julius caesar Book Review
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Published: October 09, 2007
Caesar was born in 100 BC - 102 BC into a patrician family, the gens Julia, which claimed descent from Iulus, son of the legendary Trojan prince Aeneas, supposedly the son of the goddess Venus.<2> The cognomen "Caesar" originated, according to Pliny the Elder, with an ancestor who was born by caesarian section (from the Latin verb to cut, caedo, caedere, cecidi, caesum).<3> The Historia Augusta suggests three alternative explanations: that the first Caesar had a thick head of hair (Latin caesaries); that he had bright grey eyes (Latin oculis caesiis); or that he killed an elephant (caesai in Moorish) in battle.<4> Caesar issued coins featuring images of elephants, suggesting that he favoured this interpretation of his name.<5>
Despite their ancient pedigree, the Julii Caesares were not especially politically influential, having produced only three consuls. Caesar''s father, also called Gaius Julius Caesar, reached the rank of praetor, the second highest of the Republic''s elected magistracies, and governed the province of Asia, perhaps through the influence of his prominent brother-in-law Gaius Marius.<6> His mother, Aurelia Cotta, came from an influential family which had produced several consuls. Marcus Antonius Gnipho, an orator and grammarian of Gaulish origin, was employed as Caesar''s tutor.<7> Caesar had two sisters, both called Julia. Little else is recorded of Caesar''s childhood. Suetonius and Plutarch''s biographies of him both begin abruptly in Caesar''s teens; the opening paragraphs of both appear to be lost.<8>
Caesar''s formative years were a time of turmoil. The Social War was fought from 91 to 88 BC between Rome and her Italian allies over the issue of Roman citizenship, while Mithridates of Pontus threatened Rome''s eastern provinces. Domestically, Roman politics was divided between two broad factions, the optimates, who favoured aristocratic rule via the Senate, and the populares, who preferred to appeal directly to the electorate. Caesar''s uncle Marius was a popularis; Marius'' protégé and rival Lucius Cornelius Sulla was an optimas. Both Marius and Sulla distinguished themselves in the Social War, and both wanted command of the war against Mithridates, which was initially given to Sulla; but when Sulla left the city to take command of his army, a tribune passed a law transferring the appointment to Marius. Sulla responded by marching on Rome, reclaiming his command and forcing Marius into exile, but when he left on campaign Marius returned at the head of a makeshift army. He and his ally Lucius Cornelius Cinna seized the city and declared Sulla a public enemy, and Marius''s troops took violent revenge on Sulla''s supporters. Marius died early in 86 BC, but his faction remained in power.<9>
In 85 BC Caesar''s father died suddenly while putting on his shoes one morning,<10> and at sixteen, Caesar was the head of the family. The following year he was nominated to be the new Flamen Dialis, high priest of Jupiter, as Merula, the previous incumbent, had died in Marius''s purges.<11> Since the holder of that position not only had to be a patrician but also be married to a patrician, he broke off his engagement to Cossutia, a girl of wealthy equestrian family he had been betrothed to since boyhood, and married Cinna''s daughter Cornelia.<12>
Then, having brought Mithridates to terms, Sulla returned to finish the civil war against Marius'' followers. After a campaign throughout Italy he seized Rome at the Battle of the Colline Gate in November 82 BC and had himself appointed to the revived office of dictator; but whereas a dictator was traditionally appointed for six months at a time, Sulla''s appointment had no term limit. Statues of Marius were destroyed and Marius'' body was exhumed and thrown in the Tiber. Cinna was already dead, killed by his own soldieptions saw hundreds of his political enemies killed or exiled. Caesar, as the nephew of Marius and son-in-law of Cinna, was targeted. He was stripped of his inheritance, his wife''s dowry and his priesthood, but refused to divorce Cornelia and was forced to go into hiding. The threat against him was lifted by the intervention of his mother''s family, which included supporters of Sulla, and the Vestal Virgins. Sulla gave in reluctantly, and is said to have declared that he saw many a Marius in Caesar.<8>Write your abstract here.
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