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Tyranny, Freedom and Spock’s attitude in Space Seed and Bread and Circuses.
In the original Star Trek series, we find a number of tyrants and dictators; some are madmen bent on ruling the Galaxy like Garth from “Whom the Gods Would Destroy”. Others are power hungry demagogues who want to enslave Kirk and his crew and make them their playthings like the Providers in “Gamesters of Triskelion” or the Platonians in “Plato’s Stepchildren”. In most of these cases Kirk and his crew beat their enemies and force them to free their former slaves and/or re-mold their culture and government so that there is freedom and equality.However, there are two characters that stand out from this mold. Both have been labelled as tyrants and dictators, both of whom attempted to dominate Kirk and his crew yet at the same time stand in stark contrast to each other. These two men are Khan Noonien Singh (as he was in Space Seed, not the man broken into insanity by grief, loss and fifteen years of hell on Ceti Alpha V) and Claudius Marcus, Proconsul and de facto absolute ruler of an Earth where the Roman Empire never fell in “Bread and Circuses.”Yet for all the stark differences between these two men the attitudes and actions of Kirk and Spock towards them are also as different but not in a complimentary way. I want to examine these two characters and Kirk’s and Spock’s approaches to them to show these differences.In Space Seed, it is Spock who is the most vocal condemner of Khan. He calls Khan a ruthless tyrant and a dictator and chides Kirk and the others for what he calls their romanticism of Khan.Yet when confronted with another ruthless tyrant in the episode “Bread and Circuses” his viewpoint is quite different. In this episode on a planet known as Earth 2 the Roman Empire never fell. It is ruled nominally by what is known as the “First Citizen”, a position currently held by R.M. Merik, former Captain of the S.S. Beagle. But the real power behind the throne is Proconsul Claudius Marcus. In this society, there is legalized slavery which also includes sexual slavery and all people within this Roman Empire regardless of rank or status are denied the freedom of religion. Moreover, any dissenters, outsiders or “barbarians” are tortured by being forced to fight to the death in their televised games. All dissent or protest is suppressed with brute force and all outside or foreign thought is silenced.In Space Seed it is on these very grounds that Spock challenges Khan at the dinner party and condemns all the augment humans as tyrants.
Khan: There was little left on Earth Spock: There was the war to end tyranny. Many would consider that a noble effort. Khan: Tyranny Sir? Or an attempt to unify humanity? Spock: Unify Sir? Like a team of animals under one whip? Khan: I know something of those years. Remember, it was a time of great dreams, great aspirations. Spock: Under dozens of petty dictatorships. Khan: One man would have ruled eventually. As Rome under Caesar. Think of its accomplishments.So here is the first comparison between Khan’s reign on Earth and the Roman Empire. But Spock later condemns Khan again in the meeting with Kirk, Bones and Scotty.
Scotty: I must confess, gentlemen. I’ve always held a sneaking admiration for this one. Kirk: He was the best of the tyrants and the most dangerous. They were supermen, in a sense. Stronger, braver, certainly more ambitious, more daring. Spock: Gentlemen, this romanticism about a ruthless dictator is Kirk: Mister Spock, we humans have a streak of barbarism in us. Appalling, but there, nevertheless. Scotty: There were no massacres under his rule. Spock: And as little freedom. McCoy: No wars until he was attacked. Spock: Gentlemen.When Bones and Scotty point out that there were no massacres under Khan’s reign and no wars unless he was attacked first Spock replies that there was as little freedom. When Kirk and Scotty express a “sneaking admiration” for him Spock chides them for what he dismisses as their “romanticism about a ruthless dictator”.Yet when confronted with a modern-day version of that same Roman Empire that Khan spoke of Spock’s attitude is quite different. Here Spock states that he finds this culture fascinating. He speaks of slavery evolving into an institution with medical payments and old age pension as though it were a good thing. Yet from what little we know of Khan’s reign he took care of his people too. While there is no record in canon itself of the details of Khan’s empire while it stood, the praise that Kirk, Bones and Scotty offer him argues strongly against any notable record of Khan’s abusing or starving his people. Nor is there any mention of legalized slavery under Khan’s reign, no reason to think that Khan allowed his people to be bought and sold like cattle. For whatever restrictions Khan put on his people’s freedom within his empire they were still regarded as people not property and they had the right to own their own bodies.This stands in stark contrast to the sexual slavery of the second Roman Empire, embodied by the character of Druscilla.When we first meet her Claudius Marcus notices Kirk eyeing her and comments “Lovely thing, isn’t she?”. Kirk neither agrees nor disputes the labelling of Druscilla as a thing (although this may be a reflection of the culture of the 1960’s at the time). But where the status of Druscilla as property is most powerfully driven home is in her scene with Kirk. Here she tells Kirk quite plainly that for this one evening she is his property, for him to do with as he pleases.
