This article argues that the American political system under Donald Trump is an example of what Antonio Gramsci dubbed “Caesarism,” a situation where a taut balance of warring class forces allows for the emergence of a third force to freeze the antagonism and challenge/usurp established political institutions. To concretise Gramsci's rather abstract formulation and to better illuminate the nature of American Caesarism, this article employs a reading of the Roman poet Lucan's magisterial Civil War. Through a close reading of this text, we can explore the origins of Caesarism and study the efficacy of different means of struggle against it. Lucan thus helps us reinvigorate the concept of Caesarism and apply it in the contemporary American context. In particular, it will be demonstrated that whereas Lucan depicts a progressive form of Caesarism with a qualitatively new state form, the Trump administration embodies a regressive form of Caesarism within an old state form.

中文翻译：

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现代凯撒？唐纳德·特朗普与美国凯撒主义

本文认为，唐纳德·特朗普（Donald Trump）领导下的美国政治制度是安东尼奥·葛兰西（Antonio Gramsci）所称的“凯撒主义”（Caesarism）的一个例子，在这种情况下，交战阶级部队的紧张平衡使得第三支部队的出现冻结了对立和挑战/篡夺政治机构。为了具体化葛兰西相当抽象的表述，并更好地阐明美国凯撒主义的本质，本文采用了对罗马诗人卢坎的权威内战的解读。通过仔细阅读本文，我们可以探索凯撒主义的起源，并研究各种与之抗争的方法的功效。因此，卢坎（Lucan）帮助我们重振了凯撒主义的概念，并将其应用于当代美国语境中。尤其可以证明的是，尽管卢坎（Lucan）用质性新的州形式描述了凯撒主义的进步形式，但特朗普政府在旧的州形式中体现了凯撒主义的回归形式。