Caesar knew everything which was going on, brain tumor aside. He just didn't care. History is full of well-educated, erudite people who are also complete psychos and indulge in cults of personality. Amusingly, not Julius Caesar but many of the Emperors thereafter. Also, plenty of RL warlords in unstable regions.
The thing is that "realistic" evil is a questionable choice.
Any Courier who isn't a stupid thug is going to want to rule the Wasteland themselves, especially if they're not big on the [censored]-Murder-Pillage-Enslave thing like the Legion.
Basically, no reason to be an anti-technology Luddite when you can have your robot army like Doctor Doom. It's House's biggest problem as no selfish Courier is going to choose House over ruling the Wasteland themselves.
I honestly think Fallout 4 is the best writing Bethesda has done since Morrowind and much better than Skyrim (and I loved Skyrim). The Minutemen are "good" but they're also good in a realistic believable and flawed fashion. The Railroad is good but it's also morally myopic (fighting for Synth rights versus everyone seems a bit....tunnel visioned). The Brotherhood's fascist undertones are presented in a way as to why fascist undertones ACTUALLY APPEAL TO PEOPLE.
The Institute? The Institute does some truly heinous stuff but they're SMART ABOUT IT.
Basically, the opposite of Caesar in every way.