Druscilla: “I am Proconsul’s slave Druscilla although for this evening … for this evening I am told I am your slave. Command me.” Druscilla: “Please believe me. I’ve never lied to one who owns me.” Druscilla: “I am ordered to please you.”Now if Kirk took her to bed as the scene certainly seems to imply then Druscilla did not go there of her own free will and choosing. She went because she was ordered to do so. It did not seem to even occur to her that she had a choice in the matter.Now I’m not saying that Kirk intentionally forced her or deprived her of her right to choose. If she had struggled and fought like Uhura did in “Gamesters of Triskelion” he would have stopped instantly, no question.But he also didn’t make sure that this was her free choice and it wasn’t. She had no choice. If she had refused Claudius Marcus’ orders to be Kirk’s slave for the night then Marcus could have had her flogged or taken to the market and sold just like any other piece of meat. This is something that doesn’t seem to even have occurred to Kirk.But let’s return to Spock. In the first meeting with Merik and Marcus, Merik boasts that there has been no war on Earth 2 for four hundred years and asks if Kirk’s land (America) in the same era could make the same boast. He says this is why the Romans of Earth 2 don’t want their stability contaminated by dangerous ideas of other ways and places.But there are two problems with this. First of all, what must be pointed out here is that this peace and isolation had been enforced through repression and brutal violence. We are clearly shown this not only in the capture of the runaway slaves but also how they are made to fight to the death for the sport of the masses.This is something that seems to completely elude Spock when he and McCoy start arguing about it. When Spock says that the measures that the Romans have taken to supress rebellion are “interesting and given a conservative empire quite understandable” McCoy asks if Spock is out of his mind.
Merik: “This is an ordered world Jim, a conservative world based on time honoured Roman strengths and virtues.” Kirk: “What happened to your crew?!” Merik: “There’s been no war here for four hundred years, could your land of that same era make that same boast?” Merik: “I think you can see why they don’t want to have their stability contaminated by dangerous ideas of other ways and other places.” Spock: “Interesting. And given a conservative empire, quite understandable.” Bones: “Are you out of your head?” Spock: “I said I understood it Doctor. I find the checks and balances of this civilization quite illuminating.” Bones: “Next he’ll be telling us he prefers it over Earth’s history.” Spock: “They do seem to have escaped the carnage of your first three world wars Doctor.” Bones: “They have slavery, gladiatorial games, despotism.” Spock: “Situations quite familiar to the six million who died in your first world war, the eleven million who died in your second, the thirty-seven million who died in your third. Shall I go on?”This is where I want to bring Khan back into the picture. As I pointed out earlier Khan invoked the original Roman Empire as an example of what he had been trying to achieve and Spock utterly condemned him for it. He described the augmented tyrants as petty dictators and brings them up again here in his conversation with Bones. And yet did he actually believe that this modern day Roman Empire was established and maintained through peaceful, non-violent, humanitarian means?When McCoy then brings up the negative aspects of the Roman rule, namely slavery, gladiatorial games and despotism Spock says that they seem to have avoided the millions of deaths that occurred during Earth’s three world wars and states that this society has checks and balances although he fails to mention just what those checks and balances are. While the law does ensure that slaves are taken care of in much the same way that animals in our own society are, this does not prevent them from being sexually abused by their masters, such as Claudius Marcus did with Druscilla when he loaned her out to a strange man for a night. Then there is what happened to Flavius. In the games he was flogged in order to force him fight and when he refused to kill he was executed. So, torture or even death certainly isn’t illegal for those who don’t obey.
