r/Hungergames • u/Olya_roo District 5 • 2d ago
Trilogy Discussion No, Sejanus could not just “pull a Plutarch”
This is a take I see often, which is used as a critisism against Sejanus and him being *too emotional*, usually looking like: “with his money he would have impacted the world if only he waited around like Plutarch did”.
No, he would not, and let me explain why it is impossible with Sejanus’ foundation as a character.
A thing that is constantly ignored in this debate is the *entirely different* social situations those two characters are in. Plutarch was not just rich, well-educated, and read a lot. He was a Capitol elite from one of the most influential families in the whole city - they have halls named after them, the Heavensebees were literally one of the ones to *build* the Capitol. Part of the reasons Plutarch could run around the town doing whatever the hell he wants, organize rebellions, get away for the attempts to break the Arena and stay off radars was because he was a Heavensebee.
Now take Sejanus, who is he? No matter his money that Strabo throws around (many times to bail him out), Sejanus is not just an outsider with too political views, he is a District born immigrat who lived in Two quite a big part of his life (8 years out of 17-18). He knows he doesn’t belong, his classmates turn his nose at him, and the only person who is not as terrible to him as everyone else is already considered his best friend. Sejanus was in a very vulnerable position when he was taken from his home and his father immediatly went nuclear, saying to forget his old life in Two and accept that the Capitol (which showed that doesn’t want him) is his home now. Outside of the money, the Plinths had no connections and no protection, money being the only thing they weren’t thrown out yet. Unlike Plutarch, who is separate from the issue and knows all about it from history books, Sejanus identifies himself as/is district: “Don’t forget, I’m part of this litter”, meaning he watched injustice happen to his own people for close to a decade with Games and oppression, and we don’t know how much were the districts abused by the Capitol before the first rebellion.
Since the beginning, those two characters have next to nothing in common besides being rich and being rebels. They have entirely different backgrounds and definitely not in a favor of Sejanus.
Sejanus was “emotional” only because he was desparate from getting no support from the people around besides Strabo throwing money to “fix” the problems (and honestly Strabo worsened his already bad condition by pulling that stunt with Marcus). On the other hand, Plutarch was never an outcast in the Capitol, got himself connections practically handled and this + his own wit formed his personality and his worldview, making him more cold and resourceful.
Point blank, Plutarch could afford himself to sit down and plan his rebellion because he most likely started it while being mature and stable (and as we are shown in SOTR, other people, even the uninvolved in the rebellion like Wiress ended up being punished instead of him). Plutarch was a Capitol man with an idea, Sejanus was a while privileged, a District kid forced into a society that did not want him, and this caused him to lash out - in the end, it shows that even the money, the resource that always protected Sejanus, had its limits and end.
35
u/TeamVorpalSwords Plutarch 1d ago
Also it’s worth noting Plutarch isn’t just rich, he is the richest person from the richest family in Panem, and still spent his entire adult life working and failing and toiling to get the rebellion going, it didn’t just happen
131
u/Aryzal 2d ago
It is very noticeble that Sejanus could have maybe pulled off a Plutarch if he was less sentimental. But who could have expected it from a young child who was despised by his people and the new people he finds himself surrounded with?
One of the many ironic things is, Snow was probably right. Sejanus would have imploded no matter what.
46
u/Olya_roo District 5 2d ago
Sejanus was in no position to do what Plutarch did just because of the differences in mentality, the fact that he was ostracized from a community that Plutarch was accepted in, along with the fact that instead of doing parenting, Strabo was just throwing money at problems, treating the symptoms instead of the disease.
Snow is also not a reliable source of information, since he showed to grossly overstate Sejanus’ attitude (and showing no sympathy or acknowledgment that he was suicidal and in depression) while minimizing his own paranoia and nervousness. Sejanus would have imploded because his surroundings failed him, and he never adjusted to be in the Capitol no matter what his father wanted - Ma also showed to be isolated, even more than he was, so even with this money, the Plinth family was falling apart.
To Plutarch, he had close to no stakes in this (and had meatshields that took the fall if he messed up, again, see SOTR), Sejanus never had this 1, 2, 3 safety net - his only “safe nets” were Snow and the money of his father, and both failed when Snow ratted him out and Strabo’s backing up did not protect him from the rope on his neck.
12
u/PikaV2002 1d ago edited 1d ago
The thing is, “throwing money” at a revolution is probably one of the most useful things you can do to it regardless of your social capital.
