Caesar

Quotes

  1. "You shouldn't give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don't care at all."
    — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 7.38 (from Euripides’ Bellerophon)

  2. “The best way to avenge yourself is to not be like that.”
    — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.6

  3. “You can bind up my leg, but not even Zeus has the power to break my freedom of choice.”
    — Epictetus, Discourses 1.1.23

  4. “Don’t fill your mind with all the bad things that might still happen. Stay focused on the present situation and ask yourself why it’s so unbearable and can't be survived.”
    — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.36

  5. “If you find something very difficult to achieve yourself, don’t imagine it impossible – for anything possible and proper for another person can be achieved as easily by you.”
    — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 6.19

  6. "Who then is invincible? The one who cannot be upset by anything outside their reasoned choice.”
    — Epictetus, Discourses 1.18.21

C. Iulius Caesar (100–44 BC)

Background

  • Gaius Julius Caesar was born into a patrician family, the gens Julia, which claimed descent from Iulus, son of Aeneas, son of the goddess Venus.

  • Despite this ancient pedigree, the Julii were not politically influential.

  • Caesar’s aunt was married to Gaius Marius.

  • From 69 BC, Caesar spent the next ten years following the standard pattern of the cursus honorum, but the optimates were nervous because he had not broken with the Marian tradition (Marius = populares).

Cursus Honorum – “By the Book”

  • 69 BC – Quaestor (served in Spain)

  • 65 BC – Aedile (helped by Crassus’ wealth)

  • 63 BC – Pontifex Maximus

  • 62 BC – Praetor

  • 61 BC – Propraetor in Spain (power to command army)

  • 59 BC – Consul

achieving office in earliest possible age, suo annum

Caesar as Pontifex Maximus (63 BC)

  • Julius Caesar became Pontifex Maximus, Rome’s chief priest, in 63 BC.

  • The position was hugely prestigious, politically powerful, and a lifetime appointment.

  • It gave Caesar immense influence over state religion, public morality, and the calendar, aiding his political rise.

63–62 BC: Political Activity

  • In 63 BC, Caesar participated in the Senate debate on the punishment of the Catilinarian conspirators.

  • In 62 BC, while Caesar was praetor, his house was held a festival of bona dea, traditionally hosted by the wife of the pontifex maximus .

what happened in the festival - claudius went with women’s clothes and had an affair with caesar’s wife. caesar didn’t react, but he divorced his wife.

“In absentia” = in absence

  • After his proprietorship in Spain, Caesar hoped to return to Rome in 60 BC and stand for the consulship of 59.

  • He wished to celebrate a triumph, but Roman law required him to be outside the city until the ceremony.

  • Candidates for office, however, had to appear in person.

So he wrote to the Senate requesting permission to stand for consul in absentia.

a general cant celebrate a triumph and participate in elections because in order to gain a triumph, he has to

Request - refused

Cato and the optimates refused the request, hoping to force Caesar to abandon his bid for the consulship.
They believed Caesar would never give up the honour of a triumph — but he did.

Before the election, the Senate assigned the consuls of 59 their provinces. For Caesar, if elected, this would be:

  • Administration of the forests and cattle tracks of Italy.

Pompey and Crassus Together Again

  • Pompey’s attempts to use ineffective consuls (Piso and Afranius) and a tribune (Flavius) had failed to secure what he wanted, so he had no alternative but to back Caesar.

  • Crassus had short-term goals Caesar could satisfy as consul, but he also needed long-term protection against Pompey, which an alliance with Caesar would provide.

The First Triumvirate (60 BC)

  • Formed by three men (triumviri): Caesar, Pompey, Crassus.

  • Created due to their mutual need to overcome Senate opposition to their proposals.

  • The alliance was not official and initially secret.

Marcus Terentius Varro described it as the “three-headed monster” (Tricaranus).

A Few Thoughts…

  • “The formation of the Triumvirate was a turning point in the history of the Free State, and it was, as both Cicero and Cato recognised, the ultimate origin of the Civil War of 49 BC.” — Scullard

  • “The first disaster and the worst had been, not the quarrel and split between Caesar and Pompey, but the friendship and harmony that had existed between them.” — Plutarch

  • “Oh Pompey, I wish you had either never formed an alliance with Caesar or never broken it.” — Cicero, Philippic II - breaking point in history

  • If the coalition of 60 BC caused the civil war of 49 BC, then Cato must bear much of the blame, for he and the optimates “drove Pompey into Caesar’s arms.” — Robin Seager, Pompey