That seems clearly like a man who is making a statement against authority.
Doesn't it take a long time to change people's attitude against authority.
He's always had the tendency to go against authority of any kind.
A joke against authority that now didn't look so good.
It was a chance to shake things up and go against authority.
What does it take to turn armies against higher authority?
It was a man's year, full of backlash against female authority.
Usually it is someone who helped the common people or fought against the authorities, such as a bad king.
A revolt against his authority two years later sent him back to the Senate.
Or even by himself, in his continuing war against corrupt authority.