I Came, I Saw, I Blogged Part 4

Julius Caesar: Father To An Empire He Would Not See Born

(Years Covered: 47BC - 44BC)

Egypt stabilized and brought into the fold, Caesar and Cleopatra celebrated with a month long luxury cruise up and down the Nile. He was treated like a pharaoh of old and even had an open relationship with his new ally. Some back in Rome tried to use this to scandalize him, that he was fashioning himself a king and consorting with a pernicious foreign queen, dishonoring his wife. But again money talked, and the exotic wonders and wealth of Egypt were shipped to Rome to the amazement of the masses. The yet unknown rabble-rouser trying to defame Caesar's name was a young politician who himself had just arrived in Rome from Tarsus to take a seat in the Senate, Cassius. He was part of a new generation of young patricians that had studied the political philosophy of Cato and who had grown up outside of Italy looking to come back to the city of their forefathers to "set it right". Again Cicero saw an opportunity, he molded this new breed of senators to be more cautious and work in secret so as this new movement against Caesar would not be discovered before it was at strength.

Meanwhile, Caesar caught wind that the now "rebel" army had split into two; Pompey's two sons were in Spain raising more legions, while Cato and Mattlus were in North Africa and allied themselves with King Juba I of Numidia, the lands just west of old Carthage. Caesar again thought that with enough speed he could catch the two old senators by surprise, but when he got to the city of Thapsus they were waiting for him. Caesar arrived with 8 legions and 5,000 cavalry to find facing him a mixed Roman and African force of 12 legions, 14,500 cavalry, and 60 war elephants. Metallus lined his elephants in front of the legions and his cavalry at the flanks, hoping to trample Caesar's legions and have his legions just mop up behind or chase down breaking ranks. Caesar had his legions draw in close, with all archers fanned out on either flank. When the trumpets blared the archers aimed and maintained fire on the elephants, while the legions broke right or left to hold the line and protect the archers from cavalry. The elephants, under sustained arrow fire panicked and ran back away from the arrows right into Metallus's legions, trampling them. Once again, Caesar had defeated a numerically superior force. Shortly after Cato and Metallus would commit suicide rather then accept Caesar's hand of friendship.

 Caesar would return home to a Triumph (a military parade sanctioned by the Senate, like MacArthur got coming home from Korea) but he made sure to try an emphasize his victories in Gaul and Egypt as themes in the celebration, rather then the victories over fellow Romans. But Cassius and others made sure to whisper throughout the streets and halls of power that this celebration was as much about defeating the Senate as anything else. This malicious talk was starting to even catch the attention of Marcus Brutus, who was reminded on nearly a daily basis of his family's long legacy of defending Rome from tyrants. Adding fuel to Brutus's doubts about the man that had acted as father to him was the increased attention Caesar gave to Octavius; the jealously toward their relationship no doubt inflamed by his mother Servilla who herself had grown quit jealous of the tales of her long time lovers dalliances with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Caesar's will should have assuaged any feelings of complete abandonment Brutus may have had, as it named him second only to Octavian in inheritance, a great honor considering he was not at all a member of the Julia, which showed how much love he had for his unofficial step son. But all that was swept away with the arrival of Cleopatra in Rome bearing a baby, named Caesarean. And though it never did happen, many assumed and spat venom at the idea that Caesar would eventually change his will to include the "Egyptian half breed". Cassius and Cicero's propaganda machine worked over time, eroding the peoples image of Caesar; how he was under the influence of foreign sorceress and he would taint the purity of Rome with Egyptian culture. Again the long awaited reforms Caesar wanted to enact for the good of the empire were stymied by base accusations and obstructionism.

Though he was damaged he was not down. He was still able to use his vast influence and popularity to bring about such important issues as tax reform, land distribution, food programs, and to reorganize the provinces so they fell more under a unified system with Rome in the center instead of a hodgepodge of various degrees of autonomy and systems of governance. He even laid out the groundwork and proto ideas that would find purchase and bare fruit a decade or so later under the rule of great-nephew Octavius, the reconstruction of Rome and the idea of "bread and circuses". But his two significant acts as dictator: 1) to certify anyone living on the Italian peninsula as a Roman citizen, a point of contention since the city state of Rome had first started to expand and had even been the cause a few wars including the Social War fought by the generation before his; and 2) his long wished for slave labor reform, insuring that freeman could compete and find work so often taken up by slaves.