Now I mentioned that there were two problems with the scene with Merik and Claudius Marcus claiming that they don’t want outside interference contaminating their society. The second problem arises when Claudius Marcus informs Kirk that he is aware of the Prime Directive and that as such Kirk isn’t allowed to interfere in his society and Spock confirms this. This makes this episode one of the few where Kirk does not just throw the Prime Directive right out the airlock, followed by the rest of the rule book as he did at the end of “Gamester of Triskelion” or in “The Cloud-Minders” where he intentionally interferes with an apartheid government in order to accomplish his ends.However, by taunting Kirk with his knowledge of the Prime Directive Claudius Marcus negates what Merik said earlier about the Romans not wanting outside interference because according to the Prime Directive neither Merik nor Kirk or their crews could interfere. They would have just simply left the Romans to continue ruling their world. And yet Claudius Marcus told both Merik and Kirk to order their crews to beam down and submit to Roman authority and law. Merik broke under watching his crew being forced to fight to the death but Kirk didn’t. It is during the gladiator fight between Spock and Bones that Merik said something illuminating about both the Roman culture and Claudius Marcus in particular.
Merik: “Maybe now you’ll understand why I gave in Jim. The Romans have always been the strongest and they’ve had practice for over two thousand years in enslaving men, using them, killing them.”My point here is that Claudius Marcus is at least as much of a ruthless tyrant and dictator as Spock accused Khan of being. All defiance is ruthlessly suppressed as Claudius tells Kirk the morning after sending Druscilla to him. Yet if we compare the two we find that it is Khan who is by far the more compassionate, merciful and humane man.In Claudius’ empire we see that free Roman citizens have far more rights and freedoms then that of the slaves, indeed one of those rights includes owning slaves. We know that these slaves were once rebellious but these rebellions were supressed and according to Flavius “with each century, the slaves acquired more rights under the law … and slowly learned to be content.” However, this contentment hasn’t lasted because of the coming of the “New Religion”. As we see the slaves who convert to this religion rebel as they are not allowed the freedom to worship and any Roman citizen who converts is also made a slave, even Senators.Now compare this to Khan’s reign. As I said we have very little details within canon but what we have is interesting. We know that his empire stretched throughout the Middle East and Asia, an area that throughout human history has been among the one of the world’s hot spots when it comes to religious discord, especially today. Yet we are told that “There were no massacres under Khan’s reign”. So first of all, we can conclude from this that all people under Khan’s rule had freedom of religion. There is no way Khan could have denied his people their right to religion without having to resort to massacres on a huge scale. Plus, Khan was a Sikh. To show such intolerance and discrimination towards those of other faiths is anathema to the Sikh religion as is forcible conversion.We also know that the slavery of this Roman Empire included sexual slavery as shown through Druscilla. Again, I want to compare this to the rule of Khan. As I’ve mentioned earlier there is no evidence or grounds to show that Khan allowed his people to be bought and sold. If there were you can believe that Spock certainly would have brought that up during the meeting in Space Seed.I also want to point out the scene where Marla comes to Khan after the dinner party where Khan tells Marla that he’s going to take over the ship. What interests me here is what Khan does and says that the beginning of that scene. When Marla expresses hesitation he tells her …
Khan: “Go. Or stay. But do it because it is what you wish to do.”Of course, then we go into that whole dominance scene where he forces her to her knees and emotionally manipulates her into helping him take over the ship. Not my favourite scene and one that arguably shows Khan at his worst. There are however two things that should be kept in mind here. The first is that Khan is a Captain in his own right, just as Kirk is and not only had Kirk endangered Khan’s crew by keeping them in those antique cryotubes after discovering the bodies of twelve of Khan’s crew in them but he and Spock had also just ambushed him during the dinner party and made it clear that only the victor’s side of that old war would be the one considered to be the truth. He had every reason to believe that his crew was in danger and his actions that while ultimately wrong, were still done to protect his crew. This includes manipulating Marla into helping him and I have to say if anyone wants to condemn Khan for that then they had better be prepared to throw the book at Kirk for it, preferably the one he wrote on the subject. There are a number of episodes where the Enterprise or her crew get into danger, Kirk finds a beautiful woman, seduces and/or manipulates her to get her to help him and then dumps her. Daggers of the Mind, Conscious of the King, Catspaw and Gamesters of Triskelion are but a few examples.The second thing I want to point out is that Khan did first make sure that staying was Marla’s choice. If she had chosen instead to leave there is no evidence to suggest that Khan would then have forced her to stay. Some might argue that this was just part of Khan’s manipulation, making it her “choice” and then making her ask to stay. And if this had been the only time that Khan not only made sure that staying with him was Marla’s free choice but also that she was fully aware of the consequences of doing so then I would agree with this. But it wasn’t. At the end of the episode Kirk offers Marla the choice of either going with Khan to Ceti Alpha V or staying and facing court martial.
