Download Today we move from the theme of Alienation to the theme of

Caesar and Rome: An Overview
Your Learning Goals Today (What I
Want You to Remember from Today)
• How Ancient Rome has influenced our society
today in terms of architecture, art, government,
language, sports, etc.
• The structure of the Ancient Roman government
and how it worked
• How and why Caesar rose to—and fell from—
power in Ancient Rome
• What happened after Caesar’s assassination and
why William Shakespeare felt it was important to
write a historic play about these events
Roman Influences on Our Society
• Our language, English, is primarily based on Latin, which
the Romans spoke (other Latin-based languages include
Spanish, French, and Italian)
• Our sports such as boxing, wrestling, Mixed Martial Arts,
fencing, even race-car-driving, can be traced back to
Ancient Rome’s gladiatorial and chariot-racing spectacles …
we even have “American Gladiators”
• A lot of our art can be traced back to the classical
sculptures of ancient Greece and Rome, where the goal
was to realistically portray idealized human forms; the
Romans worshipped physical perfection, as do we
• Of course, arguably their most important influence has
been on our form of government …
But First, ‘Verbal Irony’
• Raise your hand if you can tell us all the
answer to this question: What’s the definition
of verbal irony?
• Now that we’ve reviewed that, a bit about the
Roman Senate …
The Roman Senate
• The Ancient Romans had a Senate, and we have a
Senate in our government, too, but politics in Rome
have nothing—I repeat, nothing—to do with our
politics today
• The Roman Senate was entirely made up of wealthy
people called patricians—not like our Senate today
• The Roman senators got into their positions of power
through money or family connections or both, not like
our senators
• The Roman lower classes (who were called plebeians)
had almost no say in government, almost no political
power at all, not like America today …
More on the Roman Senate
• Ancient Roman politicians often waged war
and conquered foreign lands, bringing them
under the control of their nation, just to
enrich their nation and become popular … not
like our modern-day politicians
• During a time of war, the Romans often
elected a dictator and suspended democracy
until the war was over … not like our modernday government
The Roman Senate and Our Own
Modern-Day Government—Seriously
• Money, power, corruption, family ‘dynasties’
of rulers, bribery, greed, bloodthirsty warmongers and throwing out democracy when it
was inconvenient … their government was
EXACTLY like our own modern-day
government in all those respects
• (I was using verbal irony before, something
you will see frequently in the play The Tragedy
of Julius Caesar)
Patricians Then and Now
Crassus, the banker, and member
of the First Triumvirate with Julius
Caesar and Pompey
Roman Influences on Our Nation
• Government—again, our Republic (which means any
government where the people elect their leaders) was
modeled after the Greco-Roman government, along
with the Iroquois Confederacy (a large group made up
of different Native tribes), both of which influenced our
Founding Fathers as they formed our own government
• Our early government did not permit women or slaves
to participate in democracy, just like in the Republic of
Ancient Rome, where only free (and wealthy) men
could have government positions … now we no longer
have (legal) slavery, and women can participate in
democracy, but the majority of our elected officials are
still wealthy
Roman Influences on America, Contd.
• Raise your hand if you can describe for the
class the architectural style of most
government buildings in Washington, DC
Roman Columns and Friezes on the U.S.
Supreme Court Building
An Actual Ancient Roman Building
The Roman-Architecture-Inspired U.S.
