Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar | |
---|---|
Roman Army | |
Years of service | 81–45 BC |
Commands | XIII Legion |
Battles/wars | |
Gaius Julius Caesar (/ˈsiːzər/, SEE-zər; Latin: [ˈɡaːiʊs ˈjuːliʊs ˈkae̯sar]; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and subsequently became dictator from 49 BC until his assassination in 44 BC. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire.
In 60 BC, Caesar,
After assuming control of government, Caesar began a programme of social and governmental reform, including the creation of the Julian calendar. He gave citizenship to many residents of far regions of the Roman Republic. He initiated land reforms to support his veterans and initiated an enormous building programme. In early 44 BC, he was proclaimed "dictator for life" (dictator perpetuo). Fearful of his power and domination of the state, a group of senators led by Brutus and Cassius assassinated Caesar on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC. A new series of civil wars broke out and the constitutional government of the Republic was never fully restored. Caesar's great-nephew and adopted heir Octavian, later known as Augustus, rose to sole power after defeating his opponents in the last civil war of the Roman Republic. Octavian set about solidifying his power, and the era of the Roman Empire began.
Caesar was an accomplished author and historian as well as a statesman; much of his life is known from his own accounts of his military campaigns. Other contemporary sources include the letters and speeches of Cicero and the historical writings of Sallust. Later biographies of Caesar by Suetonius and Plutarch are also important sources. Caesar is considered by many historians to be one of the greatest military commanders in history.[4] His cognomen was subsequently adopted as a synonym for "Emperor"; the title "Caesar" was used throughout the Roman Empire, giving rise to modern descendants such as Kaiser and Tsar. He has frequently appeared in literary and artistic works.
Early life and career
Gaius Julius Caesar was born into a
Despite their ancient pedigree, the Julii Caesares were not especially politically influential during the middle republic. The first person known to have had the
Life under Sulla and military service
Caesar's father did not seek a consulship during the domination of
Caesar then left Italy to serve in the staff of the governor of Asia,
Afterward, Caesar attacked some of the Sullan aristocracy in the courts but was unsuccessful in his attempted prosecution of Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella in 77 BC, who had recently returned from a proconsulship in Macedonia. Going after a less well-connected senator, he was successful the next year in prosecuting Gaius Antonius Hybrida (later consul in 63 BC) for profiteering from the proscriptions but was forestalled when a tribune interceded on Antonius' behalf.[22] After these oratorical attempts, Caesar left Rome for Rhodes seeking the tutelage of the rhetorician Apollonius Molon.[23] While travelling, he was intercepted and ransomed by pirates in a story that was later much embellished. According to Plutarch and Suetonius, he was freed after paying a ransom of fifty talents and responded by returning with a fleet to capture and execute the pirates. The recorded sum for the ransom is literary embellishment and it is more likely that the pirates were sold into slavery per Velleius Paterculus.[24] His studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the Third Mithridatic War over the winter of 75 and 74 BC; Caesar is alleged to have gone around collecting troops in the province at the locals' expense and leading them successfully against Mithridates' forces.[25]
Entrance to politics
While absent from Rome, in 73 BC, Caesar was co-opted into the
For his quaestorship in 69 BC, Caesar was allotted to serve under
Aedileship and election as pontifex maximus
For much of this period, Caesar was one of
Four years after his aunt Julia's funeral, in 65 BC, Caesar served as
In 63 BC, Caesar stood for the praetorship and also for the post of pontifex maximus,[41] who was the head of the College of Pontiffs and the highest ranking state religious official. In the pontifical election before the tribes, Caesar faced two influential senators: Quintus Lutatius Catulus and Publius Servilius Isauricus. Caesar came out victorious. Many scholars have expressed astonishment that Caesar's candidacy was taken seriously, but this was not without historical precedent.[42] Ancient sources allege that Caesar paid huge bribes or was shamelessly ingratiating;[43] that no charge was ever laid alleging this implies that bribery alone is insufficient to explain his victory.[44] If bribes or other monies were needed, they may have been underwritten by Pompey, whom Caesar at this time supported and who opposed Catulus' candidacy.[45]
Many sources also assert that Caesar supported the land reform proposals brought that year by plebeian tribune Publius Servilius Rullus, however, there are no ancient sources so attesting.[46] Caesar also engaged in a collateral manner in the trial of Gaius Rabirius by one of the plebeian tribunes – Titus Labienus – for the murder of Saturninus in accordance with a senatus consultum ultimum some forty years earlier.[47][48] The most famous event of the year was the Catilinarian conspiracy. While some of Caesar's enemies, including Catulus, alleged that he participated in the conspiracy,[49] the chance that he was a participant is extremely small.[50]
Praetorship
Caesar won his election to the praetorship in 63 BC easily and, as one of the praetor-elects, spoke out that December in the Senate against executing certain citizens who had been arrested in the city conspiring with Gauls in furtherance of the conspiracy.[51] Caesar's proposal at the time is not entirely clear. The earlier sources assert that he advocated life imprisonment without trial; the later sources assert he instead wanted the conspirators imprisoned pending trial. Most accounts agree that Caesar supported confiscation of the conspirators' property.[52] Caesar likely advocated the former, which was a compromise position that would place the Senate within the bounds of the lex Sempronia de capite civis, and was initially successful in swaying the body; a later intervention by Cato, however, swayed the Senate at the end for execution.[53]
During his year as praetor, Caesar first attempted to deprive his enemy Catulus of the honour of completing the rebuilt
After his praetorship, Caesar was appointed to govern
First consulship and the Gallic wars
Caesar stood for the consulship of 59 BC along with two other candidates. His political position at the time was strong: he had supporters among the families which had supported Marius or Cinna; his connection with the Sullan aristocracy was good; his support of Pompey had won him support in turn. His support for reconciliation in continuing aftershocks of the civil war was popular in all parts of society.[68] With the support of Crassus, who supported Caesar's joint ticket with one Lucius Lucceius, Caesar won. Lucceius, however, did not and the voters returned Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus instead, one of Caesar's long-standing personal and political enemies.[69][70]
First consulship
After the elections, Caesar reconciled Pompey and Crassus, two political foes, in a three-way alliance misleadingly[71] termed the "First Triumvirate" in modern times.[72] Caesar was still at work in December of 60 BC attempting to find allies for his consulship and the alliance was finalised only some time around its start.[73] Pompey and Crassus joined in pursuit of two respective goals: the ratification of Pompey's eastern settlement and the bailing out of tax farmers in Asia, many of whom were Crassus' clients. All three sought the extended patronage of land grants, with Pompey especially seeking the promised land grants for his veterans.[74]
Caesar's first act was to publish the minutes of the Senate and the assemblies, signalling the Senate's accountability to the public. He then brought in the Senate a bill – crafted to avoid objections to previous land reform proposals and any indications of radicalism – to purchase property from willing sellers to distribute to Pompey's veterans and the urban poor. It would be administered by a board of twenty (with Caesar excluded), and financed by Pompey's plunder and territorial gains.[75] Referring it to the Senate in hope that it would take up the matter to show its beneficence for the people,[76] there was little opposition and the obstructionism that occurred was largely unprincipled, firmly opposing it not on grounds of public interest but rather opposition to Caesar's political advancement.[75] Unable to overcome Cato's filibustering, he moved the bill before the people and, at a public meeting, Caesar's co-consul Bibulus threatened a permanent veto for the entire year. This clearly violated the people's well-established legislative sovereignty[77] and triggered a riot in which Bibulus' fasces were broken, symbolising popular rejection of his magistracy.[78] The bill was then voted through. Bibulus attempted to induce the Senate to nullify it on grounds it was passed by violence and contrary to the auspices but the Senate refused.[79]
Caesar also brought and passed a one-third write-down of tax farmers' arrears for Crassus and ratification of Pompey's eastern settlements. Both bills were passed with little or no debate in the Senate.
