Empires: Cleopatra and the Romans Part Six

Many writings are attributed to Cleopatra and with her intellectual prowess and knowledge of languages it is very probable that she wrote treatises, opinions and other documents that show her wide knowledge of the world around her. Other works attributed to her are essays on weights and measures, coinage, alchemy, medicine. The works she is said to have authored about gynecology and cosmetics reflect her femininity. The treatise on cosmetics was widely quoted by Roman writers. This is very interesting because of an archaeolgical discovery at En Boquet near the Dead Sea. This discovery was of a cosmetics workshop that was originally constructed in the time of Herod the Great, and the area it was in came under Cleopatra's rule when it was presented to her by Mark Antony. Although a lot of work attributed to Cleopatra witnessed her femininity, many other things also attributed to her show that she was more than capable of competing with the men of her time. It doesn't matter much in the light of history whether she wrote them or not-just the fact that these attributions were made tells us that her intellect and expertise in a great variety of subjects were recognized by powerful people in the world of her day. It could not have escaped Cleopatra's attention that 'men who mattered' such as Julius Caesar, recorded their deeds for posterity and I think she most likely did the same thing.

Continuing on with our story here, I would like to examine Julius Caesar and the Rome of his day. Crossing the Rubicon is still a phrase that is used after 2,000 years since the event that gave birth to it. When Gaius Julius Caesar crossed that unremarkable river with soldiers from his 13th Legion in 49 B.C., he not only caused war, but also started the ending of Rome's ancient freedoms and began the transformation of Rome from a Republic to an Empire. With this event, an era of history came to an end. At one time there had been free cities throughout the Meditteranean. In the Hellenic world and Italy also, these cities wee inhabited by men who identified themselves as free citizens, not as the subjects of a king, king of kings, or a pharaoh. These men proudly talked of the values and rights that distinguished them from slaves. Free speech, private property and rights before the law were all treasured. Over time, however, with the rise of empires, first those of Alexander the Great and his successors, and then of Rome, the freedom and independence of people like these had been extinguished. In the first century before Christ, there was only one free city left-that was Rome. After Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, the Republic died and no free cities existed at all.

With the death of the Republic a thousand years of civic self-government were brought to an end, and it would be over a thousand more years before it would live again. During the 1920s and 1930s when republics everywhere were collapsing and dying, parallels with ancient Rome were brought up by those commenting on the spectacle. To point out how history seems to continually repeat itself I would like to share this quote by Adolph Hitler: "The brown shirt would probably not have existed without the black shirt. The march on Rome was one of the turning points of history." In this quote Hitler was referring to Mussolini's 1922 march on Rome which Mussolini propagandized as the myth of a 'heroic' Caesar-like attempt to bring back the glory of the ancient regime.
To anyone who reads either of my blogs-I am sorry this blog is moving so very slow. I have so many varied interests that keeping everything going is a bit rough sometimes. At my other blog, I already have the next two series of posts written out and hope to start the next series Thursday at MFM, hopefully this will give me some time to catch this blog up. I will try not to stray to far from our immediate story here, but do not be surprised if you see posts about other eras of history in between this series. I am definitely keeping this blog only about historical subjects-and mainly about the rise and fall of empires, power blocs and nations. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!