Abstract This paper covers the early life of Gaius Julius Caesar and gives an extensive account of his defeat of the Gauls. The paper also includes an outline of Caesar's life after the Gallic wars.
From the Paper "Gaius Julius Caesar was born by Caesarian section, according to legend, to Aurelia and Gaius Julius Caesar, a praetor, on July BCE. His family had noble patrician roots but they were not rich or influential during the period of his birth. His aunt Julia on his father's side was the wife of Gaius Marius, the leader of the Popular faction who had saved the Roman Republic several years earlier by defeating two German tribes, the Teutones and the Cimbri."
Abstract This paper uses of the characters in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," as examples of deceit and naivete, and parallels them with examples from current history. Naivete is illustrated using examples of how both Caesar and the US were unaware of the warning signs of an impending attack. Deceit is illustrated using the fact that the terrorists lived in the US and no one knew, and that Caesar's friends plotted and he never knew. Columbine High School, where two "normal" students went on shooting rampage, is used to illustrate deceit and is compared to Caesar's supporters also going on a rampage and killing him. The author illustrates how Caesar never had chance to change while on the other hand, American is changing and needs to evolve with these changes.
From the Paper "Deception, of course, correlates with the terrorist attacks, too. These Taliban members lived within our communities, shopped at our grocery stores, slept next door and might have even dated a few of our women. All the while, they were secretly plotting a nationwide attack for September 11, 2001. Caesar is also betrayed, though the Senate is supposed to be his supporters. Brutus is his best friend, his confidant. Yet all the while, Brutus is being persuaded to conspire against Caesar. Brutus does conspire, as well as others who once supported Caesar. The conspirators lie, sneak around and deceive their family and friends in order to do what they feel is right for the state of Rome. Eerily, the suicide bombers of September 11 also lied, and snuck around. Perhaps one of the most damaging results of their ultimate deception is that now Americans don?t know who to trust, which leads to many citizens preferring not to trust anyone. (Webb, EDN)"
This is an essay outlining Julius Caesar's imperial conquest of Gaul during the last century B.C. Special attention is paid to Caesar's military strategy and the motivational techniques that he used with his troops.
Abstract This paper explains how, through analysis of Caesar's "The Conquest of Gaul", among other works, one may begin to put together an explanation as to why and how Julius Caesar was so successful in defeating his enemies in such a routine fashion. It shows that, although Caesar has been subject to many subsequent criticisms about the embellishments of his campaigns in his own work, and even his military abilities at the tactical level, his feats are simply too astounding and too well-documented and praised to go unnoticed.
From the Paper "Caesar's campaigns in Gaul began in fifty-eight BC when the Helvetii, among other peoples, began a mass migration from their homes in Switzerland. Caesar declined their request to pass through Roman territory due to the fact that the Helvetii had killed Roman consul, Lucius Visutskie 2 Cassius, years previous. For this reason, Caesar viewed the Helvetii as a threat to the well-being of their allies, the Sequani and the Aedui, who had been loyal to Rome in the past, and whose territory the Helvetii wished to pass through.3 Since the Helvetii had burned their own towns and villages to the ground, Caesar viewed them as even more dangerous since they had nowhere to retreat to, thus, they would be more willing to face the consequences that resulted from any of their actions.4 Despite Caesar's refusal for the Helvetii to travel through Roman territory, they marched anyway. Caesar reacted to this manoeuver posthaste. By the time Caesar's army had reached the Helvetii army, they had already pillaged the towns and fields of the Aedui and the Sequani, and taken all of their children into slavery.5 This infuriated Caesar, he planned a careful attack on the Helvetii, determined to make them pay. Caesar first attacked a small portion of the Helvetii, whom had not yet crossed the Saone River with the rest of the army, and ravaged them, making somewhat of an example of them. Caesar caught up with the rest of the Helvetii tribe days later and damaged them more in a gruelling battle which ended with the retreat of a hundred and thirty thousand Helvetii soldiers. Caesar intelligently sent messages to other allied settlements where the Helvetii could surface, warning them not to provide the Helvetii with food or shelter as they would become the enemy of the Romans if they did. Due to lack of food and nutrition, the Helvetii surrendered within three days and were divided into several groups in accordance with Caesar's wishes.6 Thus, the first campaign of Caesar's conquest into Gaul was not really intended to be a victory for Caesar, and a step in expanding the Roman Empire, but more or less a gesture of assistance to a group who had remained loyal to Rome over many years(as understood by the writings of Caesar himself). Besides being successful in getting the Helvetii out of Rome, Caesar also was quite successful in removing Ariovistus from Roman territory."
