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1 Caesar's Civil War 49-44 BC Brittany Babineau History 503

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1 Caesar's Civil War 49-44 BC Brittany Babineau History 503 1 Caesar’s Civil War 49-44 BC Brittany Babineau History 503: Roman History April 30, 2018 2 This StoryMap, which showcases Caesar’s significant battles during the Civil War, is best shown in a spatial format because the real lack of strategy can be seen. Caesar fought the Civil War, with only tactical awareness of how to win each battle, not with a mind to conquer. Caesar had a sometimes uncanny ability to win in battles and succeed in more massive campaigns against various odds. The StoryMap presentation of the Civil War he fought from 49 to 44 BC, reveals that even though Caesar knew how to succeed strategically in war, he chose to respond tactically to each battle. He was reacting to the moves made against him by those in Rome who opposed him.1 Not only is the overlay of the war going to present this case, but how Caesar chose to conclude any battle he was involved in will make the case as well. Additionally, the reason I chose the icon I did as my point icon, is because it is a posthumous bust of Julius Caesar done some time between 44 and 30 BC.2 Caesar has managed to capture people’s hearts and minds even though he died long ago. Something made him stand out and has managed to keep him alive even passed the Ides of March, when he was brutally murdered. Julius Caesar was a unique human being, perhaps too modern for the times he lived in, with his overwhelming capability to proffer forgiveness even to the point of ignoring mortal danger to himself. When Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 BC,3 he was opposing not only the elitist of Rome in the Senate, but also what the Senate had framed as the ideal Roman. However, Caesar’s choice to cross the Rubicon and march on Rome with his legions caused a massive Civil War, one of the last that the Republic had. When he was denied the ability to run in absence for a consulship in order to ride into Rome and regale the people with his long overdue triumph, Caesar marched 1 Robert Morstein-Marx, “Caesar’s Alleged Fear of Prosecution and His ‘Ratio Absentis’ in the Approach to the Civil War,” Historia: Zeitschrift fur Alte Geschichte 56, no. 2 (2007): 160-1. 2 "Julius Caesar," Wikipedia, April 21, 2018, , accessed April 23, 2018, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar#/media/File:Gaius_Iulius_Caesar_(Vatican_Museum).jpg. 3 Jeffrey Beneker, “The Crossing of the Rubicon and the Outbreak of Civil War in Cicero, Lucan, Plutarch, and Suetonius,” Pheonix 65, no. ½ (2011): 74. 3 into Rome in direct response to the Senate’s continual obstinance toward him and his growing popularity. 4 The people loved Caesar, and when he was killed in 44 BC,5 the people did not celebrate the death of a tyrant as his conspirators believed. They were outraged at the deed and rose up against the Senate as an angry mob.6 Julius Caesar was a populist, or anti-establishment; he recognized what the Roman patricians and Senators did not, that Rome was becoming increasingly divided between the plebian class and the patrician class. He did not seek to please the Senate, but rather sought to empower the people, and in doing so he became a symbol for the masses. Underestimating the value of such a symbol is where the elitists of Rome gravely miscalculated. Caesar did not cause the Civil War that ensued by crossing the Rubicon, but after the Senate’s mistreatment of him, he was forced to respond or lose his dignitas.7 His response to actions by his political rivals created a rift that his opposition felt could only be mended through bloodshed.8 Caesar did not want a Civil War with Rome. He did not want to change or conquer it or its people. When the battles are mapped out chronologically as they are on this StoryMap, it becomes abundantly clear that Caesar was fighting in defense of his honor. He was not fighting pre-emptively or strategically, but rather reacting tactically. When Caesar crossed the Rubicon and marched on Rome with his Legions to claim what he thought were his rights, the Senate aligned with Pompey, fled Rome, and went south to Brundisium and then to Dyrrhachium.9 Caesar, as he came to realize that the Senate had fled 4 Morstein-Marx, “Caesar’s Alleged Fear of Prosecution and His ‘Ratio Absentis’ in the Approach to the Civil War,” 168-9. 5 C. J. Simpson, “Why March? The Hereditary Julian ‘Pontifices Maximi’ and the Date of Julius Caesar’s Assassination,” Latomus, 66, Fasc. 2 (2007), 334. 