Always I am Caesar For Angela Aslanska and Robin Seager ALWAYS I AM CAESAR W. Jeffrey Tatum © 2008 by W. Jeffrey Tatum BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of W. Jeffrey Tatum to be identifi ed as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. 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For further information on Blackwell Publishing, visit our website at www.blackwellpublishing.com Contents List of Charts, Maps, and Figures vi Acknowledgements viii Charts ix Maps xii Introduction 1 1 Caesar the Politician: Power and the People in Republican Rome 18 2 Conquests and Glories, Triumphs and Spoils: Caesar and the Ideology of Roman Imperialism 42 3 Pontifex Maximus: Caesar and the Manipulation of Civic Religion 61 4 The Stones of Rome: Caesar and the Sociology of Roman Public Building 80 5 My True and Honourable Wife: Cornelia and Pompeia, Calpurnia and Cleopatra 99 6 Great Men and Impersonal Groundswells: The Civil War 122 7 Great Caesