Ancient Rome Speech

Julius Caesar

On a military campaign crossing the Alps, Julius Caesar once commented on an obscure barbarian village, stating I would rather be first amongst these people than second in Rome. (Kamm 2002, p. 17) This declaration acutely reflects the side of human nature which constantly strives to better itself, igniting the ambitions of great men, and inciting them to accomplish great things. Julius Caesar was such a man, who rose from adversity through his political prowess, to become one of the greatest military leaders the world has ever seen. These accomplishments stand testament to the nature of this man, and is why is can be argued that Julius Caesar was a timeless role-model for humanity. Who rose from obscurity to dominate the world stage both on a political and military basis, changing the course of… history of the Greco-Roman world decisively and irreversibly. (Julius Caesar, n.d.)

Julius Caesar was neither born great, nor had greatness thrust upon him. Instead he seized it by his own initiative and ambition. His rise from relative obscurity to supreme power in the late Roman Republic (Kaplan, D. n.d.) sets him apart from numerous other rulers of those times, who inherited their titles. This distinction casts Caesar as a timeless role-model, because his rise to power was not based upon ancient titles or being born into a particularly wealthy or influential family. He triumphed by his own perseverance and ambition, which was so great that at times he would break down in tears, replying when queried Do you think I have not just cause to weep, when I consider that Alexander at my age had conquered so many nations, and I have all this time done nothing that is memorable. (Wheeler K, 2001.) To realize his ambitions, Caesar borrowed exorbitant sums of wealth to procure the influence amongst the Roman people to run for public office. The Greek historian Plutarch recorded this, stating He had… a large and gradually increasing political influence in consequence of his lavish hospitality and the general splendour of his mode of life. (Thayer B, 2007.) Although it could be argued at this point that Julius Caesar’s noble lineage played a major role in his rise to power, this is simply not the case. The clan of Julius at the time was neither particularly rich nor influential, and gaining election into the public offices of Rome was a difficult task for even the ablest and most gifted noble unless he was backed by substantial family wealth and influence. (Julius Caesar, n.d.) It was the brilliance of Caesar both in the political arena and on the battlefield that secured his rise to greatness. He was not merely a product of the times, but a timeless role-model who applied his ambition and achieved immortality.

Caesar was a politician and general of the late Roman republic… [who made] himself dictator of Rome, paving the way for the Imperial System. (BBC, 2007.) Julius Caesar’s political prowess secured his rise to power, making him a timeless role-model because he showed the world the change that one ambitious man could affect. Plutarch recorded Caesar’s techniques for achieving these ends, stating his eloquence soon obtained him great credit and favour, and he won… the affections of the people by the affability of his manners and address. (About, 2007.) As the years progressed, Caesar continued to amass public support, through the use of bribes, public shows and banquets. Dio Cassius, a Roman who observed Caesar’s actions at the time, recorded he showed himself perfectly prepared to serve and flatter everybody, even ordinary people... and he did not mind temporarily grovelling. (The Roman Empire, 2007.) Even though his political achievements at the time may seem minor, and no cause for remembrance, Caesar’s political manoeuvres were subtly laying the seeds for the rise of the Roman Empire. He was amassing the support required to make himself dictator for life, based upon his political charisma and military exploits which greatly extended the Roman Empire. (BBC, 2007.) Still, it was not until after Caesar’s death that the affects of his rule were truly felt. For although the assassins who murdered him felt confident that the Republic would magically reconstitute itself [because] Caesar had… ruled Rome for a mere two years. (Hooker R, 1999) Instead, in such a short amount of time the actions of one man had reorganised the Roman state and the rest of the Greco-Roman world (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2007.) into an empire.

Caesar is best remembered for his exploits on the battlefield, where his genius as a tactician established him as a timeless role-model, whose strategies would be studied by future leaders for centuries to come. As Caesar himself wrote it… [is] as much a general's duty to conquer by tactics as by the sword. (Sonshi, 1999) In 58 BC Caesar set about conquering Gaul, in an attempt to acquire the military manpower, prestige and plunder to achieve his political goals. Throughout his campaigns, historians praised him for his intelligence, even the Greek Plutarch stated how Caesar… above all men was gifted with the faculty of making the right use of everything in war, and most especially of seizing the right moment. (About, 2007.) To gain some scope of Caesar’s military achievements, Plutarch recorded in depth the statistics of Caesar’s exploits, stating how In less than ten years in Gaul, Caesar successfully stormed over eight hundred cities, subdued three hundred tribes, and fought hand-to-hand battles against a total of three million warriors, of whom he killed a million, and took as many more prisoner. (Kamm 2002, p. 17) Although it could be argued that these accomplishments were only achieved by Caesar because of the pressing need to defend the Roman Empire, this is not the case. Caesar’s military genius was not born out of necessity, but through the calculated risk of bringing the battle to the enemy, and obtaining lands in the name of Rome. This added to his prestige and gave him a free hand in restructuring the Republic into an Empire with himself at its head. This political achievement required ability, in effect amounting to genius, in several different fields, including administration and generalship. (Julius Caesar, n.d.) It could therefore be inferred that had there been no military conflict at the time, Caesar’s ambition would have seen him raise an army regardless, and march off to conquer an empire in the name of Rome.

