Julius Caesar

The pirates demanded twenty talents for Caesar’s ransom, but he only laughed at them for not knowing his true worth. He raised the price himself to fifty.

From earliest times, Rome was divided into haves and have-nots. The ancient families of prestige, such as the Fabian, Cornelian, and Julian clans, were know as patricians, while the mass of the common people were called plebeians or plebs. The plebeians were freeborn and often owned a small plot of land or their own business, but they could never hope to rise to the lofty heights of the patricians. Most patricians and plebeians saw this sharp division of society as the normal order of the world. A plebeian could even benefit from the system if he attached himself to a patrician as his client. The client-patron system was one of the fundamental relationships in Roman society. If a plebeian became a client of a patrician, he was bound to render political support and sometimes military service to his patron. The patron, in turn, added to his own reputation with each new client and rewarded his followers with occasional money and backing in any community disputes or legal problems. It was a mutually beneficial relationship that had no legal standing, but was deeply respected and rarely breeched. A Roman might abandon his wife or sell his vote to the highest bidder, but the client-patron relationship was sacred. (View Highlight)

The Roman government was a res publica (“state of the people”) or in modern terms, a republic, with elected officials governing on behalf of all citizens. In theory, the city magistrates ruled by consent of all the people, and even the most humble farm boy could rise to the heights of Roman power. In practice, Rome was ruled by a small elite of noble families who shamelessly manipulated the political system and jealously guarded the executive offices for themselves. (View Highlight)

Caesar would one day defy the Senate and lead Rome into civil war, but everything we know about his nature argues against bloody revolts and conspiracy theories. Caesar had for years been carefully, step by step, building his credentials as a proven military leader and sensible populist politician. Even though his enemies would naturally look back at his career in later years and accuse him of revolutionary plans from the cradle, Caesar was not the kind of man who would unnecessarily risk his career by supporting a violent coup d’état. (View Highlight)

Caesar began what all considered a masterful speech by reminding the senators that decisions made in anger are often faulty. He pointed out instances in the past when the Senate had wisely acted with prudence rather than passion, thereby strengthening their position and the whole state. Caesar accepted that the conspirators were guilty and had absolutely no sympathy for any man who would overthrow Rome: “As I see it, Senators, there is no punishment too harsh for these men.”

All of Gaul is divided into three parts—the first is occupied by the Belgae, the second by the Aquitani, and the third by those called Celts in their own language, but Gauls in ours.

For centuries the classical world had heard stories of the Gauls brought back by merchants and explorers. Massalia itself was the hub of a vast trade network in tin, gold, amber, and slaves that spread up the rivers of Gaul to northern France, Germany, Britain, Ireland, and the North Sea. (View Highlight)

Each infantryman carried more than one pilum or javelin that was used for stabbing rather than throwing. This heavy weapon, over six feet long with a large barbed head, was designed to punch through an opponent’s shield and skewer him. If it missed his body, it would at least break off and lodge in his shield making it heavier and more awkward to wield while the Roman grabbed his second javelin and tried again. The Roman sword was short and used for stabbing rather than swinging. Each Roman soldier also carried a large shield about four feet high and two feet wide. Secured on the left arm, it was constructed of layered wood covered in thick leather and weighed at least twenty pounds. This hefty shield provided effective protection from all but the fiercest blows, but was also useful as an offensive weapon to knock opponents to the ground. (View Highlight)

As soon as the Helvetii ambassadors left, Caesar demonstrated one of his keenest talents, that of a combat engineer, by rapidly constructing a massive earthen wall nineteen miles long to seal off the entire Alpine valley of the Helvetii from Roman territory. From the Jura Mountains all the way to Lake Geneva, sixteen feet high with ditches in front and forts along its length, this forerunner of later works such as Hadrian’s Wall across Scotland stood as an impenetrable barrier to the migrating Gauls. (View Highlight)

When Caesar entered the meeting, all the senators rose to greet him. He was anxious to finish the proceedings as quickly as possible and so took his seat at the front. A senator named Tullius Cimber, whose brother Caesar had exiled, then approached the dictator with a petition to have his sibling pardoned. Caesar dismissed the man, but Cimber grabbed his toga and beseeched him for mercy. This was the signal. Another senator named Casca rushed at Caesar with his dagger drawn and stabbed him in the neck. Casca was so nervous, however, that he barely scratched Caesar, who in response sprang from his chair, plunged his stylus (his writing implement) through Casca’s arm, and threw him off the podium.

Oh, could my dying hand but lodge a sword

The greatest man who ever lived was Julius Caesar. (View Highlight)