Transcript JULIUS CAESAR

JULIUS CAESAR
THE RISE TO POWER
• "In that man were combined genius,
method, memory, literature, prudence,
deliberation, and industry.“ Cicero(Phil II,
XLV)
• “What a tragedy lies over the life of the
greatest genius produced by Rome”
• Gelzer
Family background
MOTHER
Wealthy plebeian family with
strong Senatorial links.
Aurelius Cotta Consul in 119.
Mentioned in many sources
as a strong Roman Matrona
FATHER
Poor Patrician, reached the
level of Praetor, died when
Caesar was 15
Spent the majority
of his youth in
Subura, the poor
area of Rome
EXTENDED FAMILY CONNECTIONS
Patrician
Status
Populare
Connections
Marius and
Cinna
Sources
of
Power
Senatorial
Connections
Cotta family
Classical
education in
Greek, Latin
and rhetoric
Problem of Evidence
• Almost nothing is known of Caesar’s
childhood until the age of 15. Caesar’s mother
was a formative influence, highlighted by the
anecdotes of the election as Pontifex
Maximus and the Bona Dea scandal.
• The rest must be construed from descriptions
of typical Roman Education
Christian Meier
• “Various circumstances determine when the
characters of the young are decisively formed.
Of Caesar one can say with some confidence
that the Civil Wars of the eighties were crucial
for shaping of his personality.”
PERSONALITY
THE NATURE OF JULIUS CAESAR
REVEALED
Formative events
• Premature death of father
• Sulla’s proscriptions
• Funeral oration at aunt julia’s
funeral
• Captured by pirates
• Education at Rhodes
• Wins civic crown of oak leaves
for bravery at Mytiline
The education of young
aristocrats was highly
traditional and they were
supposed to learn much by
watching their elders conduct
their daily affairs. Yet in these
years public life was so
disordered and often violent
that they were inevitably
absorbing a very different
impression of the Republic
than previous generations.”
Adrian Goldsworthy
Tacitus
• “In the old days every child born to a respectable
mother was brought up not in the room of a brought
nurse but at his mothers knee. It was her particular
honour to care for the home and serve her
children...and no one dared do or say anything
improper in front of her. She supervised not only the
boys study but also their recreation and games with
piety and modesty. Thus tradition has it, Cornelia,
mother of the Gracchi, Aurelia, mother of Caesar and
Atia, mother of Augustus, brought up their sons and
produced princes.
Traditional Education
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Towards the end of the republic, a two-tier educational system
evolved, leading to higher education in oratory and philosophy. At
about the age of 7, children of the privileged classes were sent to a
primary school (often presided over by a single teacher), where
from dawn to the middle of the afternoon, with a break for lunch at
home, they learned reading, writing, and arithmetic but boys who
showed academic promise were sent on, if their parents could
afford the fees, to “grammar” schools, where they stayed until they
assumed the toga virilis, pursuing a curriculum which emphasized
Greek as well as Latin literature.
Caesar was known to have had a tutor from Gaul, Antonius
Gnipho an ex slave, educated at Alexandria and versed in Greek
and Latin rhetoric
CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
• "The teacher must decide how to deal with his pupil.
Some boys are lazy, unless forced to work; others do not
like being controlled; some will respond to fear but
others are paralysed by it. Give me a boy who is
encouraged by praise, delighted by success and ready to
weep over failure. Such a boy must be encouraged by
appeals to his ambitions." Quintilian,
in the 1st Century AD
a teacher
Marriage as amicitae
Cossutia
84BC
Cornelia
83BC
•
well Caesar , like many roman nobles,
used marriage to forge important political
connections. Caesar’s marriage to
Cornelia , daughter of Cinna , who had
been consul four times allowed him to
forge important alliances with Senators It
was therefore an extension of
amicitas.His marriage to Calpurnia ,
daughter of Piso, and the marriage of his
daughter Julia to Pompey were
particularly advantageous to cementing
influential senate alliances.Women were
then , part of the political process
Calpurnia
Pompeia
68BC
Suetonius on Julia’s Funeral Oration
• During his quaestorship he made the customary
funeral speeches from the Rostra in honour of his
Aunt Julia and his wife Cornelia; and while eulogising
Julia's maternal and paternal ancestry, did the same
for the Caesar's too. "Her mother", he said, "was a
descendant of kings, namely the Royal Marcians, a
family founded by the Roman King Ancus Marcius;
and her father, of gods - since the Julians (of which
we Caesars are a branch) reckon descendent from
the Goddess Venus. Thus Julia's stock can claim both
the sanctity of kings, who reign supreme among
mortals, and the reverence due to Gods, who hold
even kings in their power.
