Caesar: Life of a Colossus

by Adrian Goldsworthy

  This uncertainty continued and has allowed many different Caesars to be depicted over the centuries. The most famous is probably the Caesar of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Despite its title, the focus is far more on Marcus Brutus, and Caesar appears relatively briefly before being murdered early on in the third act. Shakespeare's Caesar has few obvious traces of greatness, being somewhat pompous, boastful and readily flattered, but is certainly no tyrant. A greater sense of his power and dominance comes from the attitudes of the other characters, both before and, in many respects, after his death. Shakespeare was not the first playwright to take Caesar as a subject, and he was certainly not the last, many, including Voltaire, writing plays or operas looking at some or all of his life. The assassination has probably attracted most attention due to its inherent drama, and after that the affair with Cleopatra with all the hints of the exotic East and eroticism. However, the latter aspect is wholly absent from Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra. This is a gentler, more obviously benevolent Caesar, and his relationship with the queen - made to be a `child' of sixteen rather than the woman she actually was in 48 BC - is essentially avuncular. More recently there have been a number of cinematic portrayals of Caesar, of which probably the most memorable comes from Rex Harrison's performance in Cleopatra (1963).' His Caesar has more of the man of action about him, with the quiet but firm authority of a proven leader. He also has something of the quick intelligence and, in that actor's practised and precise delivery, a strong hint of the powerful orator. The relationship with Cleopatra - Elizabeth Taylor looking very beautiful, even if, for all we know, little or nothing like the actual queen - perhaps has more of politics than passion about it. Television has also had a go, with the film Julius Caesar (2002) starring Jeremy Sisto in the title role. This presented another largely sympathetic Caesar, but faced the massive problem of compressing his life's story into a little more than two and a half hours. Crassus is not mentioned at all, and matters of chronology are left extremely vague, with Cato already in the Senate at the time of Sulla's dictatorship, but it did try to give a broader view than simply Egypt and the Ides of March.

  Caesar did a lot in his life, and the period in which he lived was very eventful and well documented, so that such attempts to cover all of his career have been almost as rare in novels as on celluloid. In recent years the largest and most detailed version has come from Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series, the six novels of which tend to weigh in around the 700-800 page mark. These are detailed, racy accounts that begin with Marius and Sulla and go through to the aftermath of Caesar's assassination. The author did her research well on these and sticks closely to the real events. Inevitably, given the scale of the books and the interest in the personal lives of the protagonists, the vacuums left by the many gaps in our evidence have been filled by invention. The novelist does not possess the historian's luxury of being able to state that we simply do not know something. Rather lighter - in sheer physical size if nothing else - is Conn Iggulden's Emperor series, adventure stories in which Caesar is the hero. These are fast paced with the emphasis on action, and with these priorities the author plays rather fast and loose with the facts. Both McCullough and especially Iggulden present Caesar in a favourable light, although still showing his ruthless streak. Alan Massie's Caesar is a much more critical and more serious novel. Its main character and narrator is Decimus Brutus and to a great extent it is a subversion of Shakespeare, with Marcus Brutus as a pompous fool rather than noble hero. Caesar is a great man, but his cynicism and ambition are far more to the fore. Caesar also appears in a number of Steven Saylor's Roma sub rosa mystery novels, and these also present him as a less admirable figure, more selfish destroyer of the Republic than hero. That the Republic in these stories is flawed and tottering does not reduce his responsibility for speeding its end.

  Historical facts are only one concern to dramatists, scriptwriters and novelists alike, and have to be balanced against the demands of storytelling. Some have been far more faithful than others, but it would be unreasonable for an historian to criticise too much any deviations from the recorded fact (which itself is problematic at times) in works of fiction. Between them they have presented many different views of Caesar, but then it should also be noted that over the last two centuries serious historians have depicted his character, aims and importance in very different ways. In this book I have attempted to look at the evidence we have and to try and reconstruct his life. There are some things we do not know and are unlikely ever to know. The aim has been to treat each episode in his life without assuming the inevitability of subsequent events. Some aspects of his character, for instance his emotions in public and private life, his beliefs and particularly his ambitions in his final years, remain mysterious. They can be guessed at, but not known, and each person will inevitably shape their own Caesar, in admiration or condemnation - often perhaps a mixture of both. Over two thousand years later his story still fascinates. One thing is certain - these will most certainly not be the last words written about Caius Julius Caesar.