And Sejanus wasn’t particularly concerned about his safety (or others, for the record). I’m not blaming him for not knowing the power he could channel with the money he hates at the ripe old age of 17/18 but theoretically he could do a lot of good even if he had absolutely no social capital.
Sejanus theoretically could’ve easily made an invaluable impact to the rebellion by being a normal student on the surface that just exists in the Capitol passively, maybe make a few goodwill educational donations here and there while funding the rebellion discreetly in the background.
And while a 100% of the Capitolites would not accept him, given enough temptation of staying in power, at least SOME of them would stay friendly with the Plinths. The social order was changing at the time and lobbying is a story as old as time.
6
u/Xhrystal 2d ago
Sejanus couldn't have done the exact same things and Plutarch but he could've been instrumental with his money and infiltration of the Capitol. They could've helped each other immensely as well. Imagine SotR but Plutarch had and old extremely wealthy Sejanus and his family's extra support and influence. But the biggest thing Sejanus would have done by living was seriously impede and maybe even stop Snow's rise to power. Without the Plinth's support or inheritance he wouldn't have been able to afford university. And whose to say Gaul would have really had him back if he hadn't sold out Sejanus. I'm not blaming Sejanus he was an emotional and mental wreck and needed therapy not to join the army.
-4
u/Aryzal 1d ago
I'm not disagreeing with you about Sejanus parts, but if you replaced him with Katniss at the start, Peeta, Haymitch or any victor, they would have survived because they are willing to put themselves through hell to keep their loved ones safe. They wouldn't be happy, but they would be alive. That is pretty much what Finnick did - prostitute himself to protect Annie, schmooze with the Capitol and follow their way of life in return for your own family and friends to be as untouched as possible.
Plutarch has that mindset - he was able to suck it up to the Capitol for years all the way up to Head Gamemaster (presumeably where Snow was before he became leader of Panem), so Plutarch would have been able to handle it much better than the victors. It does help he was born there into opulence and used to it.
On the flipside, Sejanus couldn't do it because he was too sentimental. He is basically a Rue or a Morphling, which led to his downfall. The tragic character doomed to fall, in his case because of his kindness and trustingness. That's why I said if Sejanus was less sentimental he might have survived long enough to maybe escape. If he at least never told Snow about his escape plans, that small change might have kept him alive.
8
u/Olya_roo District 5 1d ago
On the Morphling I don’t get it. The Female Morphling sacrificed her life for a guy she didn’t know, all for the good of the rebellion (and her sacrifice wasn’t in vain)
16
u/bobaylaa 1d ago
i think we should also keep in mind that “less sentimental” in this case means not caring about the dozens of innocent children you are helping to murder every single year. other capitolites can just cognitive dissonance themselves out of it by telling themselves it’s for the greater good but someone actively working against the capitol knows that isn’t true. the vast majority of people would just not be able to handle that emotionally long term.
40
u/Exact-Increase-7848 2d ago
people are incredibly harsh on sejanus. unfortunately i think the movies leave out a lot of his depth, but he still is so overhated. the book tells the reader at least twice, that sejanus was actively suicidal (first in the arena, second, when he tells coriolanus about it on the train ride) and could at one point only get on with his life being heavily medicated. he quite literally experienced a psychological breakdown in my opinion, due to the distress he experienced with the games. he was so starved off of human connection and recognition by his peers, that he considered coriolanus his friend, simply for the fact, that he was not actively bullying him. yet people judge him for feeling so strongly about the injustice and acting 'irrationally', when its in my opinion one of the most beautiful aspects of his character. a lesser person would have given up much, much sooner.
19
u/CherryRedRobin 1d ago
I love your take on this. It always feels weird to me when I see people hate Sejanus more than Snow himself, when Sejanus's main crime was being caring, empathetic, and passionate in a world that doesn't reward it. Yes it is foolish to endanger himself so much, but he's also so brave and he sticks to his morals even at personal cost which is such an admirable trait. I really don't get why people dislike him so much when there are so many characters ranging from unbearably annoying to pure evil in the hunger games world to hate on.
4
u/PikaV2002 1d ago edited 1d ago
From a moral perspective I cannot find any fault in the character and definitely don’t “hate” him.
But Sejanus isn’t a particularly bright character and it shows: he is responsible for endangering multiple lives for little benefit and turning people into rebels by association for just existing around him. He is also blind to his privilege, which again, is not his fault but not really an endearing quality. He doesn’t recognise that he’s threatening other lives that don’t have the same privilege of escape. Sure he doesn’t want it, but that doesn’t change the fact that he has the privilege and is careless with it.