Popular Response
• “When some who were present had begun to
raise a cry against Caesar, the people
answered with loud shouts and clapping in his
favour, expressing their joyful surprise and
satisfaction at his having, as it were, brought
up again from the grave those honours of
Marius, which for so long a time had been lost
to the city.” Plutarch
POPULARES AND OPTIMATES
• Caesar belonged to the circle of Sullas
victims. As Marius’ nephew and Cinnas son in
law he was a man of some importance,
athough probably no immediate threat to
Sulla.
• “ In time however he was bound to become
a focus of loyalty for many old supporters
of Cinna and Marius. Such relationships
would carry weight.” Christian Meier
Early career
“The first proof he had
of the people's goodwill to him was when
he received by their
suffrages a tribune ship
in the army, and came
out on the list with a
higher place than Caius
Popilius” Plutarch
Pontifex Maximus
63BC aged 37
Curator of the Appian Way
66BC aged 34
Military Tribune under Thermus in
Asia Minor approx 73 BC aged 27
Priest of Jupiter
Approx 84BC aged 16
Priest of Jupiter-Flamen Dialis
• “To a house that had been impoverished and
politically insignificant, such an honour might
seem highly desirable.” Christian Meier
• The appointment seems to have come from
Cinna at a similar time to the engagement of
Caesar and Cornelia. Such connections would
serve to increase his existamatio
Military Tribune
• When Sulla died, Caesar
was in the E ast where
he had served in the army,
first in the province of Asia
Minor and later in Bythinia.
• At that time he had been
with Nicomedes, King of
Bythinia and distinguished
himself as a soldier
Lets talk about the
elephant in the room?
The Storming of Mytiline
• In 79 BC Caesar as military tribune under
Thermas was awarded the civic crown of oak
leaves for saving the life of a fellow soldier.
He was said to be in the front line of the
attack.
• This was a prestigious award which allowed
him to wear the crown on public occasions.
• The crown when worn required all Senators to
stand in his presence.
69BC QUASTOR
• Success did not come early to Caesar. His path up the Cursus
Honorum was traditional and in the right year( Suo Anno).
• However even in his Quastorship he began to earn a reputation
for extravagance. He served his Quastorship in the province of
Hispania Ulteria where he was responsible for conducting court
hearings.
• At the end of his Quastorship he gained the right to wear the
purple toga and attend the Senate. The dress code was a
measure of achievement and acceptance by the politically elite.
However even in this regard Caesar placed himself apart.
• He is said to have paid too much attention to his appearance,
particularly by the removal of body hair. Meier’s thesis that
Caesar was from the beginning“ “ An outsider” is reflected in his
defiant language of dress.
Increasing popularity
• “When he was made surveyor of the Appian Way, he disbursed,
besides the public money, a great sum out of his private purse;
and when he was aedile, he provided such a number of
gladiators, that he entertained the people with three hundred and
twenty single combats, and by his great liberality and
magnificence in theatrical shows, in processions, and public
feastings, he threw into the shade all the attempts that had been
made before him, and gained so much upon the people, that
every one was eager to find out new offices and new honours for
him in return for his munificence.”
Legal career
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Many political battles were fought in the courts. Trials took place in the open Forum or in
the Basilicas, always accompanied by an interested audience. Cicero stated that the
Forum was his school. Any one who performed well gained a reputation quickly.
In 77BC Caesar prosecuted Dolabella for extortion during his pro consulship in
Macedonia.. He Had been a supporter of Sulla but it was more likely that Caesar chose
the case to make a name for himself. Caesar was only 23 years old and the Defenders
were Rome’s leading orators Hortensius and Cotta.
When the case came to trial Caesar gave a speech which although no longer exists, many
ancient commentators admired not only the rhetoric but the complete performance.
Unsurprisingly Dolabella was acquitted.
Caesar did little better in his next trial against Caius Antonius in 76BC for his behaviour in
the war against Mithridates. Caesar made a good case against him but Antonius secured a
tribune to veto the proceedings and a verdict was never forthcoming. Antonius escaped
and was later expelled from the Senate by the censors.
Pirates of the Mediterranean
• On his way to Rhodes Plutarch and Suetonius
tell of Caesar’s kidnapping and ransom by
pirates. The significance of the anecdote lies
in Caesar’s treatment of the pirates and his
later revenge..
• “ ..there is the charm that can win over a band of cut throats as
easily as Roman citizens or soldiers.” Adrian Goldsworthy.
• “It was a display of his fearlessness, determination, speed of
action and ruthless skill, while the final act provided an instance
of the clemency he would later parade as one of his greatest
attributes.”