  CHRONOLOGY

  GLOSSARY

  Aedile: The aediles were magistrates responsible for aspects of the dayto-day life of the city of Rome, including the staging of a number of annual festivals. Usually held between the quaestorship and the praetorship, there were fewer aediles than praetors and the post was not a compulsory part of the cursus honorum.

  Aquilifer: The standard-bearer who carried the legion's standard (aquila), a silver, or gilded statuette of an eagle mounted on a staff.

  Auctoritas: The prestige and influence of a Roman senator. Auctoritas was greatly boosted by military achievements.

  Auxilia (auxiliaries): The non-citizen soldiers recruited into the army during the Late Republic were known generally as auxiliaries or supporting troops.

  Ballista: A two-armed torsion catapult capable of firing bolts or stones with considerable accuracy. These were built in various sizes and most often used in sieges.

  Bona Dea: Annual festival to the `Good Goddess', the rituals were celebrated exclusively by women and held in the house of an elected magistrate. In 62 BC the rites were performed in Caesar's house and were the subject of scandal.

  Cataphract: Heavily armoured cavalryman often riding an armoured horse. These formed an important component of the Parthian army.

  Centurion: Important grade of officers in the Roman army for most of its history, centurions originally commanded a century of eighty men. The most senior centurion of a legion was the Primus pilus, a post of enormous status held only for a single year.

  Century (centuria): The basic sub-unit of the Roman army, the century was commanded by a centurion and usually consisted of eighty men.

  Cohort (cohors): The basic tactical unit of the legion, consising of six centuries of eighty soldiers with a total strength of 480.

  Comitia Centuriata: The Assembly of the Roman people that elected the most senior magistrates, including the consuls and praetors. It was divided into 193 voting groups of centuries, membership of which was based on property registered in the census. The wealthier members of society had a highly disproportionate influence on the outcome. Its structure was believed to be based on the organisation of the early Roman army.

  Comitia Tributa: The Assembly of the entire Roman people, including both patricians and plebians. It was divided into thirty-five voting tribes, membership of which was based on ancestry. It had power to legislate and was presided over by a consul, praetor or curule aedile. It also elected men to a number of posts including the quaestorship and curule aedileship.

  Commilito (pl. commilitones): Comrade. This familiar form of address was often employed by a Roman general when speaking to his troops, especially at times of civil war.

  Concilium Plebis: The Assembly of the Roman plebs, whether meeting to legislate or elect certain magistrates such as the tribunes of the plebs. Patricians were not allowed to take part or attend. The people voted in thirty-five tribes, membership of which was based on anc
estry. This assembly was presided over by the tribunes of the plebs.

  Consul: The year's two consuls were the senior elected magistrates of the Roman Republic and held command in important campaigns. Sometimes the Senate extended their power after their year of office, in which case they were known as proconsuls.

  Curia: The Curia (Senate House) building stood on the north side of the Forum Romanum and had traditionally been built by one of the kings. Sulla restored it, but it was burnt down during the funeral of Clodius. As dictator Caesar began work on a new curia. Even when the building was in good condition, on some occasions the Senate could be summoned to meet in other buildings for specific debates.

  Cursus honorum: The term given to the career pattern regulating public life. Existing legislation dealing with age and other qualifications for elected magistracies was restated and reinforced by Sulla during his dictatorship.

  Dictator: In times of extreme crisis a dictator was appointed for a sixmonth period during which he exercised supreme civil and military power. Later victors in civil wars, such as Sulla and Julius Caesar, used the title as a basis for more permanent power.

  Equites (sing. Eques): The `knights' were the group with the highest property qualification registered by the census. From the time of the Gracchi they were given a more formal public role as jurors in the courts, an issue that became extremely contentious.

  Fasces (sing. Fascis): An ornamental bundle of rods some 5 feet long, in the middle of which was an axe. They were carried by lictors and were the most visible symbols of a magistrate's power and status.

  Flamen Dialis: An ancient priesthood of Jupiter, the holder of which was subject to a great number of strict taboos. Effectively, the Flamen Dialis and his wife, the Flaminica, were considered to be permanently taking part in ritual observance, and so had to be kept free from any form of pollution. The young Caesar was selected for the post, but may never have been actually installed.

  Forum Romanum: The political and economic heart of the city of Rome that lay between the Capitoline, Palatine, Quirinal and Velian hills. Public meetings were often held either around the Rostra, or at the eastern end of the Forum. The Concilium Plebis and Comitia Tributa also usually met in the Forum to legislate.

  Gladius: A Latin word meaning sword, gladius is conventionally used to describe the gladius hispaniensis, the Spanish sword that was the standard Roman sidearm until well into the third century AD. Made from high-quality steel, this weapon could be used for cutting, but was primarily intended for thrusting.

