Mussolini's 1924 voyage aboard Dante Alighieri prompts a deliberately mocking comparison with earlier rulers. He imagined himself in the mold of Julius Caesar, but the aside places him closer to Henry VIII. The comparison concerns vanity and public persona, with an explicit warning that only Henry's negative qualities are intended. It is a historical joke rather than an argument that the two men's careers or regimes were alike.
Notable Point · 27:28-28:44
Mussolini's Caesar pose and the Henry VIII comparison
A derisive aside contrasts Mussolini's Roman self-image with the less flattering parts of Henry VIII's public persona.