Life of Julius Caesar

Life of Caesar by Plutarch.

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I read this for the Online Great Books program.

The OGB group I attend voted Caesar the Great Life they would most like to have a beer with. I'm not sure it would be a beer, probably a glass of wine, but the conversation would be phenomenal.

Caesar was descended from a god, but in Rome, at that time, that kind of thing was expected from the great families. Caesar certainly took his divine ancestry to heart and set for himself the goal of being the first man in Rome. Not necessarily the only great man, but certainly the greatest among everyone else. He would be the person whom people would come to if they wanted patronage and positions.

Caesar had grown up endangered during the proscriptions of Sulla. There was a good chance that he would not survive childhood as a relative of Sulla's enemy Marius. It is noteworthy that when he had power, Caesar did not himself put up proscription lists. Perhaps he wanted to be Sulla without the killing.

After surviving Sulla, Caesar's life was the life of a trapeze artist, swinging from one position to another, staying barely ahead of falling to his death. Every step up the ladder of success required money, and Caesar was not one to stint on spending money to keep his name in the minds of Romans. He made enemies, but was fortunate up to the end. At one point, the Senate under Cicero was contemplating killing Caesar for his opposition to the execution of the confederates of Catiline, but because Cato spoke in support of Caesar, Caesar escaped that mortal danger.

Caesar's fortune was a result of preparation, skill, and vigilance. He was all-in for the game of Roman politics. He also turned out to be a brilliant general which put him at the head of an army that owed him exclusive personal allegiance. Caesar's army was better than Pompey's, or maybe, Pompey was getting on in years and did not have the vigor or agility he had in his younger days.

Plutarch could have taken the end of Caesar's life from Shakespeare....which is a joke since it was vice versa.

Caesar's life was a prodigy in a time of prodigies. He expanded the empire, survived a conspiratorial environment, and became the first man of Rome. He did not end the Roman Republic - that honor would go to his nephew, Octavian.