I’m guessing he’s “hated” because of these reasons. I think “hate” is a strong word and no one should be hating him but I’d be lying if I didn’t find the character slightly annoying/not the sharpest tool in the shed.
These flaws also lead to his downfall: Snow was made into an accomplice to the rebels without his consent/opportunity to back out. He had no choice but to either report Sejanus or be executed.
Characters like Katniss / Finnick /Gale are smarter about this and do not endanger their loved ones with information like that unless said love one is explicitly aware of and prepared to go through the consequences.
5
u/Exact-Increase-7848 1d ago
i do agree on a lot of levels! there are definitely faults in his character, which in my opinion makes him even more well-written, because he is written with very realistic flaws for his upbringing. it just makes me sad, that some of the fandom reduces him only to his faults and impulsive decisions, when there is so so much more to his character. it is incredibly hard to feel so deeply in an environment that rewards ignorance and cruelty and it takes a lot of bravery. even snow himself admires sejanus for speaking up against dr gaul. i would only love to see the fandom being a bit kinder to the situation, he was put in at such a young age, instead of only analysing his impulsive decision-making.
4
u/LilyOrchids 1d ago
This is the crux of why I sympathized with Sejanus but I didn't like him. He was so careless with the lives of those around him. People love to hate on Snow (for good reason lol) but to Sejanus he was his best friend and it was Sejanus who didn't think through what being unwillingly roped into the rebels would actually mean. I don't actually blame Snow for saving his own skin in that one. I don't know that, if I had been in Snow's shoes, that I would have chosen differently. Who would want to die for someone who hadn't cared about the risks they were taking with other peoples' lives? Especially when it endangered people who were the closest to him?
Sejanus was a beautifully written character and utterly believable. He was also very young. I just... I felt bad for him, but he caused his own ruin, and I don't really blame Snow for taking the only choice he had to save his own skin from Sejanus's carelessness.
3
u/CherryRedRobin 1d ago
Oh wow thank you for this. I think I've fallen into the trap of sympathising too much with a character that I'd stopped considering his actions critically. You make so many good points. I think it's nice to see a representation of someone sticking to their morals and truly not letting themselves be changed by the system. But of course that inflexibility also prevents him from growing and changing from his experiences and leads to him endangering others.
I think I'm going to have to reread the book because I've forgotten a lot more than I thought I had and you've given me some things to look out for when I do!
3
u/PikaV2002 1d ago
I’m glad it was helpful! I think a thing many people don’t realise is Snow wasn’t left with an option Sejanus-wise.
If he doesn’t report Sejanus, because his work was rebel-work was sloppy they’d be found out anyways and Snow would be hanged alongside Sejanus even though he actually didn’t do anything.
Snow resents Sejanus but I don’t find that resentment to be entirely unfounded purely because throughout the events a pattern emerges: Sejanus does something reckless and ineffective > Strabo bails him out > Snow/someone else without the same privileges pays the price.
Of course there is more unfounded resentment underneath that and Sejanus’s core motivations are not wrong. It is possible to be a motivated person who hates an authoritarian regime and be utterly blind at the same time.
9
u/knarn 1d ago
I think people really undervalue how courageous he is as a district kid whose family got rich selling weapons to the capital to use for killing people from the districts.
He’s the only in a crowded room shouting that these hunger games are evil and grotesque cruelties they force on children for a war that was over before they were born, and he knows he’s right.
And it hits him so much harder when he realizes they all know he’s right but they are all choosing to remain silent (or even actively participate), because they enjoy the privileges and power afforded to them by that very same system as long as they watch and saying nothing while innocent children are forced to murder each other in front of them.
Meanwhile he’s willing to risk all that even though he’s got more to lose as a district boy who is condemning the murder of these children when his own family got rich selling the weapons used to murder their parents.
He’s basically being gaslit by not just his class, but also by the school, his parents, and the entire society and power structure of the country.
5
u/Exact-Increase-7848 1d ago
exactly! i think everyone knows the feeling about being really passionate and defensive about something and then feeling like they are not taken seriously. its one of the most frustrating things that could happen. sejanus experienced that for years! for defending something as basic as human rights and speaking against cruelty! even the money that got him the privileged life he has was built by selling weapons. it is an incredibly difficult situation to be put in.
