Caesar is a man. Biography of Gaius Julius Caesar. Political activities of Gaius Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar - the great ancient Roman commander, statesman and politician, reformer, writer and thinker, successor of the patrician family of Julius. The name of this man has long since become the title of Roman emperors. Many rulers after him were called "Caesars", as if marking their great origin. The future commander was born presumably on July 12 (13) in 100 (102) BC. in Rome, in the family of the praetor and proconsul of Asia. Thanks to family connections, he had all the prerequisites for a brilliant career.

From childhood, he received an excellent education, knew how to express himself competently and was physically fit. In 84 BC. he was appointed priest of Jupiter, but two years later his position in society was complicated by the dictatorship of Sulla. Leaving Rome for Asia Minor, he participated in several military campaigns and in the capture of sea robbers. Julius Caesar's first wife was Cornelia, but after returning to Rome he married a relative of Gnaeus Pompey, who temporarily became his ally. In the post of aedile, which he was awarded in 66 BC. he was involved in the improvement of the city.

Soon, Caesar became quite popular among the people and a few years later rose to the rank of senator. The politician actively participated in palace intrigues in order to support the career of the chief consul. In 60 B.C. on the eve of the election, Caesar entered into a secret agreement with Pompey and Crassus, and a year later he took the post of consul. Its co-ruler was Mark Calpurnius Bibulus. Again, in order to strengthen his career, he married his daughter to Pompey. The people were pleased with him, especially those who received land after the agrarian reform.

In subsequent years, he participated in the Gallic War, which was aimed at conquering new lands for Rome. After the death of Crassus, their secret triumvirate fell apart, and Pompey turned from ally to rival. The Civil War began in the country, as a result of which in 49 BC. Caesar became the sole dictator. Pompey with the consuls and the Senate were forced to leave the capital. For the sake of revenge on his now sworn enemy, the commander went to Egypt, where he found a temporary refuge. Pompey was found and beheaded.

The connection of Caesar with Queen Cleopatra is attributed to the same period. On his return to Rome, he participated in the battle of Tapsus and celebrated his magnificent triumph. In the new field, he first of all introduced transformations that were beneficial to him. Then he carried out a reform of the calendar, named after him Julian. From now on, his statues were erected in temples, he wore luxurious vestments, sat only on gilded chairs, autocratically appointed and dismissed officials, behaved like a real dictator. The masses grew dissatisfied with his policies.

Also, everyone did not like his relationship with Cleopatra, who by that time already lived in Rome. Then the conspirators decided to kill him during the March meeting of the Senate. Gaius Julius Caesar was publicly assassinated in 44 BC. Among his killers was the young Mark Junius Brutus, who, according to contemporaries, was his illegitimate son. Caesar's body was thrown at the foot of the statue of his sworn enemy Pompey.

Name: Gaius Julius Caesar

Age: 56 years old

Place of Birth: Rome, Italy

A place of death: Rome, Italy

Activity: ancient roman commander

Family status: was married

Gaius Julius Caesar - Biography

He is still reminded of the words symbolizing power - king, Caesar, Kaiser, emperor. Julius Caesar Guy was endowed with many talents, but remained in history thanks to the main one - the ability to please people

Origin played a significant role in Caesar's success - the Julius family, according to the biography, was one of the most ancient in Rome. The Julias traced their lineage to the legendary Aeneas, the son of the goddess Venus herself, who fled from Troy and founded the dynasty of Roman kings. Caesar was born in 102 BC, when the husband of his aunt, Gaius Marius, defeated a thousands of German army near the borders of Italy. His father, whose name was also Gaius Julius Caesar, did not reach heights in his career. He was proconsul of Asia. However, the relationship of Caesar Jr. with Marius promised the young man a brilliant career.

At the age of sixteen, Gaius Jr. married Cornelia, daughter of Cinna, Marius' closest associate. In 82 or 83 B.C. their daughter Julia was born, the only legitimate child of Caesar, despite the fact that he began to produce illegitimate children in his youth. Often leaving his wife to be bored alone, the descendant of Venus wandered around the taverns in a cheerful company of drinking companions. He was distinguished from his peers only by his love of reading - Guy read all the books in Latin and Greek that he could find, and more than once amazed his interlocutors with knowledge in various fields.

Being a fan of the ancient sages. he did not believe in the constancy of his life, peaceful and secure. And he turned out to be right - after the death of Mary, a civil war broke out in Rome. Sulla, the leader of the aristocratic party, came to power and began repressions against the Marians. Guy, who refused to divorce Cinna's daughter, was deprived of his property, and he himself was forced to hide. “Look for the wolf cub, there are a hundred Marievs in it!” the dictator demanded. But by that time Caesar had already departed for Asia Minor, to the friends of his recently deceased father.

Not far from Miletus, his ship was captured by pirates. A smartly dressed young man attracted their attention, and they asked for a large ransom for him - 20 talents of silver. "Inexpensive you appreciate me!" - answered Caesar and offered 50 talents for himself. Having sent his servant to collect a ransom, he spent two months "visiting" the pirates.

Caesar behaved very boldly with the robbers - he forbade them to sit in his presence, called them boors and threatened to crucify them. Having finally received the money, the pirates released the impudent man with relief. Caesar immediately rushed to the Roman military authorities, equipped a couple of ships and overtook his captors in the same place where he was held captive. Having taken money from them, he actually crucified the robbers - however, he ordered those who were sympathetic to him to be strangled.

Sulla had died by then, but his supporters from the optimates party retained influence, and Caesar was in no hurry to return to the capital. He spent a year in Rhodes, where he studied eloquence - the ability to make speeches was necessary for the polity he was determined to become.

From the school of Apollonius Molon, where Cicero himself studied, Guy emerged as a brilliant orator, ready to conquer the capital. He made his first speech in 68 BC. at the funeral of his aunt, the widow Maria, he ardently praised the disgraced commander and his reforms, causing a stir among the Sullans. It is curious that at the funeral of his wife, who died in an unsuccessful birth a year earlier, he did not say a word.

The speech in defense of Marius was the beginning of his election campaign - Caesar put forward his candidacy for the post of quaestor. This insignificant post made it possible to become a praetor, and then a consul - the highest representative of power in the Roman Republic. Having borrowed from whomever possible a huge amount, a thousand talents, Caesar spent it on sumptuous feasts and gifts to those. on whom his election depended. At that time, two commanders, Pompey and Crassus, fought for power in Rome, to whom Caesar alternately offered his support.

This earned him the position of quaestor and later aedile, the official in charge of the festivities in the Eternal City. Unlike other politicians, he generously gave the people not bread, but entertainment - either gladiator fights, or musical competitions, or the anniversary of a long-forgotten victory. Ordinary Romans were delighted with him. He earned the sympathy of an educated public by creating a public museum on Capitoline Hill, where he exhibited his rich collection of Greek statues. As a result, he was elected without any problems to the post of supreme pontiff, that is, a priest.