Some time in the year, perhaps after the passing of the bill distributing the Campanian land[87] and after these political defeats, Bibulus withdrew to his house. There, he issued edicts in absentia, purporting unprecedentedly to cancel all days on which Caesar or his allies could hold votes for religious reasons.[88] Cato too attempted symbolic gestures against Caesar, which allowed him and his allies to "feign victimisation"; these tactics were successful in building revulsion to Caesar and his allies through the year.[89][90] This opposition caused serious political difficulties to Caesar and his allies, belying the common depiction of triumviral political supremacy.[91] Later in the year, however, Caesar – with the support of his opponents – brought and passed the lex Julia de repetundis to crack down on provincial corruption.[92] When his consulship ended, Caesar's legislation was challenged by two of the new praetors but discussion in the Senate stalled and was regardless dropped. He stayed near the city until some time around mid-March.[93]
Campaigns in Gaul
During the Gallic Wars, Caesar wrote his Commentaries thereon, which were acknowledged even in his time as a Latin literary masterwork. Meant to document Caesar's campaigns in his own words and maintain support in Rome for his military operations and career, he produced some ten volumes covering operations in Gaul from 58 to 52 BC.[94] Each was likely produced in the year following the events described and was likely aimed at the general, or at least literate, population in Rome;[95] the account is naturally partial to Caesar – his defeats are excused and victories highlighted – but it is almost the sole source for events in Gaul in this period.[96]
Gaul in 58 BC was in the midst of some instability. Tribes had raided into Transalpine Gaul and there was an on-going struggle between two tribes in central Gaul which collaterally involved Roman alliances and politics. The divisions within the Gauls – they were no unified bloc – would be exploited in the coming years.[97] The first engagement was in April 58 BC when Caesar prevented the migrating Helvetii from moving through Roman territory, allegedly because he feared they would unseat a Roman ally.[98] Building a wall, he stopped their movement near Geneva and – after raising two legions – defeated them at the Battle of Bibracte before forcing them to return to their original homes.[99] He was drawn further north responding to requests from Gallic tribes, including the Aedui, for aid against Ariovistus – king of the Suebi and a declared friend of Rome by the Senate during Caesar's own consulship – and he defeated them at the Battle of Vosges.[100] Wintering in northeastern Gaul near the Belgae in the winter of 58–57, Caesar's forward military position triggered an uprising to remove his troops; able to eke out a victory at the Battle of the Sabis, Caesar spent much of 56 BC suppressing the Belgae and dispersing his troops to campaign across much of Gaul, including against the Veneti in what is now Brittany.[101] At this point, almost all of Gaul – except its central regions – fell under Roman subjugation.[102]
Seeking to buttress his military reputation, he engaged Germans attempting to cross the Rhine, which marked it as a Roman frontier;
Politics, Gaul, and Rome
In the initial years from the end of Caesar's consulship in 59 BC, the three so-called triumvirs sought to maintain the goodwill of the extremely popular
Politics in Rome fell into violent street clashes between Clodius and two tribunes who were friends of Cicero. With Cicero now supporting the Caesar and Pompey, Caesar sent news of Gaul to Rome and claimed total victory and pacification. The Senate at Cicero's motion voted him an unprecedented fifteen days of thanksgiving.[112] Such reports were necessary for Caesar, especially in light of senatorial opponents, to prevent the Senate from reassigning his command in Transalpine Gaul, even if his position in Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum was guaranteed by the lex Vatinia until 54 BC.[113] His success was evidently recognised when the Senate voted state funds for some of Caesar's legions, which until this time Caesar had paid for personally.[114]
The three allies' relations broke down in 57 BC: one of Pompey's allies challenged Caesar's land reform bill and the allies had a poor showing in the elections that year.[115] With a real threat to Caesar's command and acta brewing in 56 BC under the aegis of the unfriendly consuls, Caesar needed his allies' political support.[116] Pompey and Crassus too wanted military commands. Their combined interests led to a renewal of the alliance; drawing in the support of Appius Claudius Pulcher and his younger brother Clodius for the consulship of 54 BC, they planned second consulships with following governorships in 55 BC for both Pompey and Crassus. Caesar, for his part, would receive a five-year extension of command.[117]
Cicero was induced to oppose reassignment of Caesar's provinces and to defend a number of the allies' clients; his gloomy predictions of a triumviral set of consuls-designate for years on end proved an exaggeration when, only by desperate tactics, bribery, intimidation and violence were Pompey and Crassus elected consuls for 55 BC.[118] During their consulship, Pompey and Crassus passed – with some tribunician support – the lex Pompeia Licinia extending Caesar's command and the lex Trebonia giving them respective commands in Spain and Syria,[119] though Pompey never left for the province and remained politically active at Rome.[120] The opposition again unified against their heavy-handed political tactics – though not against Caesar's activities in Gaul[121] – and defeated the allies in the elections of that year.[122]
The ambush and destruction in Gaul of a legion and five cohorts in the winter of 55–54 BC produced substantial concern in Rome about Caesar's command and competence, evidenced by the highly defensive narrative in Caesar's Commentaries.[123] The death of Caesar's daughter and Pompey's wife Julia in childbirth c. late August 54 did not create a rift between Caesar and Pompey.[124][125][126] At the start of 53 BC, Caesar sought and received reinforcements by recruitment and a private deal with Pompey before two years of largely unsuccessful campaigning against Gallic insurgents.[127] In the same year, Crassus's campaign ended in disaster at the Battle of Carrhae, culminating in his death at the hands of the Parthians. When in 52 BC Pompey started the year with a sole consulship to restore order to the city,[128] Caesar was in Gaul suppressing insurgencies; after news of his victory at Alesia, with the support of Pompey he received twenty days of thanksgiving and, pursuant to the "Law of the Ten Tribunes", the right to stand for the consulship in absentia.[129][130]
Civil war
From the period 52 to 49 BC, trust between Caesar and Pompey disintegrated.[131] In 51 BC, the consul Marcellus proposed recalling Caesar, arguing that his provincia (here meaning "task") in Gaul – due to his victory against Vercingetorix in 52 – was complete; it evidently was incomplete as Caesar was that year fighting the Bellovaci[132] and regardless the proposal was vetoed.[133] That year, it seemed that the conservatives around Cato in the Senate would seek to enlist Pompey to force Caesar to return from Gaul without honours or a second consulship.[134] Cato, Bibulus, and their allies, however, were successful in winning Pompey over to take a hard line against Caesar's continued command.[135]
As 50 BC progressed, fears of civil war grew; both Caesar and his opponents started building up troops in southern Gaul and northern Italy, respectively.[136] In the autumn, Cicero and others sought disarmament by both Caesar and Pompey, and on 1 December 50 BC this was formally proposed in the Senate.[137] It received overwhelming support – 370 to 22 – but was not passed when one of the consuls dissolved the meeting.[138] That year, when a rumour came to Rome that Caesar was marching into Italy, both consuls instructed Pompey to defend Italy, a charge he accepted as a last resort.[139] At the start of 49 BC, Caesar's renewed offer that he and Pompey disarm was read to the Senate and was rejected by the hardliners.[140] A later compromise given privately to Pompey was also rejected at their insistence.[141] On 7 January, his supportive tribunes were driven from Rome; the Senate then declared Caesar an enemy and it issued its senatus consultum ultimum.[142]
There is scholarly disagreement as to the specific reasons why Caesar marched on Rome. A very popular theory is that Caesar was forced to choose – when denied the immunity of his proconsular tenure – between prosecution, conviction, and exile or civil war in defence of his position.[143][144] Whether Caesar actually would have been prosecuted and convicted is debated. Some scholars believe the possibility of successful prosecution was extremely unlikely.[145][146] Caesar's main objectives were to secure a second consulship – first mooted in 52 as colleague to Pompey's sole consulship[147] – and a triumph. He feared that his opponents – then holding both consulships for 50 BC – would reject his candidacy or refuse to ratify an election he won.[148] This also was the core of his war justification: that Pompey and his allies were planning, by force if necessary (indicated in the expulsion of the tribunes[149]), to suppress the liberty of the Roman people to elect Caesar and honour his accomplishments.[150]
Italy, Spain, and Greece
Around 10 or 11 January 49 BC,
Pompey withdrew to
Caesar besieged Pompey at Dyrrhachium, but Pompey was able to break out and force Caesar's forces to flee. Following Pompey southeast into Greece and to save one of his legates, he engaged and decisively defeated Pompey at Pharsalus on 9 August 48 BC. Pompey then fled for Egypt; Cato fled for Africa; others, like Cicero and Marcus Junius Brutus, begged for Caesar's pardon.[165]
Alexandrine war and Asia Minor
Pompey was killed when he arrived in
When Caesar landed at Antioch, he learnt that during his time in Egypt, the king of what is now Crimea, Pharnaces, had attempted to seize what had been his father's kingdom, Pontus, across the Black Sea in northern Anatolia. His invasion had swept aside Caesar's legates and the local client kings, but Caesar engaged him at Zela and defeated him immediately, leading Caesar to write veni, vidi, vici ("I came, I saw, I conquered"), downplaying Pompey's previous Pontic victories. He then left quickly for Italy.[173]
Italy, Africa, and Spain
Caesar's absence from Italy put Mark Antony, as
Caesar demoted Antony on his return and pacified the mutineers without violence[176] before overseeing the election of the rest of the magistrates for 47 BC – no elections had yet been held – and also for those of 46 BC. Caesar would serve with Lepidus as consul in 46; he borrowed money for the war, confiscated and sold the property of his enemies at fair prices, and then left for Africa on 25 December 47 BC.[177] Caesar's landing in Africa was marked with some difficulties establishing a beachhead and logistically. He was defeated by Titus Labienus at Ruspina on 4 January 46 BC and thereafter took a rather cautious approach.[178] After inducing some desertions from the republicans, Caesar ended up surrounded at Thapsus. His troops attacked prematurely on 6 April 46 BC, starting a battle; they then won it and massacred the republican forces without quarter. Marching on Utica, where Cato commanded, Caesar arrived to find that Cato had killed himself rather than receive Caesar's clemency.[179] Many of the remaining anti-Caesarian leaders, including Metellus Scipio and Juba, also committed suicide shortly thereafter.[180] Labienus and two of Pompey's sons, however, had moved to the Spanish provinces in revolt. Caesar started a process of annexing parts of Numidia and then returned to Italy via Sardinia in June 46 BC.[181]
Caesar stayed in Italy to celebrate four triumphs in late September, supposedly over four foreign enemies: Gaul, Egypt, Pharnaces (Asia), and Juba (Africa). He led Vercingetorix, Cleopatra's younger sister Arsinoe, and Juba's son before his chariot; Vercingetorix was executed.