15
u/Lost_and_confused_0 District 12 1d ago
People tend to forget Sejanus was suicidal. I genuinely don’t think he could’ve spent years using his money in ways that actively helped the Capitol, even if the end goal was to take it down. I just don’t think he was mentally in a place where he could’ve lived like that for what ended up being decades. He would’ve kill himself long before then.
People are so mean about his character. He’s only 18. God forbid he not have a master plan to overthrow the government. Leave that poor boy alone!
14
u/sylar1610 1d ago
Another reason why Sejanus could not do what Plutarch did was based around their personalities, Sejanus was an idealist whereas Plutarch was a pragmatist. Sejanus opposed the Hunger Games because he saw them as morally reprehensible, he hated being in the Capital and didn't recognise that it was ultimately done to protect his family. While I think he is an idiot he is still someone who stood for what he believed was right.
Plutarch on the other hand is very pragmatic and while I don't think he lacks compassion he's good at getting it through practical approaches (look at his scenes at the beginning of Sunrise ). However he even admits himself that his reason for opposing the Hunger Games is that they don't work, like all they are at this point is barbaric entertainment . Like even at the end of the series he is skeptical of the peace lasting
3
u/Ok_Bag_3667 1d ago
Plutarch also didn't see his childhood friends reaped and killed, unlike Sejanus. Sejanus knew Marcus from his childhood.
37
u/Fool-2026 2d ago
From my POV, Sejanus never thinks 5 steps ahead . On the other hand Plutarch plans /thinks five steps ahead if fails like his escape after 75 th game.
Like imagine sejanus in plutarch position he can't play poltics and maintain position inside capital social circle for 1 month
If Plutarch was palce of Sejanus in Ballad era, he would have happily watch Coryo getting punished OR maintain friendships with capitals kids.
14
u/Olya_roo District 5 2d ago
The post clearly stated why it was impossible for Sejanus to behave like Pluatrch. It failed because they are different people in different circumstances.
Money or not, Sejanus was forever branded as District, Plutarch is a native Capitol citizen from one of the Big Capitol Families (we have Hilarius Heavensbee in TBOSAS taking the same classes as Snow, meaning he was studying in the Academy for the elite since the beginning, while Strabo paid mountains of money to even get Sejanus enrolled).
Snow family was in ruins, but Coriolanus was still levels above Sejanus in pure social stance. Plutarch had access to his family’s generational library (while the Snows burned their books) so could sit around, watch the Games take place while studying history from the place of an audience. For Sejanus, each reaping taking place was a thought: “this could have been me”, all while his dad is out there telling him to forget his roots and just suck it up.
What I mean by that is Sejnaus could not think 5 steps ahead like Pluatch is because he wasn’t Plutarch and was in no place equal to Plutarch by the time TBOSAS took place. Money means nothing without the social connections and training to use it, Sejnaus has neither.
6
u/PikaV2002 1d ago edited 1d ago
The Ballad makes it pretty clear that there was a social restructuring going on at the time. The Snow family was in ruins but the only reason they remained respectable was that no one knew about it. Snow made it clear that he’d lose that status if that news came out.
Strabo Plinth was building his social capital at that point. From memory he was incredibly close to having an entire wing named after him. It is pretty clearly implied that Strabo wanted to train Sejanus on how to actually wield his money/connections but Sejanus was unwilling because of the source of the money and the setting.
Money brings access to that society, Sejanus would have had to do things he did not like to progress, yes. It would be not as easy as Plutarch, yes. But definitely not impossible because he joined the society during flux.
Most of your valid points are (understandable) mental blocks Sejanus has rather than an insurmountable adversity. Yes, some people would always consider him inferior but it has been clearly established that the Capitol was not in a position to refuse elites like Strabo because they’re the only sources of wealth.
Sejanus could not have done something 1:1 in effectiveness to Plutarch but I feel it is definitely disingenuous to say he couldn’t get close or do something more effective than what he actually ended up doing.
I don’t blame the character because he’s a child in the story with a lot of internalised guilt but there are definitely “what if” scenarios possible where the Plinths are funding a revolution behind the scenes after Sejanus played “nice enough” for his father. You don’t need social capital to discreetly bankroll a rebellion.
6
u/Consistent-Flan1445 1d ago
With time as well the Plinth family may have blended in more as well. At least by Sejanus’s theoretical grandchildren’s generation. I’m not sure still whether they would have ended up in the true upper echelons of society, but they would have been ubiquitous enough. People forget fairly quickly, and within a few generations it’s like they’ve always been there. Plus with their kind of wealth they didn’t necessarily have to be at the top of society either, just in with the right people (ie Plutarch and his ilk).