Don't believe in anything but your luck. Caesar had difficulty maintaining seriousness during magnificent religious ceremonies. However, the position of pontiff made him inviolable. This saved his life when the Catalina conspiracy was uncovered in 62. The conspirators were going to offer Caesar the post of dictator. They were executed, but Guy survived.

In the same year 62, he became praetor, but he accumulated so many debts that he was forced to leave Rome and go as governor to Spain. There he quickly amassed a fortune, ruining the recalcitrant cities to the ground. He generously shared the surplus with his soldiers, saying: "Power is strengthened by two things - the army and money, and one without the other is unthinkable." Grateful soldiers declared him emperor - this ancient title was given as a reward for a major victory, although the governor did not win a single such victory.

After that, Caesar was elected consul, but this position was no longer the limit of his dreams. The republican system was living out its last days, things were moving towards autocracy, and Guy was determined to become the true ruler of the Eternal City. To do this, he had to enter into an alliance with Pompey and Crassus, whom he briefly reconciled.

In 60, a triumvirate of new allies seized power. To secure the alliance, Caesar gave his daughter Julia to Pompey, and he himself married his niece. Moreover, rumor attributed to him a relationship with the wives of Crassus and Pompey. Yes, and other Roman matrons, according to rumors, were not spared the attention of the loving descendant of Venus. The soldiers sang a song about him: "Hide your wives - we are leading a bald libertine to the city!"

He really went bald early, was embarrassed by this and obtained permission from the Senate to constantly wear the triumphant laurel wreath on his head. Lysina. according to Suetonius. was the only flaw in Caesar's biography. He was tall, well built, his skin was light, his eyes were black and lively. In food he was moderate, he also drank very little for a Roman; even his enemy Cato said that "Caesar alone of all carried out a coup d'état while sober."

He also had another nickname - "the husband of all wives and the wife of all husbands." According to rumors, in Asia Minor, the young Caesar had an affair with the king of Bithynia, Nicomedes. Well, the morals in the then Rome were such that it could very well be true. In any case, Caesar never tried to shut the mouth of scoffers, professing a completely modern principle "whatever they say, if only they say." Mostly good things were said - in his new post, he still generously supplied the Roman mob with circuses, to which bread was now added. People's love was not cheap, the consul again got into debt and in irritation called himself "the poorest of the citizens."

He breathed a sigh of relief when, after a year in the office of consul, he, according to Roman custom, had to resign. Caesar made sure that the Senate sent him to manage Schllia - the current France. The Romans owned only a small part of this rich country. For eight years, Caesar managed to conquer all of Schllia. But, oddly enough, many Gauls loved him - having learned their language, he asked with interest about their religion and customs.

Today, his "Notes on the Gallic War" is not only the main source of biography about the Gauls, who went into oblivion not without the help of Caesar, but one of the first examples of political PR in history. In them, Caesar boasted. that he took 800 cities by storm, exterminated a million enemies, and enslaved another million, giving their lands to Roman veterans. Grateful veterans told on all corners that in the campaigns Caesar walked with them, encouraging those who were lagging behind. He rode like a born rider. He slept in a wagon under the open sky, only in the rain hiding under a canopy. At a halt, he dictated two or even three letters to several secretaries on various topics.

So lively in those years, Caesar's correspondence was explained by the fact that after the death of Crassus in the Persian campaign, the triumvirate came to an end. Pompey, however, increasingly distrusted Caesar, who had already surpassed him in fame and fortune. At his insistence, the senate recalled Caesar from Gillia and ordered him to report to Rome, leaving the army on the frontier.

The decisive moment has come. At the beginning of 49, Caesar approached the border river Rubicon north of Rimini and ordered five thousand of his soldiers to cross it and move on Rome. They say that at the same time he uttered another historical phrase - "the die is cast." In fact, the die had been cast much earlier, when young Gaius was learning the intricacies of politics.

Even then, he realized that power is given into the hands of only those who sacrifice everything else for it - friendship, family, a sense of gratitude. The former son-in-law of Pompey, who helped him a lot at the beginning of his career, now became the main enemy and, without having time to gather strength, fled to Greece. Caesar with his army went after him and. not letting him come to his senses, he defeated his army at Pharsalus. Pompey fled again, this time to Egypt, where local dignitaries killed him, deciding to earn the favor of Caesar.

Togo was quite satisfied with this outcome, especially since he gave him the opportunity to send an army against the Egyptians, accusing them of killing a Roman citizen. Demanding a huge ransom for this, he was going to pay off the army, but everything turned out differently. The young Cleopatra, the sister of the ruling king Ptolemy XTV, who appeared before the commander, unexpectedly offered herself to him - and at the same time her kingdom.

Before leaving for Gaul, Caesar married for the third time - to the rich heiress Calpurnia, but was indifferent to her. He fell in love with the Egyptian queen as if she had bewitched him. But over time, she also experienced a real feeling for the aging conqueror of the world. Later, under a hail of reproaches, Caesar received Cleopatra in Rome, and she listened to even worse reproaches for having gone to him, the first of the Egyptian rulers to leave the sacred valley of the Nile.

In the meantime, the lovers were besieged by the rebellious Egyptians in the harbor of Alexandria. To save themselves, the Romans set fire to the city. destroying the famous library. They managed to hold out until the arrival of reinforcements, and the uprising was crushed. On the way home, Caesar casually defeated the army of the Pontic king Pharnaces, reporting this to Rome with the famous phrase: "I came, I saw, I conquered."

He had to fight twice more with the adherents of Pompey - in Africa and Spain. Only in 45 he returned to Rome, devastated by civil wars, and was declared dictator for life. Caesar himself preferred to call himself emperor - this emphasized his connection with the army and military victories.

Having achieved the desired power, Caesar managed to do three important things. First, he reformed the Roman calendar, which the sarcastic Greeks called "the worst in the world." With the help of Egyptian astronomers. sent by Cleopatra, he divided the year into 12 months and ordered to add an extra leap day to it every four years. The new, Julian calendar turned out to be the most accurate of the existing ones and lasted one and a half thousand years, and the Russian church still uses it. Second, he gave amnesty to all his political opponents. Thirdly, he began to mint gold coins, on which, instead of the gods, the emperor himself was depicted in a laurel wreath. After Caesar, they began to officially call the Son of God.

From this there was only a step to the royal title. Flatterers had long offered him the crown, and Cleopatra had just given birth to his son Caesarion, who could become his heir. It seemed tempting to Caesar to found a new dynasty by uniting the two great powers. However, when the closest associate Mark Antony publicly wanted to put on him the golden royal crown, Caesar pushed him away. Maybe he decided that the time had not yet come, maybe he did not want to turn from the only emperor in the world into an ordinary king, of which there were many around.