At a bloody battle at Munda on 17 March 45 BC, Caesar narrowly found victory;[184] his enemies were treated as rebels and he had them massacred.[185] Labienus died on the field. While one of Pompey's sons, Sextus, escaped, the war was effectively over.[186] Caesar remained in the province until June before setting out for Rome, arriving in October of the same year, and celebrated an unseemly triumph over fellow Romans.[185] By this point he had started preparations for war on the Parthians to avenge Crassus' death at Carrhae in 53 BC, with wide-ranging objectives that would take him into Dacia for three or more years. It was set to start on 18 March 44 BC.[187]
Dictatorship and assassination
Dictatorships and honours
Prior to Caesar's assumption of the title dictator perpetuo in February 44 BC, he had been appointed dictator some four times since his first dictatorship in 49 BC. After occupying Rome, he engineered this first appointment, largely to hold elections; after 11 days he resigned. The other dictatorships lasted for longer periods, up to a year, and by April 46 BC he was given a new dictatorship annually.[188] The task he was assigned revived that of Sulla's dictatorship: rei publicae constituendae.[189] These appointments, however, were not the source of legal power themselves; in the eyes of the literary sources, they were instead honours and titles which reflected Caesar's dominant position in the state, secured not by extraordinary magistracy or legal powers, but by personal status as victor over other Romans.[190]
Through the period after Pharsalus, the Senate showered Caesar with honours,
The decisions on the normal operation of the state – justice, legislation, administration, and public works – were concentrated into Caesar's person without regard for or even notice given to the traditional institutions of the republic.[198] Caesar's domination over public affairs and his competitive instinct to preclude all others alienated the political class and led eventually to the conspiracy against his life.[199]
Legislation
Caesar, as far as is attested in evidence, did not intend to restructure Roman society. Ernst Badian, writing in the Oxford Classical Dictionary, noted that although Caesar did implement a series of reforms, they did not touch on the core of the republican system: he "had no plans for basic social and constitutional reform" and that "the extraordinary honours heaped upon him... merely grafted him as an ill-fitting head on to the body of the traditional structure".[189]
The most important of Caesar's reforms was to the calendar, which saw the abolition of the traditional republican lunisolar calendar and its replacement with a solar calendar now called the Julian calendar.[200] He also increased the number of magistrates and senators (from 600 to 900) to better administer the empire and reward his supporters with offices. Colonies also were founded outside Italy – notably on the sites of Carthage and Corinth, which had both been destroyed during Rome's 2nd century BC conquests – to discharge Italy's population into the provinces and reduce unrest.[201] The royal power of naming patricians was revived to benefit the families of his men[202] and the permanent courts jury pools were also altered to remove the tribuni aerarii, leaving only the equestrians and senators.[203]
He also took further administrative actions to stabilise his rule and that of the state.[204] Caesar reduced the size of the grain dole from 320,000 down to around 150,000 by tightening the qualifications; special bonuses were offered to families with many children to stall depopulation.[205] Plans were drawn for the conduct of a census. Citizenship was extended to a number of communities in Cisalpine Gaul and to Cádiz.[206] During the civil wars, Caesar had also instituted a novel debt repayment programme (no debts would be forgiven but they could be paid in kind), remitted rents up to a certain amount, and thrown games distributing food.[207] Many of his enemies during the civil wars were pardoned – Caesar's clemency was exalted in his propaganda and temple works – with the intent to cultivate gratitude and draw a contrast between himself and the vengeful dictatorship of Sulla.[208]
The building programmes, started prior to his expedition to Spain, continued, with the construction of the
The collegia, civic associations restored by Clodius in 58 BC, were again abolished.[205] His actions to reward his supporters saw him allow his subordinates illegal triumphal processions and resign the consulship on the last day of the year so any ally could be elected as suffect consul for a single day.[210] Corruption on the part of his partisans was also overlooked to ensure their support; provincial cities and client kingdoms were extorted for favours to pay his bills.[211]
Conspiracy and death
Attempts in January 44 BC to call Caesar rex (lit. 'king') – a title associated with arbitrary oppression against citizens – were shut down by two tribunes before a supportive crowd. Caesar, claiming that the two tribunes infringed on his honour by doing so, had them deposed from office and ejected from the Senate.[213] The incident both undermined Caesar's original arguments for pursuing the civil war (protecting the tribunes) and angered a public which still revered the tribunes as protectors of popular freedom.[214] Shortly before 15 February 44 BC, he assumed the dictatorship for life, putting an end to any hopes that his powers would be merely temporary.[215] Transforming his dictatorship, even with a decadal appointment, into one for life clearly showed to all contemporaries that Caesar had no intention to restore a free republic and that no free republic could be restored so long as he was in power.[216]
Just days after his assumption of the life dictatorship, he publicly rejected a diadem from Antony at celebrations for the Lupercalia. Interpretations of the episode vary: he may have been rejecting the diadem publicly only because the crowd was insufficiently supportive; he could have done it performatively to signal he was no monarch; alternatively, Antony could have acted on his own initiative. By this point, however, rumour was rife that Caesar – already wearing the dress of a monarch – sought a formal crown and the episode did little to reassure.[217]
The plan to assassinate Caesar had started by the summer of 45 BC. An attempt to recruit Antony was made around that time, though he declined and gave Caesar no warning. By February 44 BC, there were some sixty conspirators.
