James Baquet

    Most of us remember Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) as that unfortunate Roman guy who was murdered by his friends on the “Ides of March.” But there was more to him than this.

    To begin with, Caesar was a first-rate general. By conquering much of England and the intervening countries between there and Rome, he expanded the Roman Empire in ways that are still felt today. Spain and France speak Latin-derived languages, and Caesar’s conquests led to the founding of Londinium — modern London.

    In addition to his military genius, Caesar was an exceptional writer of Latin prose. Much is known of his military career through his works, “The Gallic War” and “The Civil War.” Every school boy used to be familiar with the opening of the former: “Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres” (All Gaul is divided into three parts). Elsewhere he elegantly described his victory over the Persians in a trial of only five days: “Veni, vidi, vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered).

    This propensity for strategy combined with eloquence was the source of his success as a politician, a career that would have gone farther had it not been for that little incident in the Senate. So successful was he that his name was later used as a title for the Roman emperors. Many other languages, too, used it to mean “king” or “emperor,” including the German title “kaiser” and the Russian “czar.”

    Anyway, blind ambition was the cause of his death. After his military victories abroad, the law prohibited him from bringing his armies into Rome. Nevertheless, he left his province and led a legion across the Rubicon River, committing him to successfully fighting a civil war. Today “to cross the Rubicon” still means to pass a point of no return. He followed up this action with further intrigues that led to his being named “dictator in perpetuity” (a position usually granted for a limited period). At last, with his power increasing, the conspirators put a sudden stop to his career. His successor, Augustus, became the first Roman emperor, though some historians ascribe this honor to Julius Caesar himself.

    Vocabulary

    Which word above means:

    1. located between

    2. different from (usually better than) most

    3. forever

    4. assign, attribute

    5. victories

    6. unlucky

    7. tendency, inclination

    8. beautiful speech

    9. desire to succeed

    10. excellent, superb