The smallness of what was done is easy to explain - Caesar peacefully ruled Rome for less than two years. The fact that at the same time he was remembered for centuries as a great statesman is another manifestation of his charisma, which affects his descendants as strongly as his contemporaries. He planned new transformations, but the Roman treasury was empty. To replenish it. Caesar decided on a new military campaign, promising to make the Roman emperor the greatest conqueror in history. He decided to crush the Persian kingdom, and then return to Rome by the northern route, conquering the Armenians, Scythians and Germans.

Leaving the capital, he had to leave reliable people “on the farm” in order to avoid a possible rebellion. Caesar had three such people: his devoted comrade-in-arms Mark Antony, Gaius Octavian adopted by him, and the son of his longtime mistress Servilia Mark Brutus. Antony attracted Caesar with the decisiveness of a warrior, Octavian - with the cold prudence of a politician. It is more difficult to understand what connected Caesar with the already middle-aged Brutus, a boring pedant, an ardent supporter of the republic. Nevertheless, Caesar promoted him to power, publicly calling him his "dear son." Perhaps, with the sober mind of a politician, he understood that someone should remind him of the republican virtues, without which Rome would rot and perish. At the same time, Brutus could reconcile his two comrades, who clearly did not like each other.

Caesar, who knew everything and everything. didn't know or didn't want to know. -that his "son", along with other Republicans, is plotting against him. The emperor was informed about this more than once, but he brushed it aside, saying: "If so, then it is better to die once than to constantly live in fear." The attempt was scheduled for the Ides of March, the 15th day of the month when the emperor was to appear in the Senate. Suetonius' detailed account of this event gives the impression of a tragic action in which Caesar played the role of the victim, the martyr of the monarchical idea, as if by notes. A warning note was handed to him outside the Senate building, but he waved it off.

One of the conspirators, Decimus Brutus, distracted the burly Anthony at the entrance so as not to interfere. Tillius Cimbrus grabbed Caesar by the toga - this is a signal to the others - and Servilius Casca struck him the first blow. Then the blows rained down one after another - each of the killers tried to contribute, and in the dump they even wounded each other. Then the conspirators parted, and Brutus approached the barely alive dictator leaning against a column. The “son” silently raised the dagger, and the slain Caesar fell dead, having managed to utter the last historical phrase: “And you, Brutus!”

As soon as this happened, the terrified senators, who became unwitting spectators of the murder, rushed to run. The killers also fled, dropping their bloodied daggers. The corpse of Caesar lay in an empty building for a long time, until the faithful Calpurnia sent slaves for him. The body of the dictator was burnt in the Roman forum, where the temple of the divine Julius was later erected. The month of quintiles was renamed July (Iulius) in his honor.

The conspirators hoped for the loyalty of the Romans to the spirit of the republic. but the firm power established by Caesar seemed more attractive than republican chaos. Very soon, the townspeople rushed to look for the murderers of the emperor and put them to cruel death. Suetonius ended his story about the biography of Gaius Julia with the words: “None of his murderers lived after that for more than three years. They all died in different ways, and Brutus and Cassius struck themselves with the same dagger with which they killed Caesar.

Gaius Julius Caesar had many talents, but he remained in history thanks to the main one, this is the ability to please people. Origin played a significant role in Caesar's success - the Julius family, according to biographical sources, was one of the most ancient in Rome. Julia had their pedigree from the legendary Aeneas (son of the goddess Venus), who escaped from Troy and founded the dynasty of Roman kings. Caesar was born in 102 BC, at that time the husband of his aunt Gaius Marius defeated a thousands of German army on the border of Italy. His father, who was also named Gaius Julius Caesar, did not achieve heights in his career. He was proconsul of Asia. But the relationship of Caesar Jr. with Marius opened up a brilliant future for the young man.

At 16, young Caesar marries Cornelia, daughter of Cinna, Marius's closest associate. Around 83 BC. they had a daughter, Julia, the only legitimate child of Caesar, - at the same time, he had illegitimate children already in his youth. Often leaving his wife alone, Caesar, in the company of drinking companions, roamed the taverns. He differed from his peers only in that he loved to read - Caesar read all the books in Latin and Greek that he could find, and more than once amazed his interlocutors with knowledge in various fields.

Being an admirer of the ancient sages, he did not believe in the constancy of his life, peaceful and prosperous. And he was right - when Marius died in Rome, a civil war began. Sulla, the leader of the aristocratic party, took power into his own hands and began repressions against the Marians. Guy, who refused to divorce his daughter Cinna, was deprived of his property, and he himself was forced into hiding. “Look for the wolf cub, there are a hundred Marievs in it!” demanded the dictator. However, Guy, meanwhile, had already gone to Asia Minor, to the friends of his recently deceased father.

Not far from Miletus, his ship was captured by pirates. The smartly dressed young man interested them, and they demanded a large ransom for him - 20 talents of silver. "Inexpensive you appreciate me!" - answered the descendant of Venus and offered 50 talents for himself. Having sent his servant to collect a ransom, he was "visiting" the pirates for two months.

Julius Caesar behaved rather defiantly with the pirates - he forbade them to sit in his presence, called them boors and threatened to crucify them. Having finally obtained the money, the pirates released the impudent one with relief. Guy immediately went to the Roman military authorities, equipped several ships and overtook his captors in the same place where he was in captivity. Having taken money from them, he actually crucified the pirates - however, those who were more sympathetic to him, he first ordered to be strangled.

Sulla died in the meantime, but his party supporters retained power, and Julius Caesar was in no hurry to return to the capital. He spent a year in Rhodes, learning eloquence - the ability to speak was necessary for the politician that he firmly decided to become.

From the school of Apollonius Molon, where Cicero himself studied, Caesar emerged as a brilliant orator, ready to conquer Rome. He delivered his first speech in 68 BC. at the funeral of his aunt, the widow Maria, he ardently praised the disgraced commander and his reforms, thereby causing a stir among the Sullans. An interesting fact is that at the funeral of his wife, who died in an unsuccessful birth a year earlier, he did not utter a word.

The speech in defense of Marius was the beginning of his election campaign - Julius Caesar put forward his candidacy for the post of quaestor. Such an insignificant post made it possible to become a praetor, and then a consul - the highest representative of power in the Roman Republic. Having borrowed from whom he could only a huge amount, 1000 talents, the descendant of Venus spent it on magnificent feasts and gifts to those on whom his election depended. In those days, two generals, Pompey and Crassus, were fighting for power in Rome, to whom Gaius offered his support in turn.

This earned him the position of quaestor, and later an aedile, an official who was in charge of the festivities in Rome. Unlike other politicians, he generously gave the people not bread, but entertainment - either gladiator fights, or competitions in music, or the anniversary of a long-forgotten victory. Ordinary Romans were delighted with him. He earned the sympathy of the educated Roman stratum of society by creating a public museum on the Capitoline Hill, where he exhibited his rich collection of Greek statues. As a result, he was chosen for the position of supreme pontiff, that is, a priest.