Brutus, who claimed descent from the
While some news of the conspiracy did leak out, Caesar refused to take precautions and rejected escort by a bodyguard. The date decided upon by the conspirators was 15 March, the Ides of March, three days before Caesar intended to leave for his Parthian campaign.[233] News of his imminent departure forced the conspirators to move up their plans; the Senate meeting on the 15th would be the last before his departure.[234] They had decided that a Senate meeting was the best place to frame the killing as political, rejecting the alternatives at games, elections, or on the road.[235] That only the conspirators would be armed at the Senate meeting, per Dio, also would have been an advantage. The day, 15 March, was also symbolically important as it was the day on which consuls took office until the mid-2nd century BC.[236]
Various stories purport that Caesar was on the cusp of not attending or otherwise being warned about the plot.[236][237] Approached on his golden chair at the foot of the statue of Pompey, the conspirators attacked him with daggers. Whether he fell in silence, per Suetonius, or after reply to Brutus' appearance – kai su teknon? ("you too, child?") – is variantly recorded.[238] Between twenty-three and thirty-five wounds later, the dictator-for-life was dead.[239][240]
Aftermath of the assassination
The assassins seized the Capitoline hill after killing the dictator. They then summoned a public meeting in the Forum where they were coldly received by the population. They were also unable to fully secure the city, as Lepidus – Caesar's lieutenant in the dictatorship – moved troops from the Tiber Island into the city proper. Antony, the consul who escaped the assassination, urged an illogical compromise position in the Senate:[241] Caesar was not declared a tyrant and the conspirators were not punished.[242] Caesar's funeral was then approved. At the funeral, Antony inflamed the public against the assassins, which triggered mob violence that lasted for some months before the assassins were forced to flee the capital and Antony then finally acted to suppress it by force.[243]
In 44 BC, there was a seven-day cometary outburst that the Romans believe to represent the deification of Caeser, giving it the name Caesar's Comet. On the site of his cremation, the Temple of Caesar was begun by the triumvirs in 42 BC at the east side of the main square of the Roman Forum. Only its altar now remains.[244] The terms of the will were also read to the public: it gave a generous donative to the plebs at large and left as principal heir one Gaius Octavius, Caesar's great-nephew then at Apollonia, and adopted him in the will.[245]
Resumption of the pre-existing republic proved impossible as various actors appealed in the aftermath of Caesar's death to liberty or to vengeance to mobilise huge armies that led to a series of civil wars.[246] The first war was between Antony in 43 BC and the Senate (including senators of both Caesarian and Pompeian persuasion) which resulted in Octavian – Caesar's heir – exploiting the chaos to seize the consulship and join with Antony and Lepidus to form the Second Triumvirate.[247] After purging their political enemies in a series of proscriptions,[248] the triumvirs secured the deification of Caesar – the Senate declared on 1 January 42 BC that Caesar would be placed among the Roman gods[249] – and marched on the east where a second war saw the triumvirs defeat the tyrannicides in battle,[250] resulting in a final death of the republican cause and a three-way division of much of the Roman world.[251] By 31 BC, Caesar's heir had taken sole control of the empire, ejecting his triumviral rivals after two decades of civil war. Pretending to restore the republic, his masked autocracy was acceptable to the war-weary Romans and marked the establishment of a new Roman monarchy.[252]
Personal life
Health and physical appearance
Based on remarks by Plutarch,[253] Caesar is sometimes thought to have suffered from epilepsy. Modern scholarship is sharply divided on the subject, and some scholars believe that he was plagued by malaria, particularly during the Sullan proscriptions of the 80s BC.[254] Other scholars contend his epileptic seizures were due to a parasitic infection in the brain by a tapeworm.[255][256]
Caesar had four documented episodes of what may have been complex partial seizures. He may additionally have had absence seizures in his youth. The earliest accounts of these seizures were made by the biographer Suetonius, who was born after Caesar died. The claim of epilepsy is countered among some medical historians by a claim of hypoglycemia, which can cause epileptoid seizures.[257][258]
A line from Shakespeare has sometimes been taken to mean that he was deaf in one ear: "Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf."[259] No classical source mentions hearing impairment in connection with Caesar. The playwright may have been making metaphorical use of a passage in Plutarch that does not refer to deafness at all, but rather to a gesture Alexander of Macedon customarily made. By covering his ear, Alexander indicated that he had turned his attention from an accusation in order to hear the defence.[260]
Francesco M. Galassi and Hutan Ashrafian suggest that Caesar's behavioral manifestations – headaches, vertigo, falls (possibly caused by muscle weakness due to nerve damage), sensory deficit, giddiness and insensibility – and syncopal episodes were the results of cerebrovascular episodes, not epilepsy. Pliny the Elder reports in his Natural History that Caesar's father and forefather died without apparent cause while putting on their shoes.[261] These events can be more readily associated with cardiovascular complications from a stroke episode or lethal heart attack. Caesar possibly had a genetic predisposition for cardiovascular disease.[262]
Suetonius, writing more than a century after Caesar's death, describes Caesar as "tall of stature with a fair complexion, shapely limbs, a somewhat full face, and keen black eyes".[263]
Name and family
The name Gaius Julius Caesar
Using the
In Classical Latin, it was
In
Caesar's
Posterity
- Wives
- First marriage to Cornelia, from 84 BC until her death in 69 BC
- Second marriage to Pompeia, from 67 BC until he divorced her around 61 BC over the Bona Dea scandal
- Third marriage to Calpurnia, from 59 BC until Caesar's death
- Children
- Julia, by Cornelia, born in 83 or 82 BC
- Cleopatra VII, born 47 BC, and killed at age 17 by Caesar's adopted son Octavianus.
- Posthumously adopted: Julia, his sister), who later became Emperor Augustus.
- Suspected children
Some ancient sources refer to the possibility of the tyrannicide, Marcus Junius Brutus, being one of Julius Caesar's illegitimate children.[266] Caesar, at the time Brutus was born, was 15. Most ancient historians were sceptical of this and "on the whole, scholars have rejected the possibility that Brutus was the love-child of Servilia and Caesar on the grounds of chronology".[267][268][269]
- Grandchildren
Grandchild from
- Lovers
- Cleopatra, mother of Caesarion
- Servilia, mother of Brutus
- Eunoë, queen of Mauretania and wife of Bogudes
Rumors of passive homosexuality
Roman society viewed the passive role during sexual activity, regardless of gender, to be a sign of submission or inferiority. Indeed, Suetonius says that in Caesar's Gallic triumph, his soldiers sang that, "Caesar may have conquered the Gauls, but Nicomedes conquered Caesar."[271] According to Cicero, Bibulus, Gaius Memmius, and others – mainly Caesar's enemies – he had an affair with Nicomedes IV of Bithynia early in his career. The stories were repeated, referring to Caesar as the "Queen of Bithynia", by some Roman politicians as a way to humiliate him. Caesar himself denied the accusations repeatedly throughout his lifetime, and according to Cassius Dio, even under oath on one occasion.[272] This form of slander was popular during this time in the Roman Republic to demean and discredit political opponents.
Catullus wrote a poem suggesting that Caesar and his engineer Mamurra were lovers,[273] but later apologised.[274]
Literary works
During his lifetime, Caesar was regarded as one of the best orators and prose authors in Latin – even Cicero spoke highly of Caesar's rhetoric and style.
Memoirs
- The Commentarii de Bello Gallico, usually known in English as The Gallic Wars, seven books each covering one year of his campaigns in Gaul and southern Britain in the 50s BC, with the eighth book written by Aulus Hirtius on the last two years.
- The Commentarii de Bello Civili (The Civil War), events of the Civil War from Caesar's perspective, until immediately after Pompey's death in Egypt.
Other works historically have been attributed to Caesar, but their authorship is in doubt:
- De Bello Alexandrino (On the Alexandrine War), campaign in Alexandria;
- De Bello Africo (On the African War), campaigns in North Africa; and
- De Bello Hispaniensi (On the Hispanic War), campaigns in the Iberian Peninsula.
These narratives were written and published annually during or just after the actual campaigns, as a sort of "dispatches from the front". They were important in shaping Caesar's public image and enhancing his reputation when he was away from Rome for long periods. They may have been presented as public readings.[278] As a model of clear and direct Latin style, The Gallic Wars traditionally has been studied by first- or second-year Latin students.
