Julius Caesar- Fame and Fate Part One

Romans were tough if nothing else can be said about them-they were made to be tough. It is estimated that only two out of threee children born reached one year of age and under 50 percent of Roman children reached the age of puberty. A brutal regime of dieting and cold baths was imposed on children at a very young age. A boy trained his body for battle and a girl for childbirth. Both sexes were pushed towards the limits of endurance. It is not a great surprise that Roman children didn't seem to have any time for play. There is a dearth of toys found dating from the years of the Republic compared to the years after its collapse, when the inclination to raise strong citizens started to decline.

Gaius Julius Caesar born on 13 July 100 BC, six years after Pompey and fifteen after Crassus was as much of product of the stern way Roman children were brought up as he was of the civil war and Sulla's dictatorship. Marius had married into the Julian family and before he died during his seventh consulship, he planned to make young Julius the priest of the temple of Jupiter. This spot had been left vacant by the forced suicide of its previous incumbent. However, as Caesar was only thirteen the post would have to be kept open. By 84 BC, the year Caesar's father died, he was officially of age. Cinna who was now consul after Marius's death confirmed Caesar's priesthood. Indeed Cinna must have been quite impressed by the sixteen year old, as he offered his daughter, Cornelia, in marriage. Caesar was engaged already-but there was not way he was going to turn down the offer of having the Republic's strongman as his father-in-law. Of course, as things turned out Cornelia would appear to have become quite a liabilty to young Julius and when Sulla began annihilating the Marian factions, a possible death sentence. However, the multifaceted and contradictory loyalties that the Republic bred saved him. Caesar's name was not on the first proscription lists probably because Caesar's mother came from a family that had given Sulla some of his most influential supporters. Sulla spared Caesar's life but took away his priesthood of Jupiter and also demanded that he divorce Cornelia. Much to everyone's astonishment Caesar refused, and this almost suicidal act of resistance led to his fleeing Rome with a price on his head. It was only with the continued pleadings of Aurelia's (Caesar's mother) relatives that finally led Sulla to pardon the uppity yet courageous youth.

Caesar remained abroad as he felt he would never be completely safe as long as Sulla was alive. Oddly enough Sulla did young Caesar an enormous favor in a way, possibly changing a large trajectory of Roman history in the absolute opposite direction of how he would have wanted it to go. A brilliant horsemen and a regular at weapons practice, brimming with the restless energy of youth, Caesar in all probablity would have felt utterly stifled and bored as a priest of Jupiter. As the priest of Jupiter he would have been forbidden to ride a horse, seem armed troops and could not even leave Rome for more than two days at a time. Now that Caesar had traveled to Asia as a staff officer, it opened up the possibility of a political career. This was due to the fact that politics was out of bounds to any Roman who had not served as a soldier. The East was a treasure trove of possibilites for action-both diplomatic and military that a young officer might see. Shortly we will look at the possibility of actions other than military and diplomatic young Caesar might have been introduced to. Several situations going on at the time warranted attention. Mithridates was rebuilding his power after his earlier losses to Rome. The city of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos was still holding out against the unfairness of Sulla's peace terms. Military and diplomatic confusion reigned everywhere it seemed, and this was a scenario where a young man on his way up could make an impression. I hope to have the next post here very soon barring any technical difficulties. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!