Khan: “It will be difficult. A struggle at first even to stay alive or to find food.” Marla: “I’ll go with him sir.” Khan: “A superior woman. I will take her.”Khan not only waits until after she has made her choice before saying “I’ll take her” he even warns her of the dangers and hardships she’ll face if she chooses him.Once again, we are shown that a person’s right to choose their sexual partners and to own their own bodies was a right that Khan respected and would not violate.This stands in stark contrast to Claudius Marcus. Khan made certain both times that Marla staying with him was her choice. Claudius Marcus on the other hand not only rules an empire built on slavery but again which also includes sexual slavery.This is one of the fundamental differences between Khan and Claudius Marcus. For all that Spock condemned Khan as a ruthless tyrant who deprived his people of freedom, in this much freedom of choice, the freedom to choose their own partners and to own their own bodies was a right that Khan would not violate or deny. Claudius Marcus on the other hand did not even regard this as a right that any slave had. Something that went completely unremarked by both Kirk or Spock during that entire episode.There is one way that Khan and Claudius Marcus do appear to be similar and that is that they try to take over Kirk’s ship and force the crew to submit to them. Khan does it by first taking control of the Enterprise and turning off the air to the bridge and when that doesn’t make Kirk surrender his ship, forces his Alpha bridge crew to watch as Kirk slowly suffocates in the decompression chamber, telling them …
Khan: “Each of you in turn will go in there, die while the others watch.”Claudius Marcus tries to get Kirk to order his crew to the surface and have them be assimilated into the Roman culture by first threatening to force Kirk to watch as Bones and Spock are tortured to death.
Claudius Marcus: “I believe this Captain. That you would do almost anything rather than see these two dear friends put slowly to death.”Then he forces Kirk to watch as they are forced to fight in the area.But where they differ is in the reasons they did so. Khan and his crew are the last of their race. At the end of the Eugenics War the normal humans completely exterminated the Augment race to such an degree that there are no records of there being any descendants.When Khan was awakened 270 years later he was once again in the hands of those normal humans. He and his crew were in the power of a starship captain who refused to release his crew from cryo-stasis until they reached their fleet’s star base even though Kirk knew that twelve of those cryo-tubes had failed, killing the people inside them. Finally, for all their gestures of hospitality, at the dinner party, Spock and then Kirk turn on Khan, making it clear that it would be a “Victor’s Justice” that he and his people faced and given what the normal humans had doled out to the augmented humans in the past and called it justice he had every reason to believe he and his crew would be simply put up against a wall and shot. As misguided and ultimately brutal as his actions were (although he tried other methods first) they were guided by what he viewed as necessary to ensure the survival and well-being of his crew. I’m not discounting Khan’s ambition. He made it clear that he intended to build an empire, an empire most likely very similar to the one he had originally built on Earth. Now compared to the current Federation with its mandate of equality and peace this would definitely not be an improvement. But Kirk hadn’t given Khan any reason to think that he and his people would be tolerated in the Federation so I can see why Khan would assume that there wasn’t any other option if his people were going to survive.Claudius Marcus on the other hand is already the ruler of an established empire that has endured for millennium and is not in any danger from the Federation due to the Prime Directive as Claudius Marcus is very much aware. This empire has been built on and is run by slaves and while these slaves are guaranteed medical coverage and an old age pension these seem to be the only rights they have. As discussed, they do not have the right to own their own bodies and may not refuse to have sex with their masters or anyone their masters loan them out to. No one in this empire be they slave or free Roman citizen has the right to freedom of religion as shown by Semptus who was once a Senator but was made a slave when he converted to the worship of the Sun. When slaves convert they are executed.So here we have one former and one current dictator and rulers of empires. Both Claudius Marcus and Khan suppressed dissent in their empires ruthlessly and ruled absolutely. Both made sure that their people were well taken care of and their empires knew peace and prosperity. As I mentioned, we don’t have any detail in canon of Khan’s rule but the fact that there were no massacres argues strongly for the fact that there were no internal rebellions that had to be brutally put down, at least on a large scale nor were there any riots over lack of food or necessities so there was at least a level of prosperity that made for internal contentment. The fact that there were no wars unless Khan was attacked first is a compelling argument for peace, at least while it lasted.But the similarities end there.One final difference I want to highlight between Claudius Marcus and Khan is in how they treat those that defy them. Both of them express respect for those who show courage; Khan threatens Bones with a scalpel to demands answers to his questions. When Bones simply tells him the best way to cut his throat, Khan releases him.