Legacy
Historiography
The texts written by Caesar, an autobiography of the most important events of his public life, are the most complete primary source for the reconstruction of his biography. However, Caesar wrote those texts with his political career in mind.[279] Julius Caesar is also considered one of the first historical figures to fold his message scrolls into a concertina form, which made them easier to read.[280] The Roman emperor Augustus began a cult of personality of Caesar, which described Augustus as Caesar's political heir. The modern historiography is influenced by this tradition.[281]
Many rulers in history became interested in the
Politics
Julius Caesar is seen as the main example of
Depictions
-
Bust in the National Archaeological Museum, Naples
-
Modern bronze statue of Julius Caesar, Rimini, Italy
-
Portrait at the Archaeological Museum of Sparta
-
Bronze statue at the Porta Palatina in Turin
-
Bust in the Archaeological Museum of Corinth
-
Bust in the National Archaeological Museum, Naples, photograph published in 1902
Battle record
Date | War | Action | Opponents | Type | Present-day areas | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
58 BC | Gallic Wars | Battle of the Arar | Helvetii | Battle | France | Victory
|
58 BC | Battle of Bibracte | Helvetii, Boii, Tulingi, Rauraci | Battle | France | Victory
| |
58 BC | Battle of Vosges | Suebi | Battle | France | Victory
| |
57 BC | Battle of the Axona | Belgae | Battle | France | Victory
| |
57 BC | Battle of the Sabis | Nervii, Viromandui,
Aduatuci
|
Battle | France | Victory
| |
55 and 54 BC | Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain | Celtic Britons | Campaign | England | Victory
| |
54 BC–53 BC | Ambiorix's revolt | Eburones | Campaign | Belgium, France | Victory
| |
52 BC | Avaricum | Bituriges, Arverni | Siege | France | Victory
| |
52 BC | Battle of Gergovia | Gallic tribes | Battle | France | Defeat | |
September 52 BC | Battle of Alesia | Gallic Confederation | Siege and Battle | Alise-Sainte-Reine, France | Decisive victory
| |
51 BC | Siege of Uxellodunum | Gallic | Siege | Vayrac, France | Victory
| |
June–August 49 BC | Caesar's Civil War | Battle of Ilerda | Optimates
|
Battle | Catalonia, Spain | Victory
|
10 July 48 BC | Battle of Dyrrhachium (48 BC) | Optimates
|
Battle | Durrës, Albania | Defeat
| |
9 August 48 BC | Battle of Pharsalus | Pompeians
|
Battle | Greece | Decisive Victory
| |
47 BC | Battle of the Nile | Ptolemaic Kingdom | Battle | Alexandria, Egypt | Victory
| |
2 August 47 BC | Battle of Zela
|
Kingdom of Pontus | Battle | Zile, Turkey | Victory
| |
4 January 46 BC | Battle of Ruspina | Optimates, Numidia
|
Battle | Ruspina Africa | Defeat
| |
6 April 46 BC | Battle of Thapsus | Optimates, Numidia
|
Battle | Tunisia | Decisive Victory
| |
17 March 45 BC | Battle of Munda | Pompeians
|
Battle | Andalusia Spain | Victory
|
Chronology
See also
- Et tu, Brute?
- Julius Caesar – a play by William Shakespeare (c. 1599)
- Handel(1724)
- Veni, vidi, vici
- Caesar cipher
- Caesareum of Alexandria
References
- ^ Badian 2009, p. 16. All ancient sources place his birth in 100 BC. Some historians have argued against this; the "consensus of opinion" places it in 100 BC. Goldsworthy 2006, p. 30.
- ^ All offices and years thereof from Broughton 1952, p. 574.
- ISBN 978-0-8061-3014-9.
- ISBN 978-1-59884-430-6.
- ^ Badian 2009, p. 16, pursuant to Macr. Sat. 1.12.34, quoting a law by Mark Antony noting the date as the fourth day before the Ides of Quintilis. Only Dio gives 13 July. All sources give the year 100 BC.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 32–33.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, p. 35.
- ^ Badian 2009, p. 14; Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 31–32. The consul of 157 BC was Sextus Caesar; the consuls of 91 and 90 were Sextus Caesar and Lucius Caesar, respectively.
- ^ Badian 2009, p. 15 dates the land commission to 103 per MRR 3.109; Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 33–34; Broughton 1952, p. 22, dating the proconsulship to 91 with praetorship in 92 BC and citing, among others, CIL I, 705 and CIL I, 706.
- ^ Badian 2009, p. 16.
- ^ Badian 2009, p. 16. Badian cites Suet. Iul., 1.2 arguing that Caesar was actually appointed; because a divorced man could not be flamen Dialis, the assertion that Caesar married one Cossutia then divorced her to marry Cornelia and become flamen in Plut. Caes., 5.3 is incorrect.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, p. 34.
- OCLC 1006100534.
- ^ Badian 2009, pp. 16–17, also rejecting claims that Caesar hid by bribing his pursuers: "this is an example of how the [Caesar myth] pervades our accounts and makes it difficult to get at the facts... [that he bribed his pursuers] cannot be true, since confiscation of his fortune went with his proscription".
- ^ Plut. Caes., 1.4; Suet. Iul., 1.3.
- ^ Badian 2009, p. 17, noting also that Sulla never killed any fellow patricians.
- ^ Badian 2009, pp. 17–18.
- ^ Suet. Iul., 2–3; Plut. Caes., 2–3; Dio, 43.20.
- ^ Badian 2009, p. 17.
- ^ Badian 2009, p. 18, citing Suet. Iul., 3.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 35.
- ^ Alexander 1990, p. 71 (Trial 140) noting also that Tac. Dial., 34.7 wrongly places the trial in 79 BC; Alexander 1990, pp. 71–72 (Trial 141).
- ^ Badian 2009, p. 18.
- OCLC 772240772. Vell. Pat., 2.42.3 reports that the governor wanted to enslave and sell the pirates but that Caesar returned quickly and had them executed. Pelling believes the second part of Vell. Pat.'s narrative – along with other sources (Plut. Caes., 1.8–2.7; Suet. Iul., 4) – are literary embellishment and that the pirates were enslaved and sold.
- ^ Badian 2009, p. 19, calling the story in Suet. Iul., 4.2 that Caesar called up auxiliaries and with them drove Mithridates' prefect from the province of Asia, "a striking example of the Caesar myth... [that is] difficult to believe".
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, p. 78.
- ^ Badian 2009, p. 19; Broughton 1952, pp. 114, 125; Vell. Pat., 2.43.1 (pontificate); Plut. Caes., 5.1 and Suet. Iul., 5 (military tribunate).
- ^ Badian 2009, p. 19, citing Suet. Iul., 5.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 63.
- ^ Badian 2009, pp. 19–20, also noting senatorial support for the pardons; Broughton 1952, pp. 126, 128, 130 n. 4, argues the tribunician law recalling the Lepidan exiles must postdate the consular law in 70 which removed Sulla's suppression of tribunician legislative initiative.
- ^ Badian 2009, p. 20; Broughton 1952, p. 132. Badian 2009, p. 21 cites Suet. Iul., 6.1 for the incipit of Caesar's eulogy.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 43.
- ^ Plut. Caes., 5.2–3.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 43–46.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 46, noting also that Plutarch omits this detail likely because it "would indeed have been embarrassing for his Marian representation of Caesar" (internal citations and quotation marks omitted).
- ^ Gruen 1995, p. 79–80.
- , 6.1–4.
- ^ Broughton 1952, p. 158.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 46–47.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 48–49.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 64, 64 n. 129, noting that it is not clear which election was first; it is more likely, however, that elections were late and therefore that the pontifical election occurred first. Dio's claim of elections in December is clearly erroneous. Broughton 1952, p. 172 n. 3.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 64–65, noting the victory of curule aedile Publius Licinius Crassus in 212 over senior consulars and plebeian tribune Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus over consulars.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 66, citing Suet. Iul., 13; Plut. Caes., 7.1–4; Dio, 37.37.1–3.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 67–68.
- ^ Gruen 1995, pp. 80–81.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 69 n. 148.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 71.
- ^ Alexander 1990, p. 110 (Trials 220–21).
- ^ Gruen 1995, p. 80, citing Sall. Cat., 49.1–2. See also Suet. Iul., 17.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 72–77, placing it around 2.5 per cent. Gruen 1995, p. 429 n. 107 calls the view that Caesar was one of the masterminds of the conspiracy "long... discredited and requires no further refutation".
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 85–86, 90.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 92. Earlier sources being Cic. Cat., 4.8–10 and Sall. Cat., 51.42. Later sources include Plut. Caes., 7.9 and App. BCiv., 2.6.
- ^ Gruen 1995, pp. 281–82.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 102.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 102–04.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 107, citing Suet. Iul., 16. Dio reports a senatus consultum ultimum. Broughton 1952, p. 173, citing Dio, 37.41.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 109.