Julius Caesar was a timeless role-model for humanity, who is a shining example to us all, of what humans are capable if we put our minds to it. Regardless of his obscure background, Caesar went on to become dictator for life of Rome through his political prowess and military genius, forging the foundations of the Roman Empire. It was these qualities which make Julius Caesar such a timeless role-model to us all. For, this cool-headed man of genius with an erratic vein of sexual exuberance undoubtedly changed the course of history at the Western end of the Old World. (Julius Caesar, n.d.)

Annotated Bibliography

About. (2007). Plutarch’s Parallel Lives (Online).

Available: Source

This primary source was made available on the internet, and included extracts from the works of the Greek historian Plutarch. The website is a reliable source, and the extracts did not appear to contain any bias in them – even though the author’s country was conquered by the Romans. Plutarch seems almost in awe of Caesar throughout this source.

BBC. (2007). Historic Figures Julius Caesar. (Online).

Available: Source

This is the website of the British Broadcasting Commission, so it is therefore a reputable source. It gave a brief outline of Caesar’s life in a purely factual manner with no bias evident in the text. No primary sources were referred to, but the arguments and inferences put forth were an excellent staging point for my essay.

Encyclopedia Britannica. (2007). Julius Caesar. (Online).

Available: Source

The online version of the encyclopedia of Britannica was a useful and reputable source whose language choices did not appear to steer the author towards any biased view of Julius Caesar. Although no primary sources were utilized nor referred to, the overview of Caesar’s career and the ideas put forward were extremely informative and useful.

Hooker, R. (1999). Rome - Julius Caesar. (Online).

Available: Source

This source contained limited reference to primary sources, but its main use was the ideas and inferences put forward on aspects pf Caesar’s rule. The evidence was presented in a factual and unbiased way and the events described were consistent with those detailed in out sources.

Julius Caesar. (n.d.). (Online).

Available: Source

This website provided a long and detailed account of Caesar’s exploits, referring to numerous sources, both primary and secondary; such as the encyclopedia of Britannica. It was a very useful site, providing factual and apparently unbiased information to the reader. The only area of concern with this source was its lack of bibliographic information – mainly the author and the date of its posting.

Kamm, A. (2002). Julius Caesar. London : Hodder Headline

This book was an excellent source, containing numerous primary quotes to confirm the authenticity of its arguments. The language choices of the author did steer the reader towards revering Caesar, but other than that no bias could be found in the texts. The book recounted Caesar’s life factually the information found in it was found to be consistent with that found in other sources. This was a very useful source.

Kaplan, D. (n.d.). Julius Caesar. (Online).

Available: Source

This was the more dubious sources referenced in this essay, because it lacked dating or primary sources to back up the arguments presented in the text. Nevertheless, no bias was evident in the text and the arguments put forward were still informative and consistent with points found in other texts.

Sonshi. (1999). Gaius Julius Caesar. (Online).

Available: Source

This website contained the books written by Julius Caesar during his numerous military campaigns. It was an extremely useful primary source, providing valuable insight into the mind of the man I was writing about. Caesar does not appear to use his writings to big-note himself, rather he writes it almost from a third person perspective.

Thayer, B. (2007). Plutarch, The Parallel Lives. (Online).

Available: Source

This source provided extracts from the works of the Greek Historian Plutarch. It was an extremely useful primary source and Plutarch seemed to recount the events in a factual and unbiased manner.

The Roman Empire. (2007). (Online).

Available: Source

This website was an extremely useful source, and described Caesar’s life and career in great depth. Its arguments were based upon numerous primary sources, as well as upon secondary speculation. The language choices did not appear to steer the reader towards any biased conclusions as the information was presented in a factual and neutral manner.

Wheeler, K. (2001). A New Type of Leader. (Online).

Available: Source

The information presented on this website was based upon numerous primary sources, with no bias in the text evident. The source correlated with the information set forth in numerous other sources and it is a relatively recent source so that contributed to its usefulness.