  Imperium: The power of military command held by magistrates and pro-magistrates during their term of office.

  Legatus (pl. Legati): A subordinate officer who held delegated imperium rather than exercising power in his own right. Legati were chosen by a magistrate rather than elected.

  Legion (Legio): Originally a term meaning levy, the legions became the main unit of the Roman army for much of its history. In Caesar's day the theoretical strength of a legion was around 4,800-5,000 men. The effective strength of a legion on campaign, however, was often much lower.

  Lictor: The official attendants of a magistrate who carried the fasces, which symbolised his right to dispense justice and inflict capital and corporal punishment. Twelve lictors attended a consul, while a dictator was normally given twenty-four.

  Magister Equitum: Second-in-command to the Republican dictator, the Master of Horse traditionally commanded the cavalry, since the dictator was forbidden to ride a horse.

  Maniple (manipulus): The basic tactical unit of the legion until it was replaced by the cohort, the maniple consisted of two centuries. It still seems to have had some role in administration and army routine - and perhaps also drill - in Caesar's day.

  Nomenclator: A specially trained slave whose task was to whisper the names of approaching citizens permitting his master to greet them in a familiar way. Such a slave normally accompanied a canvassing politician.

  Ovatio (ovation): A lesser form of the triumph, in an ovation the general rode through the city on horseback rather than in a chariot.

  Pilum (pl. pila): The heavy javelin that was the standard equipment of the Roman legionary for much of Rome's history. Its narrow head was designed to punch through an enemy's shield, the long thin shank then giving it the reach to hit the man behind it.

  Pontifex Maximus: The head of the college of fifteen pontiffs, one of three major priesthoods monopolised by the Roman aristocracy. The pontiffs regulated the timing of many state festivals and events. The Pontifex Maximus was more chairman than leader, but the post was highly prestigious.

  Praetor: Praetors were annually elected magistrates who under the Republic governed the less important provinces and fought Rome's smaller wars.

  Prefect (praefectus): An equestrian officer with a range of duties, including the command of units of allied or auxiliary troops.

  Quaestor: Magistrates whose duties were primarily financial, quaestors acted as deputies to consular governors and often held subordinate military commands.

  Rostra: The speaker's platform in the Forum from which politicians addressed public gatherings.

  Saepta: The voting area on the Campus Martins where the various assemblies met to hold elections.

  Scorpion: The light bolt-shooting ballista employed by the Roman army both in the field and in sieges. They possessed a long range, as well as great accuracy and the ability to penetrate any form of armour.

  Signifer: The standard-bearer who carried the standard (signum) of the century.

  Spolia opima: The highest honour that a triumphing general could claim was the right to dedicate spolia opima in the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitol. The right could only gained by killing the enemy general in single combat and was celebrated on only a handful of occasions.

  Subura: The valley between the Viminal and Esquiline hills was notorious for its narrow streets and slum housing. Caesar lived in this region until he became Pontifex Maximus.

  Testudo: The famous tortoise formation in which Roman legionaries overlapped their long shield to provide protection to the front, sides and overhead. It was most often used during assaults on fortifications.

  Tribuni aerarii: The group registered below the equestrian order in the census. Relatively little is known about them.

  Tribunus militum (military tribune): Six military tribunes were elected or appointed to each legion, one pair of these men holding command at any one time.

  Tribune of the plebs: Although holding a political office without direct military responsibilities, the ten tribunes of the plebs elected each year were able to legislate on any issue. During the later years of the Republic many ambitious generals, such as Marius and Pompey, enlisted the aid of tribunes to secure important commands for themselves.

  Triumph: The great celebration granted by the Senate to a successful general took the form of a procession along the Sacra Via, the ceremonial main road of Rome, displaying the spoils and captives of his victory and culminated in the ritual execution of the captured enemy leader. The commander rode in a chariot, dressed like the statues of Jupiter, a slave holding a laurel wreath of victory over his head. The slave was supposed to whisper to the general, reminding him that he was mortal.

  Vexillum: A square flag mounted crossways on a pole, the vexillum was used to mark a general's position and was also the standard carried by a detachment of troops. A general's vexillum seems usually to have been red.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS CITED

  BOOKS

  Adcock, F., The Roman Art of War under the Republic (1940).

  Astin, A., Cato the Censor (1978).

  Austin, N., & Rankov, B., Exploratio: Military and Political Intelligence in the Roman World(1995).

  Badian, E., Roman Imperialism in the Late Republic (1968).