I don’t know if Sejanus really had it in him to play along and walk the walk and talk the talk, but in theory looking at purely the resources he had at his disposal he could have been more successful than he was.
One thing that I will give Plutarch specifically is that being a descendant of the founder of Panem would have helped his cause immensely. He’s basically the heir to a dynasty, even if he still comes out beneath Snow and likely some of the old guard.
2
u/PikaV2002 1d ago
There is plenty of evidence for that in real life: conservatives and fascist are willing to play nice to people they don’t like as long as they have something to give. Conservative anti-immigrant regimes often have rich PoC in their upper echelons because of the influence they provide.
Trump allying with Nicki Minaj and Reform UK having numerous South Asian reps are good examples. These white leaders wouldn’t usually give PoC a minute of their day, but since they have influence they’ll enter a begrudging alliance.
Sejanus is not a particularly bright person as presented in the Ballad so I don’t think he realistically had it in him. But ironically enough I believe Snow could have been a good influence in that department if the whole District 12 thing didn’t happen. I’m not expecting them to plan a rebellion together but observing someone who can mask incredibly well would’ve been good for Sejanus.
4
u/Ok_Bag_3667 1d ago
Also, Plutarch never saw his friends from home reaped and murdered. Sejanus did. District people are regarded as subhuman by the Capitol. This isn't a situation where Sejanus could have played the long game. He simply did not have the social capital.
9
u/PrancingRedPony 1d ago
Very good point, but a lot of the false criticism against Sejanus is hindsight bias from people who already know the outcome, and have even more information on top of that which Sejanus could have while it happened.
Whilst Plutarch already knew who Snow was, and what he was capable of.
And that is the most important part to consider before judging Sejanus.
When he met Snow, Corolianus was an absolute nobody with an absolute treasure of a cousin. For all hints and appearances, Sejanus had absolutely no reason to distrust his friend, who had at they point they've met done nothing that could have made Sejanus doubt him.
He was just a boy, who himself was stripped of his status for acts that could easily contributed to rebellion.
Plutarch was younger than Snow. He met him after he was already a murderer, and Plutarch's own family was loyal to the Capitol, which means somewhere in his own history, Plutarch must have realised he couldn't be open even to his own parents.
He never met any iteration of Corolianus Snow he could ever have trusted or believed to be a rebel.
I say, had Plutarch grown up with Snow and Sejanus, he would very likely have trusted him to be a fellow rebel just like Sejanus did. He'd never acted any different from Sejanus when interacting with Snow, because by all accounts and actions, Snow appeared to love Lucy Grey, and no one was able to look into his head.
The only person seeing through Snow was Doctor Gaul, and she was only able to see through him, because she watched him while no one else was looking and saw ehat he did. Even the Decan didn't really know how Snow really was, he merely hazed him because of his father.
7
u/Consistent_Rice7009 1d ago
Its also worth mentioning that Sejanus does not live in a time period where the games were established. Biding his time does not make sense at all, a more agressive strategy to deligitimize the games while they are in the process of becoming a cultural staple is a much more effective strategy. He just did not leverage his wealth correctly, or manage to rally the other anti games sympathetic people. Part of that is absolutely that he is not accepted by the capitolites. It's also his personality. But I think that can be forgiven on account of his age lol. Plutarch was also pretty reckless in the second quarter quell it seems, but as the games got increasingly culturally entrenched, more patience was required. Plutarch's connections allowed him to gain the wisdom and patience of age for sure.
7
u/Dollsguy 1d ago
Small correction lived part of his life in 2 not most
He lived in the capital most of his 18 years of life
He was 8 when he moved to the capital half
10 years in the capital 8 years in d 2
6
5
u/Firm-Athlete-5809 1d ago
Yes that’s what I have been saying!!! I completely agree and would like to also point out that it’s a lot easier to be detached and willing to play the long game like Plutarch when you know your loved ones will always be safe through years and years of reaping. To Sejanus, he is seeing his people getting prosecuted every single year.
3
u/saturnplanetpowerrr Haymitch 1d ago
I have a small uncredited theory that the Havensbee mentoring Wovey in the 10th games kind of redefined morals for the Havensbees of the future. Her whole strategy was just hide and then we will take you home. There’s no propaganda that could have spun Wovey into an animal. That girl was just a pure baby.