Capitol Rotunda and Capitol Dome
A Drawing of a Real Ancient Roman Building as it Most Likely Looked
Our Nation’s Capitol’s Architecture
Even Includes A Roman-Style Obelisk
Ancient Roman Obelisk in Saint Peter’s
Square, in Vatican City, in Rome
Rome (and Greece) Provided Us With the Model for the Literal
Architecture of Our Government’s Buildings and Its
Metaphorical Architecture for Our Governmental Structure
Roman Government, U.S. Government
• In Ancient Rome, for awhile, there was a
triumvirate made up of three different rulers; the
idea was that no one man would grow too
powerful and abuse his power and make bad
decisions that would be bad for Rome
• We have our own version of this … raise your
hand if you can name the three different (and in
theory, equal) branches into which our own
government is divided so that no one branch has
too much power, providing a system of ‘checks
and balances’
The Roman Triumvirate Failed
• The first triumvirate, made up of Julius Caesar,
Pompey, and Crassus (a wealthy banker), fell
apart … Crassus died, leaving Pompey and Caesar,
but Pompey was jealous of Caesar’s power and
popularity, and when Caesar’s only legitimate,
acknowledged child—his daughter Julia, who had
been married off to Pompey (to solidify Caesar’s
and Pompey’s alliance)—died in childbirth, this
left Caesar no reason to try to get along with
Pompey, so they went to war … and Caesar won
Caesar’s Victory Leads to Dictatorship
• Julius Caesar defeated his former ally Pompey, and also defeated
Pompey’s sons (Pompey and one of his two sons were eventually
killed by Caesar and/or Caesar’s forces), and established himself as
dictator-for-life of Rome (in an interesting historical parallel, the
U.S. defeated its former ally, the dictator Saddam Hussein, who—
like Caesar—had images of himself all over his country, and the U.S.
military also killed Hussein’s sons before establishing U.S. military
rule in Iraq) … some people had a problem with Caesar becoming
dictator-for-life of Rome, because the way it was supposed to work
was this: during times of war, the Roman Senate (senators were
democratically elected by the wealthy and free Roman males;
slaves, the poor, and women didn’t get to vote, just like our earliest
form of ‘democracy’) would elect a temporary dictator who was to
rule absolutely (every order followed unquestioningly) ONLY for the
duration of the war, not for the rest of his life …
Why Would They ELECT a DICTATOR?
• It seems odd to democratically vote a dictator
into power, since a democracy means that many
citizens get to have a say in their government,
while a dictatorship means one individual (and
that individual’s closest circle of trusted fellow
rulers) get to tell everyone what to do and
everyone has to do what they’re told, or ELSE …
why would they think it was a good idea to elect
a dictator during times of war (or national crisis),
suspending democracy until the war or crisis
ended? Raise your hands and I’ll call on someone to share.
Advantages and Disadvantages of This Approach
• Dictators could get things done a lot more quickly than a
democratic process could achieve; during war, when swift
decisions could make the difference between victory and
defeat, this made sense to the Romans
• Without the possibility of dissent, those who opposed or
questioned the dictator could have their rights seriously
violated … with democratic rights thrown out, people could
be imprisoned, enslaved, tortured, or killed just for stating
their beliefs (like that the dictator is making bad decisions,
and/or they need to step down from power so that their
nation can restore democracy)
• Julius Caesar and Adolf Hitler were both initially elected by
a democratic vote, after which they became dictators who
did not allow anyone else to ever run against them
Our Own Version of This Model
• During World War I, people who opposed America’s getting
involved were imprisoned for exercising their First Amendment
right to say so … many remained in prison until well after the war
was over
• During World War II, Americans of Japanese descent were put into
internment camps without their Constitutionally-guaranteed right
to due process (trial, etc.) simply because they were of Japanese
descent and we were at war with Japan
• During the 1950s, Senator Joseph (Joe) McCarthy claimed that
Communists had infiltrated our government, and proceeded to call
forth suspected Communist Americans to have Congress question
them on their loyalties, ruining the lives of all who were accused
(those who were Communist and those who weren’t); many people
were even imprisoned for refusing to cooperate with his witchhunts for Communists, a violation of their Constitutional rights
Our Own Version of This Model, Contd.
• During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln had all kinds of
people who opposed that war put into prison for
exercising their First Amendment rights by speaking
out against it; anti-war pamphleteers had their printing
presses smashed, etc. It didn’t matter if they were proConfederacy (for the South’s right to have slaves and
secede from the country) or if they were just opposed
to war on principle because they were pacifists (who
believe in peace and always oppose war) … they were
imprisoned. Lincoln used the very first-ever Executive
Order to do this. Other Presidents have issued
Executive Orders since …
Our Own Version of This Model, Contd.