- ^ Plut. Caes., 10.9.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 110, adding in notes that the affair is usually interpreted as an attempt to destroy Clodius' career and that Caesar may have been a secondary target due to expectations that he would reject political pressure for a divorce.
- ^ Drogula 2019, pp. 97–98.
- ISBN 978-0-19-938113-5.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 109–10.
- ^ Broughton 1952, p. 180.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 110–11.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 111.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 112–13.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 114; Plut. Caes., 13; Suet. Iul., 18.2.
- ^ Gruen 2009, p. 28.
- ^ Gruen 2009, pp. 30–31.
- ^ Gruen 2009, p. 28; Broughton 1952, pp. 158, 173. Bibulus was Caesar's colleague both in the curule aedileship and the praetorship. They clashed politically in both magistracies. On credit for the aedilican games, see Suet. Iul., 10, Dio, 37.8.2, and Plut. Caes., 5.5.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 119. "[A]n alliance which in modern times has come, quite misleadingly, to be called the 'First Triumvirate'... the very phrase... invokes a misleading teleology. Furthermore, it is almost impossible to use [it] without adopting some version of the view that it was a kind of conspiracy against the republic".
- ^ Ridley, R (1999). "What's in the Name: the so-called First Triumvirate". Arctos: Acta Philological Fennica. 33: 133–44. The first usage of the term was in 1681.
- ^ Gruen 2009, p. 31.
- ^ Gruen 2009, p. 31; Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 121–22, noting that the Senate had approved distribution of lands to Pompey's veterans from the Sertorian War all the way back in 70 BC.
- ^ a b Gruen 2009, p. 32.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 125–29.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 130, 132.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 138.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 139–40.
- ^ Wiseman 1994, p. 372.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 143 (Bibulus), 147 (dating to May).
- ^ Wiseman 1994, p. 374.
- ^ Drogula 2019, p. 137.
- ^ Gruen 2009, p. 33, noting that the lex Vatinia was "no means unprecedented... or even controversial".
- S2CID 231088284.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 176–77; Gruen 2009, p. 34.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 143: Dio, 38.6.5 and Suet. Iul., 20.1 say around late January; Plut. Pomp., 48.5 says in early May; Vell. Pat., 2.44.5 says May.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 142–44.
- ^ Gruen 2009, p. 34, also citing Suet. Iul., 20.2 – the "consulship of Julius and Caesar" – as part of Catonian propaganda.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 150–51, noting that Bibulus' voluntary seclusion "presented the image of the city dominated by one man [Caesar]... unchecked by a colleague".
- ^ Gruen 2009, p. 34.
- ^ Drogula 2019, pp. 138–39, noting Cato's support of Caesar's anti-corruption bill and the possibility that Cato gave input for some of its provisions.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 182–83, 182 n. 260, citing Suet. Iul., 23.1; pace Ramsey 2009, p. 38.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 186–87.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, p. 188–89.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 189–90.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, p. 204.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2006, pp. 205, 208–10.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2016, pp. 212–15.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2016, p. 217.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2016, p. 220.
- ^ a b Boatwright 2004, p. 242.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2016, p. 203.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2016, pp. 221–22; Boatwright 2004, p. 242.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2016, p. 222.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2016, p. 223.
- ^ Goldsworthy 2016, pp. 229–32, 233–38; Boatwright 2004, p. 242.
- JSTOR 1086053.
- ^ Ramsey 2009, pp. 37–38.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 194, noting Caesar's opposition – in early 58 BC – to Cicero's banishment. Caesar offered Cicero a position on his staff which would have conferred immunity from prosecution but Cicero refused. Ramsey 2009, p. 37.
- ^ Ramsey 2009, p. 39.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 220, citing Gelzer, "this extraordinary honour... cut the ground from under the feet of those who maintained that since 58 Caesar had held his position illegally"; Morstein-Marx also rejects the claim of senatorial duress at Plut. Caes., 21.7–9.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 196, 220; Ramsey 2009, pp. 39–40.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 220–21.
- ^ Ramsey 2009, pp. 39–40.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 229.
- ^ Ramsey 2009, pp. 41–42; Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 232.
- ^ Ramsey 2009, p. 43; Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 232–33.
- ^ Ramsey 2009, p. 44; Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 232–33.
- ^ Gruen 1995, p. 451.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 238, citing Cic. Sest., 51, "hardly anyone has lost popularity among the citizens for winning wars".
- ^ Ramsey 2009, p. 44.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 241ff, citing Caes. BGall., 5.26–52.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 272 n. 42: "Gruen.. and Raaflaub... have effectively disposed of the old idea, too heavily influenced by [Plutarch]", citing Plut. Caes., 28.1 and Plut. Pomp., 53.6–54.2, "that Pompey had now turned against Caesar... since Julia's death in 54".
- ^ Ramsey 2009, p. 46: "Despite the fact that Pompey declined Caesar's later offer to form another marriage connection, their political alliance showed no signs of strain for the next several years".
- ^ Gruen 1995, pp. 451–52, 453: "Julia's death came in the late summer of 54[;] if it opened a breach between Pompey and Caesar, there is no sign of it in subsequent months... The evidence indicates no change in the relationship during 53"; "Julia's death provoked no change in the contract[;] Caesar did not cut Pompey out of his will until the outbreak of civil war".
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 243–44.
- S2CID 252459421.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 247–48, 260, 265–66.
- ^ Wiseman 1994, p. 412.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 258. See also Appendix 4 in the same book, analysing the conflict between Caesar and Pompey in terms of a Prisoner's dilemma.
- ^ Wiseman 1994, p. 414, citing Caes. BGall., 8.2–16.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 270; Drogula 2019, p. 223.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 273.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 272, 276, 295 (identities of Cato's allies).
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 291.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 292–93.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 297.
- ^ Wiseman 1994, pp. 412–22, citing App. BCiv., 2.30–31 and Dio, 40.64.1–66.5.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 304.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 306.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 308.
- ^ Boatwright 2004, p. 247; Meier 1995, pp. 1, 4; Mackay 2009, pp. 279–81; Wiseman 1994, p. 419.
- from the original on 21 November 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
Everyone knows that Caesar crossed the Rubicon because [he would have been...] put on trial, found guilty and have his political career ended... Yet over thirty years ago, Shackleton Bailey, in less than two pages of his introduction to Cicero's Letters to Atticus, destroyed the basis for this belief, and... no one has been able to rebuild it.
- S2CID 159090397.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 262–63, explaining:
- Any prosecution was extremely unlikely to succeed.
- No contemporary source expresses dissatisfaction with an inability to prosecute.
- No timely charges could have been brought. The possibility of conviction for irregularities during his consulship in 59 was a fantasy when none of Caesar's actions in 59 were overturned. Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 624.
- Caesar proposed giving up his command – opening himself up to prosecution – in January 49 BC as part of peace negotiations, something he would not have proposed if he were worried about a sure-fire conviction.
ISBN 978-3-7749-4068-0. - ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 247 n. 234, citing Suet. Iul., 26.1; Plut. Pomp., 56.1–3.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 288. "Caesar feared that the only guarantee of his rights... to stand for election in absentia under the protection of the Law of the Ten Tribunes and to receive a triumph... was his army".
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 309.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 320.
- ISBN 978-1-84668-381-7.
The exact date is unknown.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 322.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 331.
- ^ Boatwright 2004, p. 246, citing Plut. Caes., 32.8. Rawson 1994a, p. 424 gives the same translation.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 336.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 340 (Caesar's pause), 342 (Caesar's offer), 343 (Pompey's counter-offer), 345 (negotiations collapse).
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 347.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, pp. 424–25, 427. "[Abandoning Italy] was probably justified from a military point of view ... but Cicero was doubtless right in seeing it as politically and psychologically very damaging to abandon the capital and indeed all Italy, intending to starve and then invade it".
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 430, citing Cic. Att., 10.4.8; Dio, 41.15–16; App. BCiv., 2.41.
- ^ Boatwright 2004, p. 252.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 431, citing Caes. BCiv., 2.17–20.
- proscribed by Sullaand recalling all exiles on specious claims of unfair trials.
- ^ Wilson 2021, p. 309, citing, among others, Caes. BCiv., 3.1.1; Plut. Caes., 37.1–2; App. BCiv., 2.48; Dio, 41.36.1–4. He had no magister equitum.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 432; Boatwright 2004, p. 252.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 433; Boatwright 2004, pp. 252–53; Plut. Caes., 42–45.
