President Trump has boasted that “SPYGATE could be one of the biggest political scandals in history!” This is wonderful not only because of the originality of the coinage Spygate, but also because yet again he is claiming a superlative for himself, even as he describes everything that has to do with him in superlatives: the most votes, biggest crowd at inauguration, biggest number of accomplishments in first year of presidency, probable winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, etc., etc.

This reminds me of the Elder Seneca’s (d c39 A.D.) story of a remark he made when he heard Lucius Cestius (a vainglorious orator) boasting that he would be the best in any field: “‘If I were a Thracian gladiator, I would be Fusius; if I were a pantomime dancer, I would be Bathylus; if I were a racehorse, I would be Melissio.’ I could not contain myself and shouted: ‘If you were a sewer, you would be the Cloaca maxima!’,” sc., the “Biggest Sewer,” the name given to the principal sewer of ancient Rome.

“Biggest political scandal in history” is not applicable to Spygate, whatever that is, but would fit the President & Co. perfectly and so Trumpy can claim yet another superlative for himself.