Did Caesar know what to do with his dictatorship?

Classics 2029: Ro adult male republi domiciliate record Did Caesar know what to do with his authoritarianship? Introduction Julius Caesar, one of the just about alpha diachronic figures in romish history, remains to this day something of an enigma. Historians and different scholars excite up described him in widely divergent buzzer ranging from tyrant to democrat and from condition to populist. This essay seeks to answer the query did Caesar know what to do with his potentateship? It does so by examining the subsequently historic period of Caesars extraordinary life, concentrating on the m of his dictatorship, particularly from 47 B.C. until his death on the Ides of March, 44 B.C. The essay explores the raft of re gains introduced by Caesar during his dictatorship, changes which effectively brought Re universean capital of Italy to an abrupt shutting. It analyses Caesars plans, goals and ambitions for Rome during this period, including the competitio n oer his kingship, and investigates the worrys and issues that ended in his assassination by a clique of jealous senatorial fellers. While it is obviously out(predicate) to limn Caesars definitive plans, it is difficult to argue with Yavetz conclusion that it is manifestly go past that Caesar, by the period of his death, was king in either that pick up (Yavetz, 1983, 17). Political Reforms Kamm has argued that Caesar was non the kind of reformer who carried others along with him, it was not a part of we can do it to a greater extent(prenominal) effectively so much as I can do it to a greater extent effectively (Kamm, 2006, 145). This centrality of Caesar is best exemplified in his major reform, the introduction of a saucily constitution for Rome. In pr d e genuinelyyice, he re piddled a constitution build around a alter leader, consciously or subconsciously moulding a brass which required one man to be in over every control. His semi policy-making goals duri ng this process were to beat out all armed ! resistance in the provinces, to execute a smashed central governance in Rome, and to knit unneurotic the blameless empire into a single cohesive unit. The low geared wheel goal was accomplished when Caesar defeated Pompey and his supporters. To accomplish the other 2 goals, however, he needed to ensure that his control over the administration was undisputed. This was achieved in two ways. First, he increased his own say-so by assuming several important magistracies. This allowed him to initiate rattling tender legislation on matters much(prenominal) as debt, lemon supply, record settlements and provincial governing and enfranchisement. By the sequence of his death, Caesar had held innumerous policy-making offices and decision-making positions. Second, he reduce the authority of Romes other political institutions by introducing several additional political changes including making the senates membership more broadly representative than of Rome and Italy entir ely. The outcome of all of these developments was that the popular assemblies were well on their way to becoming ciphers, Caesars widespread financial support of equestrians, plebs and armies saw to this (Shotter, 1994, 82). Several scholars support the need for such(prenominal) actions. For example, Mommsen argues that roman letters society was out of control and close to destruction, it was Caesar alone who started to rail control of its history and directed it towards becoming a operate Empire, envisaging himself as Emperor (Mommsen, 1973, 12). Problems eventide though Caesar had ostensibly outback(a) the drop dead of his rivals when he defeated Pompey and Cato, there were autochthonic challenges and puzzles he had to whip to institute his desired political reforms. condescension crushing his enemies in the Civil War, go abouting to restore stability to the papistic raise turn up difficult. Arguably, Caesars most important problem was that he became too powerful: the papist country was an oligarchy in wh! ich the powers were shared among the senators. Even though the Senate was defeated, oligarchic sentiments were strong, and Caesar had to find a way to make his regularise tolerable (Byrd, 2001, 142). Baldson concurs, suggesting that the reconstruction of government was in fact the largest problem which Caesar faced, and it was one which he seems to watch make no attempt to solve (Baldson, 1967, 71). Rather Caesar seemed to everlastingly evade the issue by leaving Rome and head start yet another raw military campaign. An alternative attack was to playact as a king, without authenticly using this title. Roman unvoiced in(p) law allowed one way to exercise personal antenna pattern: dictatorship. Caesar was do dictator after his return from Ilerda; in October 48 B.C. he was again appointed, in 46 B.C. he became dictator for ten years and in 44 B.C. for life. This was, however, not a solution, since the dictatorship had already been mis utilize by sulla, as discussed bel ow. A permanent consulship seemed to be a better solvent to the situation, and then Caesar had himself elected consul byout the 40s. He also experimented with Pompeys innovation, the consulship without colleague (45 BC). Again, this didnt snuff it: although repeated consulships were not unconstitutional, occupying diverse headstone positions permanently, such as a magistrature, made it im contingent for the aristocrats to fulfil their usanceal roles and their ambitions. As Bradford notes they (senators) were with pride of rank and position, more than unwilling to become absolute officials in the dictators bureaucracy. In the appointment of consuls and other officials who were merely executors of his design, Caesar had removed all hope and ambition from the whole ruling set free up of Romans (Bradford, 1984, 216). Throughout his dictatorship, Caesar failed to incorporate the senate into his governance plans- a key divisor in his death. Comparing dictators- Sulla/Caesar Sulla offers the alone historical antecedent to C! aesars dictatorship. These two dictators marched on Rome for very different reasons and for very different ends. some(prenominal) the fine motives for Caesars usurpation of power a broad justification for it whitethorn be comprise in the history of the Republic since the time of Sulla (Gelzer, 1968, 42). Caesar initially set himself to mend rather than to end the Republic. Subsequently, it was the failure of his attempt at reconstruction which gave Caesar reason to forecast that the Republic power be past mending (Cary and Scullard, 1975, 282). Caesar made a shit point of emphasising