6 Suetonius, "The Life of Julius Caesar," Suetonius • Life of Julius Caesar, accessed March 29, 2018, http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.html#84. 7 G. R. Stanton, "Why Did Caesar Cross the Rubicon?" Historia: Zeitschrift Für Alte Geschichte 52, no. 1 (2003): 67, accessed March 29, 2018, doi:10.18411/a-2017-023. 8 Frank A. Siranni, “Caesar’s Decision to Cross the Rubicon,” L’Antiquite Classique 48, Fasc. 2 (1979), 637. 9 Suetonius, "The Life of Julius Caesar,” http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.html#34. 4 Rome, left Marc Antony in charge as Tribune of the Plebs and then he himself went West to amass support for his cause.10 His actions were not typical of a conqueror. As the war played out, Caesar followed Pompey’s generals, Pompey himself, and the Senators who amassed armies of their own. It became clear he was fighting a defensive war through offensive battles. Caesar’s actions of forgiveness, compassion, and offering reluctant chances for his opponents to redeem themselves, showcase Caesar’s mentality going into the war. He celebrated the victories he had, such as the all-famous “Veni, Vidi, Vici” after winning the Battle of Zela.11 However, Caesar continually forgave his enemies, often asking his soldiers to “Spare [their] fellow citizens” such as at the Battle of Pharsalus after his legions beat Pompey’s, and racing to reach Cato and Scipio before they committed suicide.12 He was a populist and if he had wanted absolute power, Caesar’s uncanny abilities and skills in the art of warfare, no doubt, would have allowed him to do so. He destroyed Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus while his troops were outnumbered five to one, even after suffering a major loss at the Battle of Dyracchium, the battle prior. 13 Caesar’s leadership and willingness to put himself on the frontlines with his troops, such as him rushing the enemy by himself in the Battle of Munda,14 and his ability to stop mutinies of his troops with a single word, “Citizens,” shows that Caesar was not a tyrant. 15 He 10 Julius Caesar, Aulus Hirtius, and Cynthia Damon, The Landmark Julius Caesar: The Complete Works: Gallic War, Civil War, Alexandrian War, African War, and Spanish War, trans. Kurt A. Raaflaub, ed. Robert B. Strassler, The Landmark Series (New York, NY: Pantheon Books, 2017), 337. 11 Suetonius, "The Life of Julius Caesar,” http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.html#37. 12 Plutarch, "The Life of Julius Caesar," Plutarch • Life of Caesar, accessed March 29, 2018, http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.html#54; Suetonius, "The Life of Julius Caesar," http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.html#75. 13 Julius Caesar, The Landmark Julius Caesar, 416. 14 Phillip Barlag, The Leadership Genius of Julius Caesar: Modern Lessons from the Man Who Built an Empire (Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2016), 22. 15 Suetonius, "The Life of Julius Caesar” http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.html#70; Plutarch, "The Life of Julius Caesar,” http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.html#51. 5 was an influential individual for sure, but he was no tyrant. Caesar understood the people, and in doing so, he recognized the increasing divide between the masses and the elite that ran the government. He wanted Rome to be for Romans again. In the Civil War, Caesar’s naivety with trying to meet with Pompey face-to-face, and his willingness to allow Massilia to remain untouched nearly cost him dearly.16 The layout of the battles Caesar fought during this Civil War, clearly shows that, while he might have been trying to establish some sense of order to the Civil War he was involved with, ultimately Caesar was attacking where he saw armies of opposition raised against him. When the Ides of March of 44 BC came along, the conspirators knew that if they did not have Brutus on their side, their assassination would not work. Brutus was from a family that symbolized all the correct traits a good Roman was supposed to have.17 After all, the Brutus that played a crucial role in destroying the tyranny and exiling the royal family was the ancestor of the Brutus of Caesar’s day.18 They needed Brutus on their side to make the assassination legitimate and cement Caesar as a tyrant. Brutus, getting the final blow to Caesar, boiled down to an elitist killing the populist. Caesar’s actions during the Civil War were not indicative of a tyrant, but instead of someone reacting to a slight against them and attempting to restore peace. Caesar’s actions as outlined in this StoryMap will showcase a man, not a tyrant, who merely responded to elitist actions taken against him.
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