Abstract This paper examines how the purposes behind Plutarch's "Roman Lives" and Suetonius's "Lives of the Caesars" are extremely different; one seeks to provide moral instruction through history, and the other aims to present a historical account of the lives of the Roman emperors. The authors' portrayals of Caesar are very different, and this paper attempts to explain these inconsistencies while exploring Caesar's military career.
From the Paper "As with many historical figures known to posterity for their greatness, Caesar exists today as an intermingling of legend, truth, and hyperbole. Different accounts of Caesar often portray him very differently, as evidenced in his biographies by Plutarch and Suetonius. The Caesar of Plutarch is an extraordinarily gifted military leader, infallible in almost all aspects of military prowess and exemplifying impeccable moral guidance in his actions on the battlefield. Suetonius' Caesar, however, is a much more humanistic figure: his motivations are suspect and his momentous achievements in battle are tempered by less favorable accounts of treachery and deception."
Abstract This paper examines the rise to power of Julius Caesar. The paper begins with a discussion of Caesar's early leadership and his calculated moves toward military greatness. Next, the paper analyzes Caesar's role in crushing Pompey's army in Pharsalus. The paper concludes with the plot to assassin Caesar, as well as brief commentary on his historical legacy.
From the Paper "Gaius Julius Caesar was born in Rome on July 12, 100 BC, as a member of the Julian clan. It seemed as though Julius was almost born a radical. At a young age, his uncle by marriage, Gaius Marius, leader of the Populares, had ruled seven times as consul, or chief magistrate. It was in this seventh term that he appointed young Caesar to the position of flamen dialis, a position of archaic priesthood, but with no power. Thus, he was classified as one who agreed with his uncle's extremist ideas, and even further influenced this opinion when he broke off his first engagement with Cossutia, and married Cornelia, the daughter of Marius's associate, Cinna, in 84 BC."
Abstract The paper examines "Caesar: Life of a Colossus", the biography of the greatest of Rome's generals. The paper describes how Goldsworthy provides a biography that is comprehensive on the many different facets of leadership and personality traits that Caesar had in his long and successful career as a general and a public servant. The paper relates that Goldsworthy provides primary and secondary sources as well as historically authentic documents written by Caesar. The paper concludes that although Goldsworthy might have delved deeper into the ethical aspects of Caesar's megalomania and ruthless actions, he still provides an important and scholarly account of the famous Roman general and emperor.
Outline:
Summary
Analysis
Conclusion
From the Paper "Caesar: Life of a Colossus by Adrian Goldsworthy examines the life of one of the greatest of the Rome's generals and reveals a biography from his earliest years, to his final downfall as a dictator of Rome. The basis of Caesar's military and educational training are essential parts of the biography, which Goldsworthy covers from childhood and early adulthood to his adult life as a general. The story then revolves around Caesar's military conquests, which result in his latter life being centered on his leadership as an emperor and finally, a dictator that is eventually put to death."
Abstract This paper discusses whether Julius Caesar was assassinated out of fear, idealism or jealousy. It argues that fear, idealism and jealousy were all present among the 'liberators' when they assassinated Caesar. It specifically looks at the idealism of Brutus, the fear of Cicero and the jealousy of Cassius in their responsibility for causing the final downfall of Caesar.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Probable Causes Of Caesar's Assassination:
Historical Background/Political Situation
Idealism Of The 'Liberators' Or The Conspirators
The Opposing View And The Role Of Jealousy Or Fear
Fear Among Friends
Jealousy Amidst The Power Seekers
Understanding The Underlying Factors
Conclusion
From the Paper "According to Taylor, though the struggle against Caesar was triggered by idealism, in course of time it became more influenced by 'personal interests' rather than any ideal of Free State. Storch suggests that 'relative depravity' possibly played a role in Caesar's assassination. He explains that those who were pardoned or favored by Caesar were not happy as they in many cases did not get as much as they wanted. Moreover even inside the inner circle of friends dissatisfaction remained because of advancing someone's career over others, like that of Anotony's. Though there were many eligible people in line to be chosen as consul, violating the tradition Caesar appointed Antony for the position, which enraged Labienus, one of the hopefuls for consulship and a member of Caesarian camp."