Don't believe in anything but your luck. Julius Caesar struggled to remain serious during lavish religious ceremonies. However, the position of pontiff made him inviolable. This saved his life when Catalina's plot was uncovered in 62. The conspirators gathered to offer Guy the post of dictator. They were executed, but Caesar survived.

In the same year 62 BC. he becomes praetor, but got into such debt that he was forced to leave the Eternal City and go as governor to Spain. There he quickly made a fortune, bringing the recalcitrant cities to ruin. He generously shared the surplus with his soldiers, saying: "Power is strengthened by two things - the army and money, and one without the other is unthinkable." Grateful soldiers, he was declared emperor - this ancient title was given as a reward for a major victory, although the governor did not win a single such victory.

After that, Gaius is elected consul, but this position was too small for him. The days of the republican system were coming to an end, things were moving towards autocracy, and Julius Caesar was determined to become the true ruler of Rome. To do this, he had to enter into an alliance with Pompey and Crassus, whom he managed to reconcile for a short time.

60 BC A triumvirate of new allies seized power. To consolidate the alliance, Caesar gave his daughter Julia to Pompey, and he himself married his niece. Moreover, rumor attributed to him a relationship with the wives of Crassus and Pompey. Yes, and other Roman matrons, according to rumors, he did not bypass his attention. The soldiers sang a song about him: "Hide your wives - we are leading a bald libertine to the city!"

In fact, he went bald early, was embarrassed by this, and obtained permission from the Senate to wear the triumphant laurel wreath on his head all the time. The bald head, according to Suetonius, was the only flaw in Julius Caesar's biography. He was tall, well-built, had fair skin, black and lively eyes. In food, he knew the measure, he also drank quite a bit for a Roman; even his enemy Cato said that "Caesar alone of all carried out a coup d'état while sober."

He also had another nickname - "the husband of all wives and the wife of all husbands." There were rumors that in Asia Minor, the young Caesar had a connection with the king of Bithynia, Nicomedes. Well, morals in ancient Rome were such that it could very well be true. In any case, Guy never tried to shut the mouth of scoffers, professing a completely modern principle "no matter what they say, just say it." As a rule, they spoke well - in his new post, as before, he generously supplied the Roman mob with spectacles, to which he now added bread. People's love was not cheap, the consul got into debt again and in irritation called himself "the poorest of the citizens."

He breathed a sigh of relief when, after a year in the office of consul, he, according to Roman customs, had to resign. Caesar got from the Senate that he would be sent to manage Shllia - the current France. The Romans owned only a small part of this rich country. For 8 years, Julius Caesar was able to conquer all of Schllia. But, oddly enough, many Gauls loved him - having learned their language, he asked with curiosity about their religion and customs.

Today, his "Notes on the Gallic War" is not only the main source of biography about the Gauls, who went into oblivion not without the help of Caesar, but one of the first historical examples of political PR. In them, the descendant of Venus boasted. that he stormed 800 cities, exterminated a million enemies, and another million were enslaved, giving their lands to Roman veterans. Veterans said with gratitude on all corners that on campaigns Julius Caesar walked next to them, encouraging those who were lagging behind. He rode like a born rider. He spent the night in a wagon under the open sky, only in the rain he covered himself with a canopy. At a halt, he dictated two or even three letters to several secretaries on various topics.

Caesar's correspondence, which was so lively in those days, was explained by the fact that after the death of Crassus in the Persian campaign, the triumvirate came to an end. Pompey, however, increasingly distrusted Caesar, who already surpassed him in fame and fortune. At his insistence, the Senate recalled Julius Caesar from Gillia and ordered him to appear in the Eternal City, leaving the army on the border.

The decisive moment has come. At the beginning of 49 BC. Caesar approached the border river Rubicon north of Rimini and ordered 5,000 of his soldiers to cross it and advance on Rome. They say that at the same time he once again uttered the historical phrase - "the die is cast." In fact, the die was cast much earlier, when the young Caesar was learning the intricacies of politics.

Already in those days, he realized that power is given into the hands of only those who can sacrifice everything else for it - friendship, family, a sense of gratitude. The former son-in-law of Pompey, who helped him a lot at the beginning of his career, now became the main enemy and, without having time to gather strength, fled to Greece. Caesar with his army set off after him and, not allowing himself to come to his senses, defeated his army at Pharsalus. Pompey fled again, this time to Egypt, where local dignitaries killed him, deciding to earn the favor of Julius Caesar.

This outcome was quite beneficial for Tom, especially since it gave him a reason to send an army against the Egyptians, accusing them of killing a Roman citizen. Demanding a huge ransom for this, he wanted to pay off the army, but everything turned out differently. Young Cleopatra, the sister of the reigning king Ptolemy XTV, who appeared to the commander, suddenly offered herself to him - and, in the place with her, her kingdom.

Guy, before going to Gaul, married a third time - to the rich heiress Calpurnia, but did not feel feelings for her. He fell in love with Cleopatra as if she had bewitched him. But over time, she also experienced a real feeling for the aging Caesar. Later, the conqueror of the world, under a hail of reproaches, received Cleopatra in the Eternal City, and she listened to even worse reproaches for having gone to him, the first of the Egyptian rulers to leave the sacred valley of the Nile.

In the meantime, the lovers were besieged by the rebellious Egyptians in the harbor of Alexandria. For salvation, the Romans set fire to the city. destroying the famous Alexandrian Library. They were able to hold out until reinforcements arrived, and the uprising was put down. On the way home, Julius Caesar casually defeated the army of the Pontic king Pharnaces, reporting this to Rome with the famous phrase: "I came, I saw, I conquered."

He had a chance to fight two more times with the adherents of Pompey - in Africa and Spain. Only in 45 BC. he returned to Rome, ravaged by civil wars, and was declared dictator for life. Julius Caesar himself preferred to call himself emperor - this emphasized his connection with the army and military victories.

Having achieved the desired power, the descendant of Venus managed to do three important things. First, he reformed the Roman calendar, which the caustic Greeks called "the worst in the world." With the help of Egyptian astronomers sent by Cleopatra, he divided the year into 12 months and ordered that an extra leap day be added to it every 4 years. The new, Julian calendar turned out to be the most accurate of the existing ones and lasted one and a half thousand years, and the Russian church uses it to this day. Second, he gave amnesty to all his political opponents. Thirdly, he began to mint gold coins, on which, instead of the gods, Caesar himself was depicted in a laurel wreath. After Caesar, they began to officially call the Son of God.

