ET TU, BRUTE? "YOU TOO, BRUTUS"

 

 

                                                                     Julius Caesar

 

ET TU, BRUTE?   "YOU TOO, BRUTUS" 

The above words were last spoken by Roman Dictator Julius Caesar  at the time 

of his assassination.  Brutus and Senators stabbed him to death.  Brutus being his 

closest friend and protege, Caesar was surprised to take note of Brutus

 stabbing him from behind.

 

 

                                        Assassination of Julius Caesar

 

Julius Caesar, the Roman Dictator conquered the Roman empire and we can 

summarize his action in his own words - Veni Vidi Vici ("I came, I saw, I 

conquered").

I came, I saw, I conquered is an English translation of the Latin veni, vidi,

 vici.  According to ancient Roman historian Suetonius's Lives of the Caesars, 

Julius Caesar used the phrase veni, vidi, vici during a Roman triumph in 46 B.C.

 that followed a successful military company.

Julius Caesar was a great orator and a military genius. 

 

 

"Cowards die many times before their deaths, The valiant never taste of death but once"  -  Julius Caesar's famous line. 

Julius Caesar, in full Gaius Julius Caesar, (born July 12/13, 100? BCE, Rome [Italy]—died March 15, 44 BCE, Rome), celebrated Roman general and statesman, the conqueror of Gaul (58–50 BCE), victor in the civil war of 49–45 BCE, and dictator (46–44 BCE), who was launching a series of political and social reforms when he was assassinated by a group of nobles in the Senate House on the Ides of March.

Caesar was not and is not lovable.  His generosity to defeated opponents, magnanimous though it was, did not win their affection.  Yet, though not lovable, Caesar was and is attractive, indeed fascinating.  His political achievement required ability, in effect amounting to genius, in several different fields, including administration and generalship besides the minor arts of wire pulling and propaganda.

Caesar changed the course of the history of Greco-Roman world decisively and irreversibly.  Greco-Roman society has been extinct for so long that most of the names of its great men mean little to the average, educated modern person.  But Caesar's name, like Alexander's, is still on people's lips throughout the Christian  and Islamic worlds.  Even people who know nothing of Caesar as a historic personality are familiar with his family name as a title signifying a ruler who is in some sense uniquely supreme or paramount. 

Caesar and Cleopatra :

Caesar took a liking to young and beautiful Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt and a relationship developed between the two. (Even though Caesar was already married) Caesar saw to it that Cleopatra regain her rightful throne and she sat as ruler of Egypt due to Caesar's handiwork. 

At the time of their meeting, Cleopatra was 21 and Caesar was 52 years old. They quickly entered into a steamy love affair after their meeting; their relationship would continue for a few years until Caesar's death. The two of them had a son together named Ptolemy Caesar, also known as Caesarion.

Cleopatra required the might of Caesar's armies to install her as ruler of Egypt, while Caesar was in need of Cleopatra's vast wealth. She is believed to have been the world's richest woman at the time and able to finance Caesar's return to power in Rome.

Antony and Cleopatra :

 

Mark Antony was a politician and General of Roman Empire.

 

Antony and Cleopatra is a play written by William Shakespeare, The England's National Play writer, poet and literary giant.   He originated hundreds of words and phrases that English speakers use to this day.

Antony and Cleopatra are among history's most famous lovers. The story of their affair, their war, their defeat and, finally, their suicides.

 

The play's tragedy stems from the irreconcilable division between the two, represented in the play's two major movements: Antony's abandoning Cleopatra and Egypt for Rome and his duties and his subsequent defection back to them.

Later, there was losses and miscommunication between Antony and Cleopatra.

Cleopatra to regain Antony's affection send him a message that  she had died by suicide.  The act misfires as a grief stricken Antony takes his own life with a self inflicted sword injury.

          

"I will o’ertake thee, Cleopatra, and 

Weep for my pardon. So it must be, for now

 
All length is torture; since the torch is out,

 
Lie down and stray no farther."

 

After learning Antony's death, Cleopatra commits suicide by allowing

 

an Egyptian Cobra, a deadly poisonous (venomous) snake,  to bite her on her 

 

bed.                                                      

 

I am afraid we are deviating from the Blog title to examine related topics.

 

 

Let's conclude this Blog post with Mark Antony's famous lines at the time of Julius

 

Caesar's funeral :

 

 

"Friends,  Romans, countrymen, I come to bury Caesar, not to praise".