Abstract This essay studies William Shakespeare's play, "Julius Caesar". It approaches the antagonism of both Caesar and the conspirators and the motivations of the conspirators. The themes of political achievement and popular responsibility are also discussed.
From the Paper "Caesar was popular on the streets. His popularity was his source of power. Manipulation is a vice of politicians; on the converse side, influence is a political virtue. These are characteristics of Caesar. Because of his popularity, he can do anything he wants, as the Plebes rule Rome indirectly. This sets the stage for the political statement of the play. As there is an order set, this pure democracy of Rome is one of a kind. The people cast no votes as a whole, but only the elite. However, the approval of the Plebes is the primary concern of all politicians in Rome. This power of the people, however, is flexible in an uneducated society, as is most of Rome. Those who ran the politicians could easily be persuaded by those they ran (i.e. the politicians), who offered supremacy to Caesar."
Abstract This paper explains that to have absolute control or power over another human being, or, in the case of Julius Caesar, an entire nation, is an awesome responsibility. If the person in authority is convinced that their way is the only way, it can only produce negative results. The author points out that Julius Caesar is known in Roman history as the first dictator who was declared Dictator for Life with no limit on how long he could remain a ruler and retain his ultimate power over the people. The paper relates that, prior to his assassination, Caesar faced steadily growing opposition from the senators of Rome, who believed that he would put an end to the Republic and that he was a threat to all Roman traditions. However, the assassination only led to the renewal of civil wars and ultimately the Roman Republic was finally destroyed.
From the Paper "Caesar lived his live by the motto, that he himself said "I came, I saw, I conquered!". These words expressed his incredible strong will and compelling attitude. He was also known as being very courageous and quick-witted. More than anything else this motto declared his definite need to control and conquer all he came into contact with. Caesar had ambitious plans for changing Rome and proposed to make a digest of the whole Roman law to found libraries, to drain the Pontine Marshes, to enlarge the harbor at Ostia, to dig a can throughout Isthmus, and to launch a war against the Dacians in Europe and the Parthiians in the East."
Tags: assasination, destruction, absolute, roman, control
Abstract A discussion regarding one of the most influential and powerful men in Roman history, Julius Caesar. The paper reports how Caesar played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. According to the paper, Caesar was widely considered to be one of the foremost military geniuses of his time and a brilliant politician.
From the Paper "At the time of Caesar's birth, Carus Marius was the leading man in Rome, having saved the Roman Republic several years before by defeating two German tribes, the Teutones and the Cimbri. Caesar was related to Marius through the marriage of Marius and a sister of Caesar's father. When Caesar was very young, Marius had lost much of his earlier popularity, and eventually left Rome to travel in Greece and Asia Minor, hoping for some new command (Jiminez, 2000). However, still had some influence, and in 92 BC Caesar's father was elected as praetor, or a magistrate whose most important function was the administration of justice. In 84 BC Caesar's father died suddenly, and at sixteen years old, Caesar was the head of the family. Between 81 BC and 79 BC, Caesar served in Asia Minor on the personal staff of Marcus Minucius Thermus, who was praetor in Asia Minor. Mithridates of Pontus attacked Asia Minor a second time, while Caesar was serving there, and entirely on his own, Caesar raised a small army and defended some towns, giving the Roman commander time to organize an army and attack Mithridates in Pontus. Caesar returned to Rome in 73 BC, as a war hero, and thus began his career as a general and politician. "
Abstract This paper discusses how, although both Julius Caesar and Augustus improvised political strategies to support their respective dominance of the Roman world, Augustus was successful while Julius Caesar was not due to the respect that Augustus paid to the formalities and conventions of Roman political life. The paper looks at how Julius Caesar relied on the overt exercise of power and relegated the senate to a marginal position in the state and how, in comparison, Augustus employed power in covert ways and understood that he could retain absolute power as long as he paid "lip service" to republican values.