From this there was only a step to the royal title. Flatterers had long offered him the crown, and the Egyptian queen had just given birth to his son Caesarion, who could be his heir. It seemed tempting to Caesar to establish a new dynasty by uniting the two great powers. But when the closest associate Mark Antony publicly wanted to put on him the golden royal crown, Caesar pushed him away. Maybe he decided that the time had not yet come, maybe he did not want to turn from the only emperor in the world into an ordinary king, of which there were many around.

The smallness of what was done is easily explained - Julius Caesar peacefully ruled Rome for less than two years. The fact that, at the same time, he was remembered for centuries as a great statesman is another manifestation of his charisma, which has an impact on his descendants as strongly as on his contemporaries. They planned new transformations, but the treasury of Rome was empty. To replenish it. Caesar decided to embark on a new military campaign that promised to make him the greatest conqueror in history. He wanted to crush the Persian kingdom, and then return to the Eternal City by the northern route, conquering the Armenians, Scythians and Germans.

Leaving Rome, he had to leave "on the farm" reliable people in order to avoid a possible rebellion. Gaius Julius Caesar had three such people: his devoted comrade-in-arms Mark Antony, Gaius Octavian adopted by him, and the son of his longtime mistress Servilia Mark Brutus. Antony attracted the emperor with the decisiveness of a warrior, Octavian - with the cold prudence of a politician. It is more difficult to understand what could connect Caesar with the already middle-aged Brutus, a boring pedant, an ardent supporter of the republic. And yet, Caesar promoted him in power, publicly calling him his "dear son." Perhaps, with a sober mind of a politician, he understood that someone should remind him of the republican virtues, without which the Eternal City would rot and perish. At the same time, Brutus could try on two of his comrades, who clearly did not like each other.

The emperor, who knew everything and everything, did not know - or did not want to know or believe - that his "son", along with other republicans, was plotting against him. Caesar was informed about this more than once, but he brushed it off, saying: "If so, then it is better to die once than to constantly live in fear." The attempt was scheduled for the Ides of March - the 15th day of the month when Guy was supposed to appear in the Senate. Suetonius' detailed account of this event gives the impression of a tragic action in which the emperor played the role of the victim, the martyr of the monarchical idea, as if by notes. A warning note was handed to him outside the Senate building, but he waved it off.

One of the conspirators, Decimus Brutus, distracted the burly Anthony at the entrance so as not to interfere. Tillius Cimbrus grabbed Julius Caesar by the toga - it was a signal for the others - and Servilius Casca hit him first. Then the blows rained down one after another - each of the killers tried to contribute, and in the dump they even wounded each other. After the conspirators parted, and Brutus approached the emperor, barely alive, leaning against the column. The “son” silently raised the dagger, and the slain descendant of Venus fell dead, having managed to utter the last historical phrase: “And you, Brutus!”.

As soon as this happened, the terrified senators, who had become unwitting spectators of the murder, rushed to run. The killers also fled, dropping their bloodied daggers. The corpse of Julius Caesar lay in an empty building for a long time, until the faithful Calpurnia sent slaves for him. The emperor's body was burnt in the Roman forum, where later a temple of the divine Julius was erected. The month of quintiles was renamed July (Iulius) in his honor.

The conspirators hoped for the loyalty of the Romans to the spirit of the republic, but the firm power established by the dictator seemed more attractive than republican chaos. Pretty soon, the townspeople rushed to look for Caesar's killers and put them to a cruel death. Suetonius ends his story about the biography of Gaius Julia with the words: “None of his murderers lived after that for more than 3 years. They all died in different ways, and Brutus and Cassius struck themselves with the same dagger with which they killed Caesar.

Guy Julius Caesar is the greatest commander and statesman of all times and peoples, whose name has become a household name. Caesar was born on July 12, 102 BC. As a representative of the old patrician family of Julius, Caesar plunged into politics as a youth, becoming one of the leaders of the popular party, which, however, contradicted family tradition, since the members of the family of the future emperor belonged to the optimates party, which represented the interests of the old Roman aristocracy in the senate. In ancient Rome, as well as in the modern world, politics was closely intertwined with family relationships: Caesar's aunt, Julia, was the wife of Gaius Maria, who in turn was the then ruler of Rome, and Caesar's first wife, Cornelia, is the daughter of Cinna, the successor to all that same Maria.

The development of Caesar's personality was influenced by the early death of his father, who died when the young man was only 15 years old. Therefore, the upbringing and education of a teenager fell entirely on the shoulders of the mother. And the famous Roman teacher Mark Antony Gnifon, the author of the book “On the Latin Language”, was the home mentor of the future great ruler and commander. Gnifon taught Guy to read and write, and also instilled a love for oratory, instilled in the young man respect for the interlocutor - a quality necessary for any politician. The lessons of the teacher, a real professional of his time, made it possible for Caesar to truly develop his personality: to read the ancient Greek epic, the works of many philosophers, to get acquainted with the victories of Alexander the Great, to master the techniques and tricks of oratory - in a word, to become an extremely developed and versatile person.

The surrender of the Gallic leader Versirengetorix to Caesar. (Painting by Lionel Royer. 1899)

However, the young Caesar showed particular interest in the art of eloquence. Before Caesar, there was an example of Cicero, who made his career largely thanks to his excellent command of oratory - his amazing ability to convince listeners that he was right. In 87 BC, a year after the death of his father, in the year of his sixteenth birthday, Caesar dressed in a one-color toga (toga virilis), which symbolized his maturity.
The matured Caesar began his career by becoming a priest of Jupiter, the supreme god of Rome, and asked for the hand of Cornelia. The consent of the girl allowed the young politician to get the necessary support in power, which will become one of the starting points that predetermined his great future.

However, the political career of the young Caesar was not destined to take off too quickly - Sulla seized power in Rome (82 BC). He ordered Guy to divorce his young wife, but, having heard a categorical refusal, deprived him of the title of priest and all his property. Only the patronizing position of Caesar's relatives, who were in the immediate environment of Sulla, saved his life.

However, this sharp turn in fate did not break Caesar, but only contributed to the formation of his personality. Deprived of priestly privileges in 81 BC, Caesar begins a military career, going to the East to take part in his first military campaign under the command of Minucius (Mark) Therma, the purpose of which was to suppress pockets of resistance to power in the Roman province of Asia (Malaya Asia, Pergamon). During the campaign, the first military glory came to Caesar. In 78 BC, during the storming of the city of Mytilene (the island of Lesvos), he was awarded the “oak wreath” sign for saving the life of a Roman citizen.

However, Caesar decided not to devote himself exclusively to military affairs. He continued his political career, returning to Rome after the death of Sulla. Caesar spoke at the trials. The speech of the young speaker was so captivating and temperamental that crowds of people from the street gathered to listen to him. So Caesar multiplied his supporters. Although Caesar did not win a single judicial victory, his speech was recorded, and the phrases diverged into quotations. Caesar was truly passionate about oratory and constantly improved. To develop his oratorical talents, he went to Fr. Rhodes to learn the art of eloquence from the famous rhetorician Apollonius Molon.