• If you are so inclined, write down these
numbered Executive Orders and look them up
online:
• Executive Order 10995
• Executive Orders 10998-11005
• Executive Order 12919
• Here’s what these Executive Orders give our
government the power to do in times of crisis or
national emergency (our government gets to
decide what constitutes a national crisis) …
Executive Orders Similar to the Roman Model of
Suspending Democracy in Times of
Crisis/Emergency/War
• Those Executive Orders give our federal government the power to seize
control of all food and natural resources (including energy sources) as well
as take over industries that are useful in producing weapons
• These Executive Orders can be activated by any president during a state of
national emergency or war: there is no distinction between two. This can
go on indefinitely; as long as our nation is at war, or in a state of
emergency, these extreme measures that suspend the Constitution can
continue
• “Operation Blackwoods” was a plan in which our military would fake a
foreign-based attack on our nation as a justification for suspending the
Constitution, giving the president King-like powers, and waging war … it
was planned, but never done (it was rumored Kennedy came up with a
plan of this type to justify invading Cuba, and Reagan planned to do the
same to justify invading Nicaragua); the government agency responsible
would have been FEMA … this is exactly the type of thing that
(unfortunately) lends credibility to the crackpots who believe our own
federal government actively engineered 9-11, though this is not the case
Julius Caesar: Ruthless, Brilliant, Bloodthirsty
• Like FDR, JFK, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Adolf
Hitler, and Fidel Castro, Julius Caesar was quite intelligent
and went after power with single-minded purpose, aided
by his intellect and ability to write and speak well
• Caesar crucified his enemies (literally)
• Caesar didn’t invent gladiatorial combat, but he elevated it
to the sports-entertainment that it later became in Rome …
chariot races were primarily watched for their spectacular
and deadly accidents (rather like NASCAR today) and the
gladiatorial fights (to the death) are reflected in our own
sports of wrestling, boxing, fencing, MMA … the Ancient
Romans were a bloodthirsty bunch, and Caesar gave them
what they wanted
Gladiators Then and Now
Spectacular Crashes Then and Now
Caesar’s Rise
• After conquering Pompey and his sons, Caesar
was declared dictator-for-life of Rome (not
just until Rome was no longer at war or in
crisis), and also statues and temples honoring
him were springing up all over Rome, and his
image put on Roman currency (we have put
our past political leaders on our money, too);
according to the Roman Cicero, the people
honored Caesar as if he had become a god,
and Caesar very much embraced that
Caesar’s Popularity
• Caesar was popular because he gave land to
the poor, benefits to war veterans, tax breaks
to the wealthy, and he won lots of wars and
conquered lots of land which Rome then got
to rule and exploit (the natural resources and
the labor of the people of those lands, etc.)
Caesar’s Unpopularity
• Caesar angered some members of the Roman Senate when at a
public meeting he did not (as was customary) rise to greet them,
but instead remained seated on his throne, a gesture of disrespect
• Caesar’s status as a ‘god’ angered many Romans who believed in
the traditional Roman pantheon of gods; it was blasphemous
• Caesar violated the basic rights of many Roman citizens (freedom of
speech, etc.); for example, when tribunes removed laurel wreath
coronets (crowns) from his statue because that honor was reserved
for royalty and/or the gods, Caesar ordered them to be either fired
or executed (depending on which historic source you believe)
• Many Romans believed that while temporary suspension of
democracy in times of crisis was acceptable, a total loss of
democracy and a permanent dictatorship were unacceptable, and
brought to mind their ancient kings whom the Romans had
overthrown to install a democracy in the first place
More Reasons Caesar Was Scandalous
• Caesar also blatantly carried on an affair (one of many) with
Cleopatra of Egypt, bringing her to Rome and having her—and
her young son Caesarion, who was allegedly Caesar’s—live in
an apartment across from the Roman Capitol … this shocked
many Romans, who believed husbands should be more
discreet about the affairs they were all expected to have …
Caesar was openly cheating on his last wife, Calpurnia
(depending on which source you read, she was either his third
or his fourth wife; historians still argue about whether or not
Caesar ever legally married his first fiancé Cossutia)
• We can’t know for sure if Caesar loved any of his wives, but
we do know every time he got married it helped him advance
his career, and when one of his wives was involved in a public
scandal he divorced her for that reason, and said so
Caesar and Cleopatra Not Keepin’ It on the DL
Caesar’s Fall