- OCLC 405105996.
- S2CID 62829223.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, pp. 433–34, noting that both children were left under Roman protection under their father's will. Boatwright 2004.
- ^ Wilson 2021, p. 309, citing Plut. Caes., 51.1 and Dio, 42.17.1–22.2.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 435, citing Dio, 42.18.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 434. At the battle, Ptolemy drowned. Boatwright 2004, p. 253.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 434; Boatwright 2004, p. 253.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 434, citing Plut. Caes., 50.2 and Suet. Iul., 35.2, 37.2.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 435, noting "an epic march through the desert from Cyrenaica to the province of Africa", citing Lucan Pharsalia, 9.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 435. Rawson also notes claims – Dio, 42.56.4 – that the republicans were planning a naval invasion of Italy.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 435 n. 58, citing Suet. Iul., 70.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 435.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, pp. 435–36.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 436, citing Plut. Cat. Min., 58–70; see also Plut. Caes., 52–54.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 436; Boatwright 2004, p. 253.
- ^ a b Rawson 1994a, p. 436.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 436, citing App. BCiv., 2.101–2.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, pp. 436–37.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 436, citing Plut. Caes., 56.
- ^ a b Rawson 1994a, p. 437.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, p. 436, noting that Sextus fomented a momentary rebellion and that Quintus Caecilius Bassus led a revolt in Syria which continued until after Caesar's death in 44 BC.
- ^ Rawson 1994a, pp. 437–38; Boatwright 2004, pp. 253–54.
- ^ Wilson 2021, p. 309.
- ^ a b Badian 2012.
- ^ See Wilson 2021, p. 313 n. 46. Meier 1995, pp. 474–75 notes that senators may have wanted to curry favour or otherwise, by giving him excessive honours, show the public Caesar's tyrannical ambitions.
- ^ Wilson 2021, p. 314.
- ^ Lintott 1999, p. 21; eg Livy (1905) [1st century AD]. . Translated by Roberts, Canon. 31.5–7 – via Wikisource.
- ^ Wilson 2021, pp. 314–15.
- ^ Titus Quinctius Flamininus was the first Roman to appear on coinage, specifically on a stater minted after the Second Macedonian War. Caesar was the first portrait of a living Roman on coins meant to circulate in Rome. Sellars, Ian J (2013). The monetary system of the Romans. p. 33.
Though technically not the first living Roman to appear on coinage... Caesar was the first to appear on the coins of Rome.
- ISBN 0-19-926526-7.
As far as the Roman republican coinage is concerned, a major change occurred when Caesar became the first living Roman to have his portrait depicted on Roman coins.
- ^ Meier 1995, pp. 473–74.
- ^ Badian 2012; Meier 1995, pp. 447–48.
- ^ Wilson 2021, p. 318; Badian 2012; Meier 1995, p. 447.
- ^ Badian 2012 for administration and colonial activity. Wilson 2021, p. 318, noting Suetonius viewing the expansion of the magistracies and Senate as constitutional reform with Dio believing it a means to reward followers. Meier 1995, p. 464 notes "such a large membership [in the Senate] would certainly make the house incapable of functioning properly, but it enabled Caesar to show favour to many".
- ^ Meier 1995, p. 464.
- ^ Wilson 2021, p. 318; Lintott 1999, p. 160.
- ^ Wilson 2021, p. 318.
- ^ a b Meier 1995, p. 447.
- ^ Wilson 2021, pp. 319, 321.
- ^ Wilson 2021, p. 319.
- ^ Wilson 2021, pp. 321–22.
- ^ Meier 1995, pp. 447–49.
- ^ Meier 1995, p. 462.
- ^ Wilson 2021, p. 322 n. 92 on favours for clients. Wilson 2021, p. 322 n. 94, noting Suet. Iul., 54.1–3 reporting on Caesar looting and extorting client states and Dio, 42.49–50, 43.24 on Caesar's forced loans to pay soldiers.
- ISBN 978-0-521-07492-6.
- ^ Meier 1995, p. 476.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 522 (noting attempts to restore the tribunes to office after Caesar's death); Tempest 2017, p. 81.
- ^ Meier 1995, pp. 474, 476.
- JSTOR 27690364.
At this point, some time in early February 44, no one could persuade himself that the res publica would ever be restored as long as Caesar lived.
- ^ Meier 1995, pp. 476–77.
- ^ Meier 1995, p. 479.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 561–62.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 556.
- ^ Meier 1995, p. 480.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 556, noting Basilus and Cimber as praetors in 45 and Casca as plebeian tribune in 44 or 43..
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 560.
- ^ Tempest 2017, p. 93; Meier 1995, p. 465 ("their dignity would have been spurious"); Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 547–48, 549–50 ("honores obtained as a personal favour rather than by a judgment of the People were in fact no 'honour' at all").
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 553.
- ^ Tempest 2017, p. 41; Meier 1995, pp. 480–81.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 524–25 gives a number of examples:
- Plut. Brut., 9.6: "If only you lived now, Brutus", on the Capitoline statue of Lucius Brutus.
- Suet. Iul., 80.3: "If only you [Lucius Brutus] were alive".
- App. BCiv., 2.112: "[Lucius Brutus,] your descendants are unworthy of you", challenging Marcus Brutus to act.
- Suet. Iul., 80.3: "Brutus became the first consul, since he had expelled the kings; This man [Caesar] at last became king, since he had expelled the consuls", on a statue of Caesar.
- Plut. Brut., 9.7; Plut. Caes., 62.7; App. BCiv., 2.112; Dio, 44.12.3: graffiti at Marcus Brutus' praetorian seat in the forum challenging him as asleep, corrupt, or not a true descendant of the Lucius Brutus who founded the republic.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 523, 526–27, 528 (calling the belief in modern scholarship that Caesar remained "the darling of the People" unsupported by the evidence and "infantilising"); Tempest 2017, pp. 86–87.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 528 (debts), 529 (lethal force, corn dole, collegia), 530 (juries, elections).
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 548 (the two candidates for the consulship of 43 BC were the only two men allowed to stand), 550.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, pp. 318, 573–75.
- ^ Tempest 2017, pp. 95–99.
- ^ Meier 1995, p. 485.
- ^ Morstein-Marx 2021, p. 563.
- ^ Tempest 2017, pp. 99–100.
- ^ a b Tempest 2017, p. 100.
- ^ Meier 1995, pp. 485–86, noting three: Caesar felt unwell and had to be persuaded by a conspirator to attend the Senate, one Artemidorus of Knidos gave Caesar a scroll informing on the conspiracy, the augur Spurinna allegedly prophesied misfortune for Caesar on the Ides.
- ^ Tempest 2017, p. 101–3, citing Suet. Iul., 81–82.
- ^ Tempest 2017, p. 3–4, 261 n. 1; Meier 1995, p. 486 (reporting 23 wounds).
- ^ Tempest 2017, p. 261 n. 1 cites all ancient accounts: Nic. Dam., 58–106; Plut. Caes., 60–68; Plut. Brut., 8–20; Suet. Iul., 76–85; App. BCiv., 2.106–147; Dio, 44.9–19.
- ^ Mackay 2009, p. 316.
- ^ Rawson 1994b, p. 469. "Antony pointed out that logically, if Caesar was a tyrant, his body should be thrown into the Tiber and all his measures [rescinded]; if he was not, his murderers should be punished".
- ^ Rawson 1994b, p. 470.
- ISBN 0-8018-4300-6.
- ^ Mackay 2009, pp. 318–19; Rawson 1994b, p. 471.
- ^ Mackay 2009, pp. 315–16.
- ^ Boatwright 2004, pp. 270–72.
- ^ Mackay 2009, p. 332.
- ^ Mackay 2009, p. 334. Caesar's heir then took the style divi filius, meaning "son of the deified one".
- ^ Boatwright 2004, p. 273.
- ^ Mackay 2009, p. 335; Boatwright 2004, p. 274.
- ^ Meier 1995, pp. 494, 496.
- ^ Plut. Caes., 17, 45, 60; Suet. Iul., 45.
- JSTOR 4436576. Ridley cites:
- Kanngiesser, F (1912). "Notes on the pathology of the Julian dynasty". Glasgow Medical Journal. 77: 428–32.