In politics, Gaius Julius Caesar remained loyal to the party of the populares, a party whose loyalty had already brought him certain political successes. But after in 67-66 years. BC. the Senate and consuls Manilius and Gabinius endowed Pompey with enormous powers, Caesar in his public speeches began to increasingly speak out for democracy. In particular, Caesar proposed to revive the forgotten procedure for conducting a trial by the people's assembly. In addition to democratic initiatives, Caesar was a model of generosity. Having become an aedile (an official who oversaw the state of the city infrastructure), he did not skimp on decorating the city and organizing public events - games and spectacles, which won him immense popularity among the common people, for which he was also elected a great pontiff. In a word, Caesar sought to strengthen his popularity among citizens in every possible way, playing an increasing role in the life of the state.

62-60 BC can be called a turning point in the biography of Caesar. During these years, he served as governor in the province of Farther Spain, where for the first time he truly revealed his outstanding managerial and military talent. Service in Farther Spain allowed him to get rich and pay off debts that did not allow him to breathe deeply for a long time.

In 60 B.C. Caesar returns in triumph to Rome, where a year later he is elected to the post of senior consul of the Roman Republic. In this regard, the so-called triumvirate is formed on the Roman political Olympus. Caesar's consulate suited both Caesar himself and Pompey - both claimed a leading role in the state. Supporters of Pompey, who disbanded his army, which triumphantly suppressed the Spanish uprising of Sertorius, were not enough, a kind of composition of forces was needed. Therefore, the union of Pompey, Caesar and Crassus (the winner of Spartacus) was most welcome. In short, the triumvirate was a kind of union of mutually beneficial cooperation of money and political influence.

The beginning of Caesar's military career was his Gallic proconsulship, when Caesar received a large military force that allowed him to launch his invasion of Transalpine Gaul in 58 BC. After victories over the Celts and Germans in 58-57. BC. Caesar proceeds to conquer the Gallic tribes. Already in 56 BC. e. the vast territory between the Alps, the Pyrenees and the Rhine came under the rule of Rome.
Caesar rapidly developed success: he crossed the Rhine and inflicted a number of defeats on the Germanic tribes. The next dizzying success of Caesar was two campaigns in Britain and its complete subjugation to Rome.

Caesar did not forget about politics. While Caesar and his political companions - Crassus and Pompey - were on the verge of a break. Their meeting took place in the city of Luca, where they reaffirmed the validity of the agreements adopted, distributing the provinces: Pompey got control of Spain and Africa, Crassus - Syria. The powers of Caesar in Gaul were extended for the next 5 years.

However, the situation in Gaul left much to be desired. Neither thanksgiving prayers, nor the festivities organized in honor of Caesar's victories could tame the spirit of the freedom-loving Gauls, who did not abandon their attempts to get rid of Roman rule.

In order to prevent an uprising in Gaul, Caesar decided to pursue a policy of mercy, the basic principles of which formed the basis of all his future policies. Avoiding excessive bloodshed, he forgave the repentant, believing that the living Gauls, who owed him their lives, were more necessary than the dead.

But even this did not help prevent the impending storm, and 52 BC. e. was marked by the beginning of the Gallic uprising under the leadership of the young leader Vircingetorix. Caesar's position was very difficult. The number of his army did not exceed 60 thousand people, while the number of rebels reached 250300 thousand people. After a series of defeats, the Gauls switched to the tactics of guerrilla warfare. Caesar's conquests were in jeopardy. However, in 51 B.C. e. in the battle of Alesia, the Romans, though not without difficulty, defeated the rebels. Vircingetorix himself was captured and the uprising began to subside.

In 53 BC. e. a fateful event for the Roman state occurred: Crassus died in the Parthian campaign. From that moment on, the fate of the triumvirate was predetermined. Pompey did not want to comply with previous agreements with Caesar and began to pursue an independent policy. The Roman Republic was on the verge of collapse. The dispute between Caesar and Pompey for power began to take on the character of an armed confrontation.

At the same time, the law was not on the side of Caesar - he was obliged to obey the Senate and renounce his power claims. However, Caesar decides to fight. "The die is cast" - said Caesar and invaded Italy, having only one legion at his disposal. Caesar advanced in the direction of Rome, while the hitherto invincible Pompey the Great and the Senate surrendered city after city. Roman garrisons, originally loyal to Pompey, joined Caesar's army.

Caesar entered Rome on April 1, 49 BC. e. Caesar carried out a number of democratic reforms: a number of punitive laws of Sulla and Pompey were canceled. An important innovation of Caesar was the empowerment of the inhabitants of the provinces with the rights of citizens of Rome.

The confrontation between Caesar and Pompey continued in Greece, where Pompey fled after the capture of Rome by Caesar. The first battle with the army of Pompey at Dyrrhachia was unsuccessful for Caesar. His troops fled in disgrace, and Caesar himself almost died at the hands of his own standard-bearer.

Cleopatra and Caesar. Painting by the painter Jean-Léon Gérôme (1866)

The next battle of Pharsalus, which took place on August 9, 48 BC. e., became much more successful for Caesar, ending with the complete defeat of Pompey, as a result of which he was forced to flee to Egypt. Caesar began to subjugate Greece and Asia Minor. Now Caesar's road lay in Egypt. However, Pompey no longer posed any threat to Caesar - he was killed by the Egyptians, who felt in which direction the wind of political change was blowing in the world.

The Senate also felt global changes, which completely went over to the side of Caesar, declaring him an indefinite dictator. But, instead of taking advantage of the favorable political situation in Rome, Caesar delved into the solution of Egyptian affairs, carried away by the Egyptian beauty Cleopatra. Caesar's active position on domestic political issues resulted in an uprising against the Romans, one of the central episodes of which was the burning of the famous Library of Alexandria. However, Caesar did not leave his interventionist intentions, and Cleopatra ascended the throne, and Egypt came under Roman protection. This was followed by nine months, during which Caesar, smitten by the beauty of Cleopatra, leaving all state and military concerns, stayed in Alexandria.

However, Caesar's carefree life soon ended. A new turmoil was brewing in Rome and on the outskirts of the empire. The Parthian ruler Farnak threatened the possessions of Rome in Asia Minor. The situation in Italy also escalated - even the previously betrayed veterans of Caesar began to rebel. The army of Pharnaces August 2, 47 BC. e. was defeated by the army of Caesar, who informed the Romans of such a quick victory with a short message: “I have come. Saw. Won."

And in September 47 BC. e. Caesar returned to Rome, his mere presence was enough to stop the unrest. Returning to Rome, Caesar celebrated a magnificent triumph, dedicated to the victory in four operations at once: Gallic, Farnak, Egyptian and Numidian. Caesar's generosity was unprecedented: 22,000 tables were laid in Rome with refreshments for citizens, and the games, in which even war elephants participated, surpassed in entertainment all the mass events ever hosted by the Roman rulers.