The power of rhetoric
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At the end of this adventure Caesar reached Rhodes and studied
rhetoric under Apollonius. Cicero considered him one of the best orators
of the period and suggested he might have even achieved first place if
he had concentrated on oratory to the exclusion of other pursuits
While studying in Rhodes an offshoot of the Mithridatic war came with
plunderers into Asia Minor.
Caesar took a detachment of troops from the local communities and
swiftly defeated them, pushing them back into Mithridates territory.
“ His intervention remains a major act of presumption. There was a
model, however in Pompey’s initiative during Sulla’s war. And
Caesar was not lacking in self confidence and audacity.”
Christian Meier
The Power of Rhetoric
• “Caesar is said to have been admirably fitted
by nature to make a great statesman and
orator, and to have taken such pains to
improve his genius this way that without
dispute he might challenge the second place”
•
Plutarch
65 BC Aedileship; Breads and Circuses
• Aediles were concerned almost exclusively
with the running of R ome, upkeep of
temples, care of roads, aquaducts, sewers
and overseeing the grain supply. In addition
they were responsible for entertainment and
festivals, often from their own pocket.
• Caesar as always did this in style, staging
large scale gladiatorial games in honour of
his father. It is reported that as many as 320
pairs of gladiators appeared in Caesar’s
games.
• This excess was not approved of by the
conservative circles.
Election as Pontifex Maximus
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The Pontifex Maximus was a position of enormous prestige, in
many ways the most important of all Roman priesthoods. As a
result it was eagerly sought by many of the leading men. Both
Catulus and Isauricas, two leading statesmen were also vying for
the position.The position had previously been an appointment by
the Senate, in which case Caesar would have most certainly lost. .
However a tribunes law had reverted it to an election by the
Assemblies.
Despite Catulus’ offer of a considerable amount of money to
withdraw from the race, Caesar( in debt) saw this as a sign of
weakness and borrowed more money to secure votes.
Although no financial gain from the position, the prestige and a
new house, the domus publica, at the eastern end of the Forum
added to Caesar’s personal auctoritas. As well the position gave
opportunity to exercise poplitical influence by tendering opinions
on rulings or infringements of proper procedures. The College also
decided on extension of magistracies.
See Plutarchs passage on Caesar’s farewell to Aurelia. What does
this suggest about the position?
62BC PRAETORSHIP
• The position of Praetor was an important one since it
held the possibility of a provincial command in the
year following the magistracy.
• Very little is known about Caesar’s year as Praetor
except that he spoke in favour of the Lex Manilia
granting Pompey supreme command against
Mithridates.
• As well that year Caesar’s wife was implicated in a
scandal with a young man Clodius Pulcher. Following
this Caesar divorces Pompeia and marries Calpurnia,
daughter of a leading Senatorial family, the Piso’s
Praetorship
• THE CATILINE
CONSPIRACY
• SEE SEPARATE POWER POINT
61BC Propraetorship
• The significance of Caesar’s time in H ispania
Ulteria was the chance to develop his skills as
a General and acquire a triumph on his return
• As well he appears to have displayed
administrative flair in reorganizing the
province and settling debt , keeping both the
provincials and publicanii happy.
• Most significantly he accrued sufficient
wealth to pay back his outstanding debt to
Crassus.
Quaestor 69BC
Curator of the Appian Way
67BC
Responsible for court
proceedings
Comparison of life with
Alexander
Funeral Speech
Visits Latin Colonists about
citizenship
Praetor 62 BC
Very little is known about his
Praetorship
But during this time divorces
Pompeia because of her role in
The Clodius scandal
Caesar’s reward after was his
goverorship of Spain
Responsible for repairs and
maintanence, of the main road in and
out of Rome. Much was spent at own
expense and milestones bore
inscriptions of the services rendered
by the curator
Speaks in favour of Gabinius Bill
Caesar building “existimatio “
Pontifex Maximus 63BC
Aedileship 65BC
Opposing two ex consuls Caesar
spent vast sums of money to obtain
position.Suetonius says that he used”
the most flagrant bribery to secure it
“.
Moves from Subara to Via Sacra
Caesar speaks against the death
penalty in Catiline conspiracy
Incurs great debt, putting on
extravagant gladiatorial displays.
Senate shows concern, particularly at
the display of monuments of Marius
in the streets of Rome
Cicero later writes that it was during
Caesar’s aedileship that his plans for
a monarchy became evident
Propraetorship
• Read passage from Cassius Dio and highlight
the tactics Caesar uses.
• What does Caesar gain from this period.
CAESAR’S DILEMNA
• After Caesar’s Propraetorship
in Spain he was faced with
the dilemna of choosing
between his right of a
triumph, or his ability to return
to Rome without his army and
stand for the Consulship.
• WHICH WOULD YOU
CHOOSE AND WHY?
• Caesar is now 40 years old.