But Caesar was running into that age old paradox that it is far easier to win an empire then run one. The fact that his magnanimity to his former enemies seemed to only give him temporary favor with them, that now that he was home and not off fighting some battle diminished the people's awe of him, that the very idealism he championed was starting to peter out in the masses it was meant to help, all started to weigh on him.  The people needed to be reminded of why they loved him, he needed the image of Caesar the conqueror, not Caesar the politician. So he started to draw up plans for his once rejected Parthian campaign. It would be his greatest achievement, he would be glorified as the perfect Roman like Scipio Africanus or Romulus himself, and would usher in an age of Roman dominance across three continents. One final task needed to be complete before he could bring these plans before the Senate, he needed to remove all challenge to his rule, and that meant showing those in the Senate that any hidden hope they may have of the Pompey brothers in Hispania rekindling the resistance was gone. The final battles of the civil war must be fought.

Sextus and Gnaeus Pompey

Caesar had chaffed at the idea of going after his friend's last remaining sons, Gnaeus and Sextus, and fighting yet another battle against fellow Romans. But it could not be helped, in his mind they were the last rallying symbols of the conservatives. Little did Caesar know the seeds of a new generation of conservatives had been planted long ago and its poisoned fruits were already entrenched in the Senate, but I get ahead of my self. A force of 8 legions and 8,000 cavalry sailed to Spain. Caesar did not bother to bring any of his seasoned high ranking generals, instead he decided to bring two young men new to command as his subordinates. His heir Octavius and a friend of his, a young man of impeccable athleticism and a nearly unmatched skill with a sword in the western world, Agrippa. The two of them would become form friendship and partnership that would shape the world, avenging Caesar and making all of his dreams come true post-humorously. But that's a story for another time.

Agrippa

The Pompain army had taken most of Hispania Ulterior (Spain South coast) and had started to move into Hispania Citerior (east coast). Caesar's surprise arrival disrupted their siege of Ulipia, a town on the border of both provinces that was loyal to Caesar. Sextus would successfully base himself inside the city Corduba, meanwhile Gnaeus would engage Caesar in several small scrimmages, buying time until winter, when both armies would camp and regroup. As soon as the snows thawed Caesar tracked Gnaeus down to the hills outside the city of Munda. As the two armies approached each other both tried maneuvers and counter maneuvers to gain some sort of tactical advantage but to no avail. In the end when the swords started striking no side would be able to deploy some grand stratagem, it was an all out brawl. So all consuming was the battle that all the commanders, Caesar, Octavius, Agrippa, Gnaeus, and his second Titus Labienus, found themselves enveloped in furious hand to hand combat. And while Caesar would always be Caesar, known for his grand designs on the battlefield, it would be his youngers that shown the brightest, Octavius would start to earn his reputation as an awe inspiring figure men gravitate to; Agrigga would earn his vaunted reputation as a swordsmen and as soldier's soldier. In the end by sheer force of will and arms, Caesar's army prevailed, destroying the last vestiges of the rebel army. Titus would fall that day and be granted full honor funeral rights by Caesar. Gnaeus would be tracked down days later and killed and Sextus would flee to the islands of the western Mediterranean and not be heard from again for ten years during the next civil war, where he would act as naval support (engaging in acts of piracy, Pompey Magnus must have rolled in his grave, oh the irony) for Brutus, Cassius, and their ilk; he will meet his final defeat at the hands of Agrippa. Caesar would say of the Battle of Munda that he "fought many battles for the republic, but this was the first battle for my life."

Caesar fighting at Munda

Caesar would return to a very somber Rome, what good will he hoped for in officially ending the civil war evaporated as the reported death tolls came in, Romans were finally feeling the impact and the weight of the Roman dead these last few years. For the next few months he would try his damnest to get his Parthia project off the ground, but enthusiasm to see more Romans go off to war was at an all time low. There was still love for Caesar there, but how much more blood could they take. The answer came sooner then any could imagine. Cassius, Cicero, and Brutus thought they saw their opening, that the diminished love of the people would allow them to take a drastic step that would have the empire and history itself revere them as heroes. Oh boy they would be ssssooooooo wrong.