• For all these reasons, a group of conspirators,
including Caesar’s best friend (and possibly, it
was rumored, his illegitimate son) Brutus,
whose ancestors had helped overthrow the
Roman kings and install a democracy, stabbed
Caesar 23 times, in public, and sent Roman
society into a downward spiral of chaos and
civil war …
The Aftermath of Caesar’s Assassination
• The conspirators fell to bickering with each other as Rome
fell to pieces, and those who had been loyal to Caesar—
including his other best friend, Mark Antony—formed a
new triumvirate sworn to get revenge on those who had
betrayed Caesar: the new triumvirate was made up of
Antony, Lepidus, and Octavius (or, Octavian) Caesar, Julius
Caesar’s grand-nephew and his adopted heir to the throne
• Octavius later became known as Augustus Caesar, and he is
why we have the month of August, named after him; July is
named after Julius Caesar, and the Julian Calendar (which
Julius Caesar created) was widely used until the twentieth
century (it’s still used by some people in the world today,
though now most people in the world, including us, go by
the Gregorian Calendar, a reform of the Julian Calendar)
Rome Returns to Another Caesar’s Power
• After a long war waged largely through the Middle-East, the
conspirators—Brutus, Cassius, and others—were defeated
and killed by the forces of the new triumvirate, with the
result that Octavius (later known as Augustus) Caesar
became the new ruler of Rome and its first emperor
• After Julius Caesar, the name ‘Caesar’ became a generic
name for every Roman emperor; they were all known as
‘the Caesars’
• The German form of Caesar is Kaiser, like Kaiser Wilhelm
who ruled Germany during World War I
• The Russian form of Caesar is Czar or Tsar, and the Czars of
Russia ruled Russia in much the same way Caesar had ruled
Ancient Rome … iron-fisted and merciless dictatorships
Why Shakespeare Wrote The Play The
Tragedy of Julius Caesar
• During Shakespeare’s time in England—known as the Elizabethan
Age, named after their Queen Elizabeth—a lot of people worried
about the fact that Elizabeth had no known legitimate heirs (whom
she claimed as her own) to inherit the throne if she were to die,
though it was rumored she did have illegitimate children
• Julius Caesar had no known legitimate male heirs (whom he
claimed as his own) to inherit his throne (Romans at that time
would not have accepted a female leader due to their sexism, and
even if they would have accepted this, Caesar’s daughter Julia had
died), so when Caesar died, Rome fell into chaos and civil war as
different sides fought to gain power and rule Rome
• Shakespeare feared the same fate could befall England if Elizabeth
died without an heir, leaving a ‘power vacuum’ and a destructive
struggle for power
Important Things to Know
• Shakespeare based his play on Roman histories, but did
not accurately portray every single event as it really
happened … he took some creative liberties with the
facts to make a more effective drama
• However, the main points—the assassination itself,
those who were involved in the conspiracy, and the
chaos after Caesar’s death—are pretty much what did
happen in actual history, though Shakespeare did
change some minor details or make up some things
(Caesar’s last words in the play are spoken in Latin, but
in actual history his last words were probably in Greek)
More Important Things
• BCE means Before the Common Era, and has now largely replaced
the previously-used BC, which stood for Before Christ; the years
referred to remain the same, but, for example, what used to be
called 1 BC is now generally referred to as 1 BCE (both refer to the
year before Jesus Christ was allegedly supposed to have been born)
• Whereas once we’d refer to our own time as AD (for Anno Domini,
which is Latin for Year of Our Lord) it is now more common to refer
to this time period as the Common Era, or, CE
• Caesar was assassinated in 44 BCE on the ides of March, or, in other
words, on March 15th (‘ides’ means ‘middle’) and over fifteen and a
half centuries later, William Shakespeare thought it was still
important enough to write a play about it … about four centuries
after Shakespeare wrote that play, we still consider it important
enough today to read William Shakespeare’s play about these
events that happened over twenty and a half centuries ago
Trivial But Interesting Information
• John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Abraham
Lincoln, was an actor in a family of actors, and
had been in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, but
never as Brutus (who strikes the fatal blow
against the tyrant Caesar), but he always wanted
to play that role … he killed Lincoln in a theater, in
public, and then leapt on to the stage and yelled,
“Sic semper tyrannus,” Latin (the language they
spoke in Ancient Rome) for “Thus always to
tyrants” (which is now the state motto of Virginia)
and in his own diary Booth referred to Lincoln as
a Caesar and to himself as Brutus
“SIC SEMPER TYRANNUS!” (“Thus always to tyrants!”)