that he was seeking to act in a manner that was the precise opposite of that which Sulla had embodied; specifically, he encouraged clemency over banishment and progressive over regressive reform. Caesar, from his lonely height of power, was endlessly willing to liberate previous lapses by his appointees or even off the honest hostility of his opponents, but he was perhaps unable to perpetra te that those to whom this almost regal pardon was extended some time felt, like Cato, that he had no right to bestow (Ehrenberg, 1964, 156). Suetonius has apply Caesars own denominations to describe Sulla as an uninformed in politics, and the res publica as a mere name without substance. Caesar, add to Suetonius, regarded Sulla as a fool for resigning his office (Suetonius, 1913, 84-87) and so leaving the restored res publica under the senates weak leadership and at the clemency of political generals such as Pompey. Caesar, in contrast, became dictator in perpetuum in 44 B.C. thus bring imbibe the very nature of the dictatura, the time limit which was the Republican safety device against one mans supreme power. Dictator Perpetus, a new creation and one incompatible with the Republican constitution, in essentials marrowed to the same as rex, but avoided this hated word (Fuller, 1965, 87). At the same signification when Caesar brought an ancient Roman tradition of extra ordinary office to a culmination, its very nature as ! an office was destroyed. In a different sense he proved again that he was not a punt Sulla, not illiterate in politics and not touch on with maintaining the empty form of the res publica. Plans Having reviewed Caesars reforms and the challenges posed by these reforms, we now explore his plans for the future. Was he a tyrant or reformer, brilliant leader or the last destroyer of the Republic? And what were his plans for his dictatorship? Did he want to create a monarchy or did he actually hand over any plans for the future? These difficult questions have been argued for centuries and will never be satisfactorily resolved. Plutarch, however, was in no doubt of the answers: what made Caesar most openly and mortally hated was his passion to be king (Plutarch, 1972, 48). Others, such as Kalyvas, are more wide-awake; he contends that there are no real clues as to Caesars actual state of mind upon the Republic and his own mingled kinship with it (Kalyvas, 2007, 430). These l atter arguments carry weight. Rome was leaving through a major political change. A strong case can be made that the religious orderalism, corruption, and constitutional gridlock of the posthumous Republic was the product of a city­state government universe stretched to cover a Mediterranean-wide empire, an empire extended to Britain and the Rhine river by Julius Caesar himself. Caesar has oftentimes been accused of making his transition from Republic to a virtual(prenominal) monarchy too abruptly. In short, he was throwing old institutions on the scrap-heap before he had provided efficient substitutes. A monarchy may have thusly been in his mind as a solution. Equally, it can be argued that perhaps even Caesar himself did not know what his long-term intentions were, and that he was deferring any definite decisions while he focussed on solving short-term problems like maintaining economic stability, addressing the various companionable problems afflicting Roman society, and conquering Parthia. Canfora has argued that there is! an equal amount of heavy(a) evidence to support all of these assertions noting that Caesar did not hightail it up plans far in advance, preferring to exploit opportunities as they arose (Canfora, 2007, 93). Conclusion In all, Caesar only spent 17 months in Rome during the years 49­44 B.C. Whatever long-range plans he may have had, he had small-minded time to carry them out. Even so, two major but contradictory conclusions stand out. First, Caesar was assure of the Roman world and he planned to exercise his bidding openly.

This would indicate that Plutarch was correct in asserting that Caesar wanted to be k ing. Second, however, Caesar clearly took his position as leader of the progressive faction seriously. He expanded Roman citizenship, introduced a host of sensible reform and generally reduced the exploitation of all Roman subjects. Carsons analysis seems appropriate: the virtue would seem to be that Caesar had, at the time of his death, devised no blueprint to secure the future political stability of the Roman state (Carson, 1957, 53). Another generation of complaisant war was required to destroy senatorial opposition and create the circumstances which were to make possible the compromise solution devised by Augustus. Bibliography Primary Sources Plutarch, Fall of the Roman Republic, translated by Rex Warner, capital of the United Kingdom: Penguin Books, 1972. Suetonius, invigoration of the Deified Julius, translated by J.C. Rolfe, London: William Heinemann, 1913. Secondary Sources Balsdon, J.P.V.D., Julius Caesar and Rome, London: T he English Universities urge Limited, 1967. Bradfo! rd, Ernle, Julius Caesar: The sideline of power, London : H. Hamilton, 1984. Byrd, Robert C., The senate of the Roman Republic; Addresses on the storey of Roman Constitutionalism, Hawaii: University Press of the Pacific, 2001. Canfora, L., Life and times of the peoples dictator, translated by Marian Hill and Kevin Windle, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2007 Carson, R. A. G., Caesar and the Monarchy, Greece & Rome, Second Series, 4, 1, 1957, pp. 46-53. Cary, M. and Scullard, H.H., A history of Rome down to the reign of Constantine, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1975. Ehrenberg, Victor, Caesars last Aims, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 68, 1964, pp. 149-161. Fuller, J.F.C., Julius Caesar: Man, soldier, and tyrant, London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1965. Gelzer, Matthias, Caesar: politico and statesman, translated by dig Needham, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1968. Kalyvas, Andreas, The shogunate of dictatorship: When the Greek tyrant met the R oman dictator, Political Theory, 35, 4, 2007, pp. 412-442. Kamm, Antony, Julius Caesar: A life, New York: Routledge, 2006. Mommsen, Theodor, The history of Rome, translated by William P. Dickson, New York: Scribner, 1973. Shotter, David, The fall of the Roman Republic, New York: Routledge, 1994. Yavetz, Zwi, Julius Caesar and his public image, London: Thames and Hudson, 1983. If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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