllium based connected a play erstwhile the Roman Empire was tally by Italians, oregon the 'true Romans.' But, helium added, there's a occupation with Musk's instrumentality connected past due to the fact that the Romans were really 'very bully astatine incorporating caller radical into their system' - successful fact, they welcomed them.

The question of the Roman Empire's collapse is, Duncan stated, 'one of the astir continuously debated questions successful each of history.'

According to Duncan, radical – specified arsenic Musk – volition often task their modern-day governmental views and backfill the communicative of Ancient Rome, utilizing their ideology to explicate wherefore specified a large empire fell, whether it's believing that 'men are nether assault' oregon that 'we've go excessively feminine arsenic a society.'

'Above all, Rome represents a benignant of powerfulness that is alluring,' Duncan concluded, 'that is thing that volition excite radical similar Zuckerberg oregon Bannon arsenic they look to what they would similar to execute for themselves.'

But are you not entertained?