Khan: “I like a brave man.”Marla also defies him, in fact goes directly against him, even betrays him by rescuing Kirk,
yet Khan only expresses admiration for her strength, loves her for it and marries her.Claudius Marcus also expresses respect for Kirk’s strength of will and calls him a man for it. But his reaction to that is quite different. Where Khan spared lives, and loved the one who defied him the most, the way Claudius Marcus showed respect for Kirk was to send him a slave girl to have sex with and then tried to have him executed. He did try to have it done quickly out of respect but that was as far as it went.Then there was the former Captain of the SS Beagle, now First Citizen Merik. As we see, despite what his title might be and for all the luxury he lives in he is as much a slave as Druscilla is. Claudius Marcus owns him and broke him. This is shown in two scenes. The first is where Claudius Marcus forces Kirk to watch Bones and Spock fight.
Claudius Marcus: “Mericus was a space ship captain. I’ve observed him thoroughly; your species has no such strength.”The second is the morning after Kirk’s night with Druscilla. Here he dismisses Merik and shows him complete contempt.
Claudius Marcus in response to Kirk’s demand for an explanation: “Since you’re a man I owe you that.” Claudius Marcus: “You must die shortly and because you are a man - would you leave us Merik, the thoughts of one man to another cannot possibly interest you.”Yet when Merik does show the strength to defy Claudius Marcus by using the communicator he stole from him to contact the Enterprise and helps Kirk, Bones and Spock escape Claudius Marcus kills him.
The differences between Khan and Claudius Marcus, both tyrants and dictators according to those who stood against them, both of them rulers of empires are stark. It is the difference between life and death.As we see, of the two empires it is Khan’s that the evidence points to being the one that offered more liberties’ and freedoms to all its people equally, while the Roman Empire of Earth 2 had at the very least a two-tiered system with full citizens having for more rights while slaves have only the right to be well taken care of.More over it is Claudius Marcus who proved to be far more blood-thirsty and ruthless of the two. Through the games he tortured Bones and Spock and had Flavius killed. He tortured Kirk by forcing him to watch. He was going to kill Kirk and did kill Merik for defying him even though he knew they were no threat to his culture or his power due to the Prime Directive.Khan on the other hand did not want to kill Kirk or any member of his crew at all. He did not strike first against Kirk but rather made no hostile move against anyone until after the dinner party. Even then, despite what he told Marla it was only when Kirk had backed him in a corner by having him confined to quarters under guard even though he had to that point given Kirk no reason to do so beyond evasiveness when questioned that Khan acted. But even then, Khan took steps to avoid killing as much as possible. He tried first to negotiate and only resorted to torture as a last resort. In fact, as we see here –
Khan: “If anyone of you joins me – anyone! – I will save him.” Khan: “It’s so useless!”Khan is a proud man but here in this scene he’s practically begging. Moreover, Khan’s offer to spare Kirk if only one member of the bridge crew joins him completely contradicts what he said earlier about needing their help to run the Enterprise. He didn’t actually need them at all as we see in Wrath of Khan when he’s able to pilot the Reliant with a crew of only 20 Augments and do so in combat conditions.All of this is what I find so illogical about Spock’s viewpoint towards these two men and their cultures. For Spock condemns Khan without mercy or understanding then states that Claudius Marcus’ reign was “illuminating and quite understandable given a conservative empire.”Which leaves me wondering if Spock’s normally eidetic memory had deleted Khan entirely.