From the Paper "The office of "dictator" in the Roman Republic was a position that granted its holder extraordinary powers. It was thus rarely granted by the state, and usually in times of emergency when a unified command was critical to the survival of Rome. However, given the echoes of absolute royal power in this office, Romans carefully limited the powers of the office to six months or the duration of the emergency; whichever was shorter (BGT 26-27). Julius Caesar, in his calculated political improvisation in a time of Civil War, relied heavily upon repeated grants of the dictatorship to give a veneer of legitimacy and legal authority to his supreme military and political power. In February 44, Caesar finally decided to assume the dictatorship for life as a matter of convenience (BGT 160)."
Abstract This paper compares the similarities of two literary characters. More specifically, the paper compares and contrasts the character of Ahab from Herman Mellville's "Moby Dick" with the character of Julius Caesar from Shakespeare's famous story of the same name. The paper concludes that like "Moby Dick", "Julius Caesar" is a historical incident which Shakespeare puts meaning into in retrospect, imbuing the characters with traits which we admire or hate and placing around them others who seemingly act only in accordance with fate.
Outline:
Ways in which Ahab and Julius are similar
Ways in which Ahab and Julius Caesar are different
From the Paper "Caesar is hard to like. Ahab is also hard to like, but he appears more sympathetic as he is so dogged in his quest of the white whale. Ahab is shown to be a brooding and dark character that we sometimes see in literature, ambiguously evil, yet we sympathize with his madness. He sacrifices everything, including his life and his crew to capture Moby Dick, whom he has sought for so long: "Now it was that there lurked a something in the old man's eyes, which it was hardly sufferable for feeble souls to see. As the unsetting polar star, which through the livelong, arctic, six months' night sustains its piercing, steady, central gaze; so Ahab's purpose now fixedly gleamed down upon the constant midnight of the gloomy crew." (Melville, Chapter 130).
"The book Moby Dick is about a quest and a challenge to the universe in which Ahab lives. He will fight it to the death because he believes he can conquer it. He does not know that no matter how big he may be, it is bigger than he, but he will die in the attempt. "He piled upon the whale's white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart's shell upon it." (Melville, Chapter 135). Like Moby Dick, Julius Caesar is a historical incident which Shakespeare puts meaning into in retrospect, imbuing the characters with traits which we admire or hate and placing around them others who seemingly act only in accordance with fate."
Abstract In this article, the writer looks at Aurelia Cotta who was a strong, intelligent woman from ancient Roman times who took wonderful care of her family. The writer notes that without Aurelia, there would have never been a Gaius Julius Caesar who was a powerful Roman military and political leader. The writer discusses Aurelia's life and notes that her parents were very influential political people of Rome. She married Gaius Julius Caesar (the elder) and had three children with him. The writer then discusses that her most well known "achievement" was raising their son Gaius Julius Caesar, who also held a high political status in Rome. She was well liked by the people of Rome and was a very strong, intelligent woman. The writer concludes that Aurelia did what was necessary to raise a family that was both successful and powerful in Ancient Roman times.
From the Paper " Women in Ancient Rome lacked the rights that the women of today have but they were expected to produce children to populate Rome and they were also supposed to help raise their children. It was a requirement that Roman women produce children for their husbands so that they could populate Rome because the Roman people were always concerned about their legacies. They were also expected to teach their sons and daughters Roman culture. They were especially expected to teach their daughters Roman culture so that one day they, in turn, could teach these customs and principles to their sons and daughters."
Abstract This paper examines the life of star comedian Sid Caesar from the 1950's. It produces theories and working examples of how someone becomes susceptible to a drug addiction and how Sid Caesar fit these theories. It looks at what in the comedian's life made him need and thrive on the drugs and how these eventually failed him.
From the Paper "Drug abuse and addiction affects every American either directly or indirectly with the economic burden alone for drug abuse estimated to exceed $109 billion in the latest estimate. Scientific advances, particularly over the past decade, have catapulted both our understanding and our approaches to addiction. Research has in fact come to define addiction as a chronic, and for many people reoccurring disease characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use that results from the prolonged effects of drugs on the brain. A variety of studies in both humans and animals have demonstrated that chronic drug use does in fact change the brain in fundamental ways that persist long after the individual has stopped taking drugs. By using advanced brain imaging technologies we see what is believed to be the biological core of addiction. This paper will utilize the addiction process of Sid Caesar and present a prognosis of the process of addiction as a whole. (National household survey on drug abuse, preliminary results 1997)"
Tags: drug, substance, abuse, addiction, star, comedy, comedian, film, movie
