Lives by Plutarch - 16 - Caesar
Caesar
Quote
"There's no room for free speech in times of war."
Notes
Caesar grows up in the midst of the civil war between Sulla and Marius and Sulla's subsequent rule. Sulla initially wants to kill Caesar after seeing his potential, and Caesar is forced to go into hiding.
He's captured by pirates but he isn't a typical prisoner. He jokes around with them, plays games, and reads drafts of his writing to them. Eventually he pays the ransom for his release, then comes back and kills them all.
He studies rhetoric under the same teacher who taught Cicero (who's considered the best rhetorician in Rome), though he's more focussed on military studies.
Caesar gets to be really popular. People like being around him. He brings back honour to Marius (who was his uncle) who had been a great hero to Rome before the civil war. People love Caesar for doing that.
He's elected to a few political positions and foreign posts. He has a campaign in Spain and wins a lot of success and wealth for his men there.
He reads about Alexander the Great and it makes him cry because he himself hasn't achieved anything remarkable like Alexander had at his age.
He's elected consul back in Rome and he helps resolve a dispute between Pompey and Crassus, who are probably the two other most powerful men in Rome. He doles out land to the common people making him even more popular with them. He also instigates fights with the senate, having Pompey to support him.
He has another campaign, this time in Gaul, which is also very successful for him. He now has a strong reputation as a military commander and the sincere loyalty and affection of his men. Just his presence on the battlefield inspires them to do extraordinary and courageous things.
They're also impressed by his ability to work so hard even when his health is bad. He seems to suffer from epileptic fits from time to time.
His daughter, Julia, dies, which effectively severs the ties with Pompey (who was her husband). The marriage had formed a quasi-pact between the two (though Pompey also had genuine affection for her).
Caesar and his men keep fighting in Gaul and the fighting builds their strength. Caesar is gearing up for a fight against Pompey.
Back in Rome there's lots of instability. People want an autocracy to bring some order back. Pompey has designs to become that autocrat. He's feeling confidant and hearing rumours that Caesar is unpopular. The senate wants to take away both Caesar and Pompey's army, fearing their power has grown too big.
Caesar starts marching his army towards Rome from Gaul. He stops at the Rubicon river, which is the border between Gaul and Rome, and he contemplates the potential consequences of crossing it. Then he says, "Let the die be cast", and crosses over.
Rome is in chaos at the news. Pompey decides to abandon the city and encourages others to do the same. "Only those who prefer tyranny should stay behind", he says. So Caesar is able to march in and take Rome. When he's there he demands access to the treasury. One man tries to stop him and Caesar tells him, "There's no room for free speech in times of war." He threatens his life and finally gets access to the treasury.
Pompey is holding out at sea with his ships and easy access to supplies. Caesar is almost killed in a battle and has to rethink his strategy. Pompey's side is confidant they will win. Some of them start planning for what government positions they'll get after they win.
Pompey actually wants to wait Caesar out and drain his supplies, but he's pushed to go out and fight by his advisors and the men who are criticizing him for delaying. But Caesar gets the upper hand in battle and he wins. Pompey runs away.
Caesar looks around at all the dead and says, "They brought this on themselves." Many prisoners are incorporated into his legions, including Brutus who's life he spares.
Pompey's head is later brought to him but he turns away and cries at seeing it. (In Plutarch's account of Pompey's life he says Caesar kills the people who murdered Pompey, too.)
Caesar goes to Egypt and falls in love with Cleopatra. He also has to fight off plots on his life. He ends up inadvertently destroying the library of Alexandria in order to defend himself against an attack.
He comes back to Rome after more military campaigns and has some triumphs for himself. He also puts on more festivals and gladiator shows for the people.
A new census shows Rome's population has dropped by a half after the civil war (to about 150,000).
Caesar next goes off to war against Pompey's sons and kills them. Then he comes back and has another triumph. This pisses a lot of people off. Pompey was a really popular leader and this seems like a disgrace to his memory and his family.
Still they prefer Caesar to the chaos they had before. They pronounce him dictator for life.
Caesar is driven to achieve more. It's as if he's competing with his past self. He plans more wars and large building projects. He also assigns the smartest mathematicians and philosophers to fix the calendar. It's been a big problem that the calendar gets out of alignment with the seasons and important religious holy days.
Despite all this, he still offends a lot of people and doesn't always show proper respect to the senate. Some start plotting against him. They try to recruit Brutus, who Caesar had spared and who's since become one of Caesar's most trusted allies. But Brutus also has ancestors who had assassinated a king to bring about the republic. Eventually he is brought around to the plot, largely because of this family history.
Caesar's wife, Cornelia, dreams that he's murdered. There seem to be other omens as well. Cornelia tells him to stay away from the senate but one of the senators pulls him into it.
Caesar goes into the senate and the conspirators surround him and stab him to death with swords. The scene is so chaotic that some of them even stab each other in the melee. All this takes place with a statue of Pompey lurking over them.
Brutus gives a speech the next day. The senate agrees, as a way of keeping peace, to decree divine honours for Caesar and to uphold his measures. The conspirators, in turn, are granted provinces they can go to. And it's a good thing because it doesn't take long for a mob of Caesar's supporters to come after them. One person is mistaken to be one of Caesar's assassins and the mob tears him apart limb from limb.
There seem to be signs of the gods' disfavour over Caesar's murder, according to Plutarch. A rare comet appears in the sky, and other signs. All the conspirators are eventually killed.