Caesar: Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace tonight: thrice hath Calpurnia in her sleep cried out, "Help, ho! They murder Caesar.!"
* * *
Calpurnia: Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies, yet now they frighten me. There is one within, besides the things that we have heard and seen, recounts the most horrible sights seen by the watch.
Caesar: What can be avoided, whose end is purpos'd by the mighty gods? Yet Caesar shall go forth; for these predictions are to the world in general as to Caesar.
Calpurnia: When beggars die there are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.
Caesar: Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I have yet heard, it seems to me most strange that men should fear seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
The Ides of March
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5 comments:
With the possible exception of his adopted son Augustus, Caesar is probably the most fascinating figure in all of Roman history.
Still, even the greatest figure of antiquity owes a lot to Shakespeare. Nowhere is that more evident than in Caesar's last words, where Shakespeare did a much better job than Caesar himself did.
Shakespeare records Caesar's last words as "et tu, Brute?" This brings out the tragedy of Caesar's fall and the sense of betrayal that he almost certainly felt, but it is doubtful that Caesar said these words.
Shakespeare likely got the idea for them from Suetonius, who put similar last words in Caesar's mouth. However, Suetonius is not regarded as a reliable source.
Most historians agree that Caesar's last words were uttered just as the blows fell, and reflect more the wounds to his gigantic ego than his heartbreak at his betrayal. According to historians, Caesar's last words were "What's this, violence against Caesar?!"
Rhino, I have to disagree with you. Caesar is one of the most fascinating and greatest figures in WORLD history. But for Gaius Julius Caesar, his nephew and adopted son, Augustus, never exists.
Everyone thinks of him as a great general, and he was. Although Alexander's conquest was greater, Caesar's was more durable. That was due, in part, to his view of what we now refer to as nation building. Cicero often referred to Caesar as the foremost orator in the Senate. His writings remain as some of the most illuminating on the early Celts and are used in Latin 101 everywhere.
As to his choice of final words, the wounds were not just to his body or gigantic ego, but to the whole of the civilized world. Dante was right to place Brutus and Cassius in the final ring of hell along with Judas Iscariot, being devoured for eternity by Satan. Their crime was heinous, and Shakespeare's/Antony's words about Brutus being the "noblest Roman of them all" ring painfully hollow.
Caesar is great for all of the reasons you suggest. But I think you give him too much credit for bringing order to Rome. In fact, I think his conquest was only made durable by Augustus, who not only managed to squash the Liberators, but to outmanuever and ultimately outfight his fellow Caesarian Marc Antony for control of the Empire.
Importantly, Augustus didn't have Caesar's penchant for clemency, which endears Caesar to us but proved fatal to him. Augustus crushed his enemies, regardless of their personal merits.
The most notable example of this is probably Cicero. Once, after he had Cicero whacked, Augustus caught one of his grandchildren reading from Cicero's works. The young man was worried about his grandfather's reaction, but Augustus read briefly from the text, handed it back and said "He was a great writer, and a great patriot."
Augustus was a master politician, and during the more than 50 years during which he was at the center of Roman politics, he ended decades of civil strife, brought stability to Rome and helped to usher in the Pax Romana.
For all of Caesar's genius, history doesn't recognize a "Caesarian" age, but it does recognize an Augustinian one.
dorks.
Dorks? Of course we're dorks--we have a blog.
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