More Trivial But Interesting Info.
• Caesar’s Rome was considered to be the First Reich; Kaiser
Wilhelm’s government during WWI was considered to be the
Second Reich; Adolf Hitler called his Fascist government the Third
Reich, and adopted many of the symbols (and practices) of Julius
Caesar, among them, the symbol of the eagle. The term ‘Fascism’
itself comes from the ancient Roman practice of having highranking government officials have lower-ranking officials walk in
front of them with bundles of sticks tied together around an axe
(these bundles were called ‘fasces’) to symbolize their power; this
symbol was adopted by the founder of Fascism, Italian dictator
Mussolini (Italy is where Ancient Rome used to be), the idea being
that a bundle of sticks is strong and not easily broken while a single
stick can easily be broken. This represents the idea of an individual
citizen’s life being unimportant, and only the whole nation-state
matters, so individuals’ rights are sacrificed.
Fasces
The ‘Third Reich’
Borrowed the Imagery
of the ‘First Reich’
More Interesting Trivia
• In the 1930s, a young American, Orson Welles, had his
Mercury Theatre company stage a production of The
Tragedy of Julius Caesar as a propaganda piece to
encourage the U.S. to get involved in the fight against
the Axis Powers, re-setting the play in the then-current
1930s Fascist Italy, portraying Caesar as a Mussolini- or
Hitler-type of dictator, and having those loyal to Caesar
wear brown shirts like Hitler’s supporters
• Welles re-staged the scene portraying the death of
Cinna the Poet as a hate crime similar to what the
Fascist Nazis were doing to the Jews
An Interesting Anecdote About Caesar
• When just a youth, Caesar was kidnapped by
pirates … he asked them how much they were
asking for him, and they told him, and he told
them he was worth more, and they should ask his
friends for more; he assured his kidnappers that
his friends would pay more for his safe return …
the pirates asked for the amount Caesar told
them to demand, and they got the ransom in full
• While their captive, Caesar joked with them that
he’d eventually catch up to them and crucify
them all … at the time, the pirates laughed …
• After Caesar’s friends had paid the higher ransom, his
pirate captors let him go, and Caesar promptly got some
ships, caught up to the pirates, and crucified them all, just
like he’d said he would do. He did show them some mercy,
however, since they’d been such gracious hosts and
treated him so well while he was with them; he slit their
throats so they’d die faster on their crosses (usually it
takes days to die by crucifixion, due to dehydration,
exhaustion, exposure, and blood loss). Then he took the
ransom money (which was now more than it would have
been otherwise) and kept it for himself rather than
returning it to his friends who’d paid to free him. He
turned his own kidnapping into a fundraising opportunity.
Did Caesar Know About the Assassination Plot?
• Finally, some historians argue that Caesar may
well have actually received and read the
warnings about his imminent assassination,
but allowed it to happen anyway because he
wanted to go out ‘on top’ and ‘in a blaze of
glory’ at the height of his power, rather than
fade away slowly, growing weak in body and
mind, becoming senile as he grew older, etc.
• We do still remember him today as he was at
the height of his power