On March 15, 44BC, Caesar is called to the Senate to except the title of Dictator for Life, a title he hoped would give him the much needed boast to respark interest his ambitious eastern campaign. Antony had heard rumors of a plot against Caesar's life and raced to the Senate but was intercepted in the forum by a senator named Tribonius and his entourage, barring his path. Inside the Senate, Octavius was asked to step outside by another senator to discuss a private matter. Right on que a senator by the name of Tillus Cimber approached Caesar with a petition, asking that his brother's exile be rescinded. Other senators came forward to surround Caesar feigning support for the decree. At that moment a dagger was thrust toward Caesar's throat, who deflect it. Caesar grabbed at his assailant, Crasca, and demand to know what the meaning of the attack was. The other Senator's surrounding him pulled daggers and started to stab at him. Study of the body shows that he tried to fight them off, but with blood obscuring his vision he tripped and fell as they continued their assault. With tears and heartbreak in his eyes he looked at the one person he never suspected could do this to him, his unofficial step-son Brutus, and uttered his last words, "You too, child...", not Shakespeare's Et Tu Brute ("and you Brutus"). Sorry English Literature majors, I believe Plutarch over the Bard.

The assassins, calling themselves The Liberators, came out of the Senate a bloody mess and expecting cheers and adulation at the announcement of Caesar's death by their hands. What they got was a mob boiling in rage. The lower and middle classes still saw Caesar as their champion despite recent misgivings; the news sparked riots in the streets as calls for the heads of senators rang forth. The murderous senators scattered and fled to the safety of their estates. Antony and Octavius called for calm to prevent the city from imploding, and while no harm came to those who committed the act during the days of mourning and the reading of the will, the tension in the air was palpable. Since Brutus had been one of the conspirators, 18 year old Octavius was named sole heir, gaining half of all of Caesar's wealth and holdings, but more importantly the very name of Caesar. The other half of the fortune was granted to the people of Rome as Caesar says everything he did was to glorify them.The great Caesar's funeral was when things finally came to a head. The crowds, all wanting to honor their champion in some way, threw more and more objects unto the funeral pyre, at some points it almost got out of control, damaging the forum itself. The city at a tipping point, just needed a slight push. Antony railed not only against the so called "Liberators" but against the entire system of aristocrats, that the old Patrician family's had denied all of them their chosen leader. The crowds once again turned into a seething mob that marched on the houses of Brutus and Cassius. The Senate fled to the countryside as Antony declared a new Triumvirate consisting of himself, Octavius, and one Caesar's trusted cavalry generals, Lepidus, all three vowing to bring the aristocrats to justice and reform empire into a new glorious state. And to give even more weight to their cause, and with the unquestioning support of the crowds, they deified Caesar and called Octavius Divi Filius "Son of God" the one true ruler of Julius Gauis Caesar's Roman Empire. The Liberators had set out prevent a man from being crowned king, and in so doing created a God Emperor. And so the next Civil War began.

Phew, that took a lot long then I would have thought, but we got through it. But I am glad I could get one of my ideals out of the way. Not that all posts will be like these but I felt compelled to be extra thorough with big C. As you may have noticed throughout these last 4 posts I mostly stayed away from dates, statistics, and other empirical data, this is entirely on purpose. As I was trying to state in my very first post I believe in approaching history from a story telling perspective, when you get caught up in numbers and technicality that's when you fall asleep and miss whats truly important, the people and their stories. The other thing you may have noticed is my use of images from the HBO series Rome. The reason is not the TV show is the source material (that comes from a plethra of books, documentaries, websites, podcasts, and notes from collage) of these posts but the casting in that show is quite remarkable. If you were to look up the old busts and statutes of Caesar, Agrippa, Pompey, etc. the likeness the show achieved are astounding and I figure a reader would be better able to relate to a picture of someone then a dusty old cracked slab of marble. Overall I am quit pleased with how this turned out and I hope it was entertaining for you; and it would make me beyond delighted if I have created some new Caesar fan boys as well. So I hope you will all stay tuned and keep checking back. Again if there is any particular person, place, event, you would like me to write about please e-mail me at ancientallen1014@gmail.com and I will add it to my que of topics.