Vasily Surikov. Assassination of Julius Caesar. Around 1875

Caesar becomes dictator for life, he is given the title "emperor". The month of his birth, July, is named after him. Temples are erected in his honor, his statues are placed among the statues of the gods. The oath form "in the name of Caesar" becomes obligatory during court hearings.

Using great power and authority, Caesar develops a new code of laws ("Lex Iulia de vi et de majestate"), reforms the calendar (the Julian calendar appears). Caesar plans to build a new theater in Rome, a temple of Mars, and several libraries. In addition, preparations began for campaigns against the Parthians and Dacians. However, these grandiose plans of Caesar were not destined to come true.

Even the policy of mercy, steadily pursued by Caesar, could not prevent the emergence of those dissatisfied with his power. So, despite the fact that the former supporters of Pompey were forgiven, for Caesar this act of mercy ended badly.

Rumors spread among the Romans about Caesar's desire for further absolutization of power and the transfer of the capital to Asia Minor. Many of those who considered themselves undeservedly deprived in the distribution of ranks and ranks, as well as citizens sincerely concerned about the fate of the Roman Republic, formed a conspiracy, the number of participants in which reached about 60 people. So Caesar suddenly found himself in political isolation.

On March 15, 44 BC, two days before the date of his march to the East, at a meeting of the Senate, Caesar was killed by conspirators led by former supporters of Pompey. The plans of the killers were realized in front of numerous senators - a crowd of conspirators attacked Caesar with daggers. According to legend, noticing among the killers his faithful supporter of the young Brutus, Caesar doomedly exclaimed: “And you, my child!” (or: "And you, Brutus") and fell at the feet of the statue of his sworn enemy Pompey.

Literature:
Grant M. Julius Caesar. Priest of Jupiter. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2005.
Plutarch. Comparative biographies. Julius Caesar. M., 1964. T. 3.
Utchenko S. L. Julius Caesar. M., 1984.
Freeman Philip Julius Caesar. - St. Petersburg: AST, Astrel, 2010

Bust of Julius Caesar from the collection of the British Museum. Photograph of Roger Fenton commissioned by the British Museum. Approximately 1856 Royal Photographic Society

Julius Caesar is probably the most famous character of ancient, and indeed of all ancient history. Only Alexander the Great can compete with him. Countless volumes of scholarly works, popular biographies, and fiction have been written about Caesar. He has been played in films by such prominent actors as John Gielgud, Rex Harrison, Klaus Maria Brandauer and Ciarán Hinds. Around any outstanding historical figure, sooner or later, a husk of myths and legends grows. Neither did Caesar.

Myth 1. His name was Caius Julius Caesar

Let's start with the name. Caesar, like almost every Roman boy from a good family, had three names: firstly, the prenomen, or personal name (Gaius), - there were very few of them in Ancient Rome, Guy was one of the most common; secondly, the nomen, or generic name (Iulius), and thirdly, the cognomen, originally a nickname with some dictionary meaning, attached to the branch of the genus and becoming hereditary (Cicero - Pea, Naso - Nosy). What the word Caesar meant is unknown. There were many explanations: Caesar himself claimed that it was an “elephant” in the “Moorish language”, and Pliny the Elder raised the word to the verb caedo, “cut, cut”, claiming that the very first Caesar (not ours, but one of his ancestors) was born from a cut uterus, that is, as a result of a procedure later known as a caesarean section. Already thanks to the glory of our Julius Caesar, his cognomen in various forms entered many languages of the world as a synonym for the ruler - Caesar, Kaiser, Tsar.

The variant Kai (and not Gaius) Julius Caesar has been around in everyday speech for a very long time. It is also found in literature: for example, in Turgenev's fantastic story "Ghosts", in Ilf and Petrov's "The Golden Calf", or in Bulgakov's "White Guard". A search in the corpus of texts of Russian literature produces 18 results for the query "Kai Julius" versus 21 - "Gaius Julius", almost equally. Ivan Ilyich in Tolstoy recalls an example from the “Logic” of the German Kantian philosopher Johann Gottfried Kiesewetter: “Kai is a man, people are mortal, therefore Kai is mortal” (in Kiesewetter: “Alle Menschen sind sterblich, Caius ist ein Mensch, also ist Caius sterblich” ). This is also, of course, "Kai" Julius Caesar. In languages with Latin-based graphics, the variant Caius instead of Gaius also continues to occur - not only in novels, but also, for example, in the books of the contemporary British popularizer of antiquity, Adrian Goldsworthy. Such writing is the result not only of a misunderstanding, but of a peculiar ancient Roman idea of loyalty to traditions.

Although the sounds [k] and [g] were always distinguished in Latin, this difference was not reflected in writing at first. The reason was that the Etruscan (or some other Northern Italic) alphabet from which Latin developed did not have a stop [g]. When the volume of written information began to increase, and literacy spread (in antiquity, in principle, there were not so many free people who could not read and write at least at a primitive level), it became necessary to somehow distinguish between letters denoting dissimilar sounds, and C was attached tail. As the linguist Alexander Pipersky notes, the letter G is an innovation with a diacritic like the letter Y, only more successful in a historical perspective. The letter Yo, as you know, was popularized by Karamzin, and Roman lovers of antiquities recorded that G was introduced into the alphabet by a certain Spurius Carvilius, a freedman and the first owner of a private elementary school in Rome, in the 3rd century BC. e.

The capital letter C, denoting the sound [g], was often used as the initial of the names Guy and Gnei (C and CN, respectively). Such initials were found in dedicatory inscriptions, on tombstones, and in other contexts of increased importance. The Romans were very neurotic about such things and preferred not to change anything in them. Therefore, in inscriptions from the II century BC. e. we often see the letter G where it should be (for example, in the word AVG, an abbreviation for Augustus), but at the same time the name Guy is abbreviated in the old fashioned way as C. The same with the name Gnei, which is abbreviated as CN (however, the form "Knei ”, as far as I know, is not found anywhere in Russian).

Most likely, it was this ambiguity that caused the bifurcation of the popular Roman name into the correct Guy and the erroneous Kai. Kai from Andersen's The Snow Queen is most likely not related to Caesar - this is a common Scandinavian name, and there are many other etymological hypotheses about its origin, mainly dating back to the Frisian languages.

Myth 2. We know what he looked like.

Let's look at some sculpted portraits.

The first is the so-called Tusculan portrait, excavated in 1825 by Lucien Bonaparte (Napoleon I's brother). It is kept in the Museum of Antiquities of the city of Turin. Several more sculptural images, stored in the National Roman Museum, the Hermitage, the New Carlsberg Glyptothek in Copenhagen, and others belong to the same type.

