Julius Caesar Triumphant Part Two

Pompey had also never staged four triumphs in a row. The crowds were awed by the spectacle of battles on artificial lakes, giraffes, British war chariots and many other sights. The peoples he had conquered-Gauls, Egyptians, Asians and Africans, all marched in chains before the cheering crowds. Caesar did make a rare propaganda mistake during the African triumph. He had an image of Cato killing himself in the triumphal procession. Caesar claimed he was right to do this by claiming Cato and all of the men who fought with him were the slaves of the Africans, and had died as traitors. The crowds wept when they saw this particular display-to them Cato still represented all that had been good about the Republic. Now, however, the Republic was under Caesar's control. The Senate, awed itself by the greatness of Caesar's victories and intimidated by his awesome power, sought to think of ways to legitimize his standing in the Roman state. These efforts must have been awful for the strict constitutionalists. Caesar had already been declared dictator twice-the first time in late 49 BC for eleven days when he presided over his own rushed and unconstitutional election to the consulship. The second time had been in October 48 BC when he had been appointed for a year. Caesar was now awarded a dictatorship fo the third time in the spring of 46 BC, and the term was an unheard of ten years.


In addition to his already being a consul, Caesar was also given the power to nominate all of the magistrates. A new office-"Prefect of Morals" was created for him to much ironic amusement. Caesar had surpassed Sulla in the power he held over Rome. This was a time of uncertainty which for some offered the possibility of a brighter future. Hadn't Sulla given up his power voluntarily after he had 'cured' the Republic? Caesar's plans to heal the wounds of the civil war were unknown but few would deny a cure was needed. Some quotes by famous men of the time are instructive here. Cicero said of Caesar, "We are like his slaves, but he is a slave of the times." (Cicero, To Friends, 9.15.). Another, Cassius Longinus, who had been Pompey's best naval commander said, "I'd much rather have our old, merciful master than to take our chance with a new and bloodthirsty one." (Cicero, To Friends, 15.19.). Longinus admitted this to Cicero himself after Caesar had left to deal with a rebellion that the sons of Pompey, Gnaeus and Sextus, had raised in Spain. Marcus Junius Brutus was once again in a painful position. Brutus was Cato's nephew and at first had condemned his suicide on philosophical grounds. He still believed Caesar would ultimately restore the constitution. Brutus wanted to both remain loyal to his uncle's memory and Caesar also. He did this by divorcing his wife and marrying Cato's daugher Porcia. Brutus was not finished sending what he hoped would be a message to Caesar about his hopes for a restored Republic.

He did an obituary in honor of his uncle and implored Cicero, as Rome's greatest man of words to do likewise. This assignment must have been painful for Cicero and perhaps he accepted as much out of shame as out of vanity. Cicero knew that his old reputation as the 'Savior of the Republic' after the Catiline conspiracy and as a spokesman for republican values had been harmed by his acceptance of a pardon from Caesar. He was now putting himself on the line a bit by honoring Cato. Cicero had written that Cato was one of the few men greater than his reputation. This was a solemn judgment of all those who bowed to Caesar, including himself. Even though Caesar was far away in Spain he caught news of these pro-Cato tracts and answered with his own called the "Anti-Cato." His portrayal of Cato as a drunkard and insane was so completely absurd that it was treated with contempt when it was distributed as a pamphlet in Rome. It helped Cato's reputation instead of harming it. Caesar's reputation for being a man who flaunted tradition was growing by leaps and bounds. Cleopatra had come to Rome to watch Caesar's triumphs in September 46 BC. Not only did she not acknowledge republican sensibilities, she played the role of exotic Eastern queen to the hilt. She had set up housekeeping in Caesar's mansion on the other side of the Tiber. This mansion would have had beautiful gardens (his hortus).

Cleopatra was accompanied by her brother and husband -the fifteen year old Ptolemy XIV-probably to much additional Roman scorn. Along with the many eunuchs and slaves she would have brought with her, she also brought Caesar's one year old unacknowledged love-child-Ptolemy Caesar or Caesarion. The names of the child alone left the paternity of the boy in little doubt. Needless to say the Roman citizenry were no doubt scandalized -and yet as always curiosity won out as many tried to get as close a look at her and her entourage as possible. They would not have had much luck in this matter. Cleopatra had refused to meet with any Romans unless they 'mattered'; Cicero found her hateful. The Roman people could only further wonder what mysterious hold this exotic queen from this mysterious land had over their leader when they learned Caesar planned to rebuild Carthage and Corinth as monuments to a new age. In Julius Caesar's vision of Rome citizens would feel like a part of the world instead of just its masters. Caesar also wanted to build a huge new library in Rome, a theater so huge it would outdo Pompey's and even planned to divert the Tiber because its flow obstructed his building plans. In August 45 BC Caesar returned to Italy and Cleopatra went off to be with him. The two took a luxurious vacation in the countryside and it wasn't until October that Caesar finally returned to Rome. The talk in Rome was that Caesar planned to move the seat of empire to Alexandria. It was also believed, although this less absurdly, that he planned to marry Cleopatra, although he was already married to Pompeia. Caesar had done much to bring these wild rumors no matter how wild or how mild-upon himself. For he had set up a golden statue of his mistress in the temple of Venus. This was an unusal and shocking honor to say the least-and all for an uppity, incestuous Eastern queen and probably offended many Romans greatly; just what the hell was Caesar doing? Why was a pediment being added to his mansion so that it looked like a temple? Was there any truth to the rumor that Mark Antony had been appointed as his high priest?

The image is yet another fresco discovered in the ruins of Herculaneum. I hope to have the next post here very soon. For once, I am quite ahead on the amount of information I have to be typed and it is just my typing skills-or lack therof preventing more from being here. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!