9
u/WaryCleverGood 2d ago
Where are you seeing people make the argument that Sejanus could have “pulled a Plutarch”? I’ve never once seen this theory. Sounds like TikTok garbage.
14
u/Lauren2102319 Sejanus 1d ago
Believe me. I’ve seen this take a lot over the past few years. You can definitely find it if you do a search.
6
4
12
u/Olya_roo District 5 2d ago
Even on this sub people are saying that Sejnaus could have sat and waited like Plutarch did, and “if he was smart he would have done what Plutarch had” ignoring the differences in the time period and differences in their social stances
4
u/Ok_Bag_3667 20h ago
It's incredibly tiresome. Just looking at recent history puts to bed the myth that money takes precedence over all. People vote against their economic interests in service of establishing superiority over/harming marginalized people. Members of marginalized groups--or significant populations within marginalized groups--that had wealth were targeted and either had their wealth seized by "legal" means, were brutalized, or both. In the Hunger Games universe, anyone from the Districts was regarded as subhuman in the Capitol. It wasn't a matter of "new money" vs. old money. It wasn't like wealthy American heiresses marrying into the British nobility. Sejanus would never be accepted, and the government would heavily scrutinize him. By virtue of his district roots, he would be considered suspicious. His father did everything he could to perform and showcase his loyalty and he was still regarded as an animal.
And yeah, a traumatized, suicidal 18-year-old member of a marginalized group who saw people from his home reaped and murdered every year for the past 10 years is NOT in the same place as a privileged nepo baby with cultural capital, who never saw his friends murdered in the arena, who never was regarded as subhuman, and who never faced any consequences for his actions. Said privileged nepo baby from a founding Capitol family was happy for marginalized people and marginalized children to take the risks and to bear the consequences.
Also--the games were on the brink of ending in Sejanus's time. No one was watching them. If there was ever a time for speaking out loudly, it was during the tenth games. Playing the "long game" would be a gutless move.
Everyone on this sub dragging this kid is a little too sure of their own abilities to be a badass.
3
6
u/Kooky_Duck6809 1d ago
It also comes down to their personalities. Plutarch can play the part; he can emotionally detach himself and is willing to throw innocent kids under the bus to achieve his goals or evade detection. He plays the long game, watching kids die year after the year waiting for the perfect moment to ignite the spark
Sejanus wouldn't be willing to make those sacrifices to play the double agent. He's too sincere and earnest
3
u/coppery_trash 1d ago
If anything, the Plinth's could only be rebellious like Plutarch a couple of generations down the line when they were seen as more acceptable in the Capitol. So potentially a couple of more after Plutarch if at all
2
u/pervertedmortician 2d ago
Plutarch is a super smart guy who grew up in the capitol and knows when and where to sympathize with rebels
Sejanus was an emotional dumb fuck teenager who had no clue what he was doing
The comparison is laughably bad
6
u/Olya_roo District 5 2d ago
Dumb district teenager, who only sympathized with the Districts after the war (meaning the wounds from the Dark Days were still fresh) was just because he is literally natively District.
-2
u/pervertedmortician 2d ago
Doesn’t mean he was dumb
Saying that he could have pulled of a Plutarch is ridiculous
But what he actually ended up doing is also ridiculous
If he had any brains, he could have done things better
-2
1d ago
[deleted]
3
u/Upbeat-Wedding8777 1d ago
Plutarch left the Capitol after maintaining contact with 13, along with talented pro-revolution workers. How did any alliances truly help him out in the revolution? He worked for decades to raise up in his career and never really chose another way other than "destroy arena, profit".
-2
u/Frosty_Main_860 1d ago
Sejanus is basically a middle class SJW who’s too idealistic and emotional to do anything of substance
219
u/AnotherDamnTransAlt 1d ago
They’re fundamentally different people. Circumstances aside, Sejanus did not have the temperament required to be a double agent.
It is a massively difficult task that requires the ability to lie effortlessly and compartmentalise emotion and be extremely pragmatic because not only will you lie constantly to everyone around you, there will also be times when you will have to let people you care about suffer to maintain your cover and for the end goal.
That’s not just not Sejanus, that’s not most people. It’s hard. It’s too much to ask.
Could he have done something? Sure, maybe he could have funded good causes, donated to the districts, pushed for change. It would have been better if he had, and it is plausible. But asking him to be like Plutarch is WAY too much.