The second common type of portrait of Caesar is the so-called bust of Chiaramonti (now kept in the Vatican Museums). Adjacent to it is another bust from Turin, sculptures from Parma, Vienna and a number of others.

Bust of Chiaramonti. 30-20 years BC ancientrome.ru

The famous "Green Caesar" is kept in the Berlin Antique Collection.

"Green Caesar" from the exposition of the Old Museum. 1st century BC e. Louis le Grand / Wikipedia Commons

Finally, in the fall of 2007, another alleged bust of Julius Caesar was raised from the bottom of the Rhone River near the French city of Arles.

Bust of Julius Caesar from Arles. Approximately 46 BC. e. IRPA / Musee Arles Antique / Wikipedia Commons

A good selection of sculptural portraits of Caesar can also be viewed here.

It is noticeable that even within one type, the portraits are not very similar to each other, and if one compares one type with another, it is not at all clear how it can be the same person. At the same time, ancient Roman portrait sculpture was distinguished by a very high level of realism and consistently achieved portrait likeness. To be convinced of this, it is enough to look at the numerous portraits of later emperors - Augustus, for example, or Marcus Aurelius. They cannot be confused with each other or with anyone else.

What's the matter? The fact is that almost all ancient sculptural portraits that have come down to us are not signed, and their attribution is highly guesswork. Signed portrait images were found only on coins, and Caesar was the first of the Romans, whose image appeared on coins during his lifetime (this happened in 44 BC, and already on March 15 of this year, on the ever-memorable Ides of March, he was killed ). Caesar's denarius, minted by the mint official Marcus Mettius, became the model for all later coins of the imperial time.

Obverse dena-rii Mar-ka Met-tia depicting Julius Caesar. 44 BC e. Museum of Fine Arts / Bridgeman Images / Fotodom

The 55-year-old Caesar was depicted on a denarius with realism characteristic of the late Republican era: a very long neck with folds, a protruding Adam's apple, a wrinkled forehead, a thin face, in some versions - wrinkles at the corners of the eyes, a wreath, which, according to rumors, Caesar camouflaged baldness. But still, the coin is a special genre, and the attribution of a sculptural bust on the basis of a stylized numismatic picture is an unreliable business. Of course, archaeologists from Arles wanted as many people as possible to know about the Roman bust of outstanding quality - which, undoubtedly, is a rare find, and this should also help finance the work. And for such a purpose, the "bust of Julius Caesar" is more suitable than the "bust of an unknown Roman." The same caution should be applied to all other sculptural images of "Julius Caesar".

In how the public imagines a character, reputation is often more important than believability. If you Google images of Emperor Vitellius, the first thing you'll see is a bust from the Louvre depicting an obese, arrogant man with a triple chin. This fits well with the image of the emperor, who, according to Suetonius, "was most distinguished by gluttony and cruelty." But the surviving coins show a completely different face - a man also not thin, but certainly not snub-nosed.

Myth 3. He could do several things at the same time.

Have you ever heard from your mother or grandmother “Don’t read while eating, you are not Gaius (or Caius) Julius Caesar”? At the heart of this warning is the notion that Caesar could multitask and that this kind of multitasking was unique to him, beyond the reach of most people.

Firstly, this meme is most common in Russia. In Western European cultures, there is no such fixed expression, although the fact itself is known and sometimes mentioned. However, finding it in the sources is not so easy. Suetonius says nothing about this in his biography of Caesar. Plutarch, referring to a certain Oppius, notes that Caesar "during the campaign also practiced, sitting on a horse, dictating letters, simultaneously occupying two or even ... even more scribes." This remark is inserted between the mention of dashing physical dexterity (“He was able, taking his hands back and folding them behind his back, to put his horse at full speed” - if it seems to you that this is not so difficult, I remind you that the ancient riders did not use stirrups) and a story about the invention of the SMS (“It is said that Caesar first came up with the idea of talking with friends about urgent matters by means of letters, when the size of the city and exceptional employment did not allow meeting in person”).

Julius Caesar dictates his sayings. Painting by Pelagio Palagi. 19th century Palazzo del Quirinale / Bridgeman Images

Pliny the Elder speaks somewhat more about this feature in his monumental work Natural History. He finds the quickness of mind, which distinguished Caesar, unprecedented: “It is reported that he could write or read and at the same time dictate and listen. He could dictate to his secretaries four letters at a time, and on the most important issues; and if he was not busy with anything else, then seven letters each. Finally, Suetonius in the life of Augustus notes that Julius Caesar during circus games “read letters and papers or wrote answers to them”, for which he was criticized, and Augustus made efforts not to repeat this PR mistake of his adoptive father.

We see that we are not talking about real parallel processing, but (as it happens with computers) about quickly switching from one task to another, about the competent distribution of attention and prioritization. The life of a public person in antiquity posed tasks for his memory and attention that were incomparable with those that modern people have to solve: for example, any speech, even many hours, had to be memorized (of course, there were opportunities for improvisation, but the general outline in any case had to keep in mind). Nevertheless, even against this background, Caesar's abilities made an indelible impression on his contemporaries.

Napoleon Bonaparte, whose desire to imitate and surpass Caesar is well documented, was also famous for his ability to dictate up to seven letters at a time and, according to the memoirs of one of his secretaries, Baron Claude Francois de Meneval, attributed this superpower to his virtuoso mastery of a technique that in modern managerial jargon is called compartmentalization. . “When I want to be distracted from some business,” Napoleon said, according to Meneval, “I close the box in which it is stored and open another. The two things never mix, don't bother or tire me. When I want to sleep, I close all the drawers." This system of spatial visualization of topics or tasks also dates back to classical antiquity.

Bonus track. Where was Julius Caesar killed?

Death of Julius Caesar. Painting by Jean Leon Gerome. 1859-1867 Walters Art Museum

Caesar was killed on his way to a meeting of the Senate. This fact, combined with the authority of Shakespeare (who places the assassination scene somewhere near the Capitol - that is, perhaps in the Forum, over the western part of which the Capitol Hill rises), gives many the erroneous impression that he was killed directly in the Senate building. . The building of the Senate stands on the Forum even now and is even called the Julian Curia. But at the time of Caesar, he was not there: the old curia burned down during the unrest that preceded his reign, he ordered the construction of a new one, but did not have time to see it (it was completed under Augustus; the building that has survived to this day is even later, from the time of Emperor Diocletian) .

While there was no permanent place for meetings, the senators gathered wherever they could (this practice has always existed and did not stop after the construction of the curia). In this case, the seat was the portico of the recently erected Theater of Pompey; there the conspirators attacked Caesar. Today, this point is located in a square called Largo di Torre Argentina. In the 1920s, the ruins of four very old temples of the Republican era were discovered on it. Under Augustus, the site of Caesar's assassination was walled up as a curse, and a public latrine was built nearby, the remains of which can still be seen today.

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