Caesar's Dictatorship and Death

4/8/12   Civil  War   Alea  iacta  est:     “the  die  is  cast”   • Pompey  and  conserva=ves  in  Senate  muster  army   and  go  to  Greece   • Caesar  follows…  48  BC:  Pharsalus   • Pompey  loses;  flees  to  Egypt;      beheaded  by  Ptolemy   • Civil  War  con=nues:  48-­‐5   Caesar  moves   immediately  with   one  single  legion   without  wai=ng  for   spring   – Civil  &  foreign  campaigns  fought   in  Egypt,  Asia,  Spain  &  Africa   – Ptolemy,  Cleopatra  &  Caesarion   – BaPle  of  Thapsus  46  BC  (Cato)   – BaPle  of  Munda  45  BC  (Pompey’s  sons)   – Huge  Triumphal  parade  in  45  BC   Pompey  has  no   =me  to  muster   troops  &  abandons   Rome  to  Caesar   Cleopatra   Clemen-a  &  Celeritas  (Clemency  &  Speed)   • Caesar  famed  for  his  speed  in  his  victories   across  the  world:    veni,  vidi,  vici   • Equally  famous  for  his  clemency.    Not  like  Sulla   – Caesar  offered  to  pardon  any  who  supported  him,   even  if  they  had  previously  fought  against  him   – A]er  Pharsalus,  Cicero  and  Brutus  are  pardoned   – But  Cato  the  Younger  refuses  to  let  Caesar  pardon   him.    Cato  commits  suicide  a]er  BaPle  of  Thapsus   (46  BC)  near  U=ca  in  North  Africa   1   4/8/12   Caesar’s  Ac=ons  as  “Perpetual  Dictator”:  45  BC   Julian  Calendar  (365  days)   Debt  relief     Oversight  of  grain  dole   New  colonies   Extends  Roman  status  to  several  provinces  (Gaul)   Expands  Senate  to  900  members  and  enrolls   provincial  aristocrats   • Plans  expedi=on  against  Parthians…   • Massive  building  projects   • • • • • • – New  Forum  of  Julius  Caesar  and  Temple  of  Venus   Genetrix   – Rebuilt  Senate  House  (burned  a]er  Clodius  is  killed)   – Basilica  Julia  in  forum   But  Caesar  begins  to  take  his  power  too  far?     Aspira=ons  toward  divinity?   •  Perpetual  dictator  without  signs  of  abdica=on   •  1st  Roman  to  have  portrait  struck  on  coins  while  living   •  Mark  Antony  elected  priest  for  temple  to  Julius  Caesar   •  Accepts  offerings  to  “deo  invicto”:  invincible  god   •  Gilded  throne,  purple  robe,  laurel  wreath   •  July   •  Mark  Antony  offers  laurel  crown  during  public  fes=val   Julius  Caesar’s  new  forum,   Senate  House,  &  Temple  of   Venus  Genetrix   Conspiracy  forms  against  Caesar:  Tyrant?  King?   • Conspiracy  of  senators  includes  both  old  enemies   and  some  staunch  supporters   • Figure-­‐head  =  Brutus,  descendant  of  Brutus   (tyrant  killer)   • on  Ides  of  March  (15th)    44  BC,  group  surrounds   Caesar  before  senate  mee=ng  and  while  Antony   detained   • 60  conspirators,  and  Caesar  stabbed  23  =mes   (though  only  one  fatal)   • Kai  su  teknon?        Et  tu  Brute?     2   4/8/12   Uncanny  Coincidence?   V.  Camuccini,  1798:  "Death  of  Julius  Caesar”   • Senate  was  mee=ng  that  day  in  part  of  Pompey’s   theater  complex!   • Caesar  trapped,  says  Plutarch,  like  a  wild  beast,   stabbed  from  all  sides:    “Either  by  chance  or  because   he  was  pushed  there  by  his  murderers,  he  fell  down   against  the  pedestal  on  which  the  statue  of  Pompey   stood,  and  the  pedestal  was  drenched  with  his  blood,   so  that  one  might  have  thought  that  Pompey  himself   was  presiding  over  this  act  of  vengeance  against  his   enemy,  who  lay  there  at  his  feet  struggling  convulsively   under  so  many  wounds.    He  is  said  to  have  received  23   wounds.    And  many  of  his  assailants  were  wounded  by   each  other,  as  they  all  tried  to  plant  all  those  blows  in   one  body.”     3