- Cawthorne, Terence (1958). "Julius caesar and the falling sickness". The Laryngoscope. 68 (8): 1442–1450. S2CID 34788441.
- Temkin, Owsei (1971) [1945]. The falling sickness: a history of epilepsy from the Greeks to the beginnings of modern neurology (Revised ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 162. OCLC 208839.
- PMID 21757405.
- S2CID 24082872.
- S2CID 34640921.
- PMID 7738524.
- ^ William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar I.ii.209.
- ^ Paterson 2009, p. 130.
- ^ Pliny, Natural History, vii.181
- S2CID 11730078.
- ^ Suet. Iul., 45. excelsa statura, colore candido, teretibus membris, ore paulo pleniore, nigris vegetisque oculis.
- ^ M. Philippa, F. Debrabandere, A. Quak, T. Schoonheim en N. van der Sijs (2003–2009) Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands, Amsterdam
- ISBN 978-0-19-536553-5.
- ^ Eg Plut. Brut., 5.2
- ^ Tempest 2017, p. 102, noting the "almost universally accepted" treatment rejecting Caesar's parentage at Fluß, Max (1923). . Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (in German). Vol. II A, 2. Stuttgart: Butcher. cols. 1817–21 – via Wikisource.
- JSTOR 985248.
Chronology is against Caesar's paternity.
- JSTOR 4435732.
Caesar is excluded by plain fact
. - ^ Jiménez 2000, p. 55.
- ^ Suet. Iul., 49.
- ^ Suet. Iul., 49; Dio, 43.20.
- ^ Catullus, Carmina 29 Archived 20 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine, 57 Archived 4 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Suet. Iul., 73.
- ^ Suet. Aug., 68, 71.
- ^ Cic. Brut., 252.
- OCLC 25628739.
- ISBN 978-1-905125-28-9.
- ^ Canfora 2006, pp. 10–11
- OCLC 277203534.
- ^ Canfora 2006, p. 10
- ^ Canfora 2006, pp. 11–12
- ^ Weber 2008, p. 34.
- .
- ISBN 978-1-78099-379-9. Archivedfrom the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
- ^ Canfora 2006, pp. 12–13
Sources
Primary sources
Own writings
- Julius Caesar (1859) [1st century BC]. . Harper's New Classical Library. Translated by McDevitte, WA; Bohn, WS. New York: Harper & Brothers – via Wikisource.
- Caesar (1917) [1st century BC]. Gallic War. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Edwards, Henry John. ISBN 978-0-674-99080-7– via LacusCurtius.
- Forum Romanum Index to Caesar's works online Archived 21 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine in Latin and translation
- Works by Julius Caesar in eBook form at Standard Ebooks
- Works by Julius Caesar at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Julius Caesar at Internet Archive
- Works by Julius Caesar at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
Ancient historians' writings
- Appian (1913) [2nd century AD]. Civil Wars. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by White, Horace. Cambridge – via LacusCurtius.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Cassius Dio (1914–1927) [c. AD 230]. Roman History. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Cary, Earnest – via LacusCurtius. Published in nine volumes.
- Plutarch (1920) [2nd century AD]. "Life of Antony". Parallel Lives. Loeb Classical Library. Vol. 9. Translated by Perrin, Bernadotte. OCLC 40115288– via LacusCurtius.
- Plutarch (1918) [2nd century AD]. "Life of Brutus". Parallel Lives. Loeb Classical Library. Vol. 6. Translated by Perrin, Bernadotte. OCLC 40115288– via Perseus Digital Library.
- Plutarch (1919). "The Life of Cato the Younger". Plutarch Lives: Sertorius and Eumenes; Phocion and Cato. Loeb Classical Library. Vol. 8. Translated by Perrin, Bernadotte – via LacusCurtius.
- Plutarch (1919) [2nd century AD]. "Life of Caesar". Parallel Lives. Loeb Classical Library. Vol. 7. Translated by Perrin, Bernadotte. OCLC 40115288– via LacusCurtius.
- Plutarch (1916) [2nd century AD]. "Life of Crassus". Parallel Lives. Loeb Classical Library. Vol. 3. Translated by Perrin, Bernadotte. OCLC 40115288– via LacusCurtius.
- Plutarch (1917) [2nd century AD]. "Life of Pompey". Parallel Lives. Loeb Classical Library. Vol. 5. Translated by Perrin, Bernadotte. OCLC 40115288– via LacusCurtius.
- Suetonius (1913–1914). "Life of Augustus". Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Rolfe, J C. Cambridge – via LacusCurtius.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Suetonius (1913–1914). "Life of Caesar". Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Rolfe, J C. Cambridge – via LacusCurtius.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Velleius Paterculus (1924). Roman History. Loeb Classical Library. Translated by Shipley, Frederick W – via LacusCurtius.
Secondary sources
- Alexander, Michael Charles (1990). Trials in the late Roman Republic, 149 BC to 50 BC. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. OCLC 41156621.
- Badian, Ernst (2012). "Iulius Caesar, C (2)". In Hornblower, Simon; et al. (eds.). The Oxford classical dictionary (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. OCLC 959667246.
- Broughton, Thomas Robert Shannon (1952). The magistrates of the Roman republic. Vol. 2. New York: American Philological Association.
- Boatwright, M T; et al. (2004). The Romans, from village to empire. New York: Oxford University Press. OCLC 52728992.
- Canfora, Luciano (2006). Julius Caesar: The People's Dictator. ISBN 978-0-7486-1936-8. Archivedfrom the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
- Crook, John; et al., eds. (1994). The last age of the Roman Republic, 146–43 BC. Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. 9 (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. OCLC 121060.
- Rawson, Elizabeth (1994a). "Caesar: civil war and dictatorship". In CAH2 9 (1994), pp. 424–67.
- Rawson, Elizabeth (1994b). "The aftermath of the Ides". In CAH2 9 (1994), pp. 468–90.
- Wiseman, TP. "Caesar, Pompey, and Rome, 59–50 BC". In CAH2 9 (1994), pp. 368–423.
- Drogula, Fred K (2019). Cato the Younger: life and death at the end of the Roman republic. New York: Oxford University Press. OCLC 1090168108.
- ISBN 978-0-300-12048-6.
- Goldsworthy, Adrian (2016) [First published 2003]. In the name of Rome: the men who won the Roman empire. New Haven: Yale University Press. OCLC 936322646.
- Griffin, Miriam, ed. (2009). A Companion to Julius Caesar. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-4443-0845-7.
- Badian, Ernst. "From the Iulii to Caesar". In Griffin (2009), pp. 11–22.
- Gruen, Erich S. "Caesar as a politician". In Griffin (2009), pp. 23–36.
- Ramsey, John T. "The proconsular years: politics at a distance". In Griffin (2009), pp. 37–56.
- Paterson, Jeremy. "Caesar the man". In Griffin (2009), pp. 126–40.
- Gruen, Erich (1995). The last generation of the Roman republic. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-02238-6.
- Jiménez, Ramon L. (2000). Caesar Against Rome: The Great Roman Civil War. Praeger. ISBN 978-0-275-96620-1.
- Lintott, Andrew (1999). Constitution of the Roman republic. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-926108-6. Reprinted 2009.
- Mackay, Christopher S (2009). The breakdown of the Roman republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-51819-2.
- Meier, Christian (1995) [First published, in German by Severin und Siedler, 1982]. Caesar. Translated by McLintock, David. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-00895-X.
- Morstein-Marx, Robert (2021). Julius Caesar and the Roman People. Cambridge University Press. S2CID 242729962.
- Tempest, Kathryn (2017). Brutus: the noble conspirator. London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-18009-1.
- ISBN 978-1-4128-1214-6.
- Wilson, Mark B (2021). Dictator: the evolution of the Roman dictatorship. Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan University Press. OCLC 1197561102.
External links
- C. Iulius (131) C. f. C. n. Fab. Caesar in the Digital Prosopography of the Roman Republic.
- Works by or about Gaius Julius Caesar at Wikisource
- Works related to Julius Caesar at Wikisource
- Online books, and library resources in your library and in other libraries about Caesar
- Online books, and library resources in your library and in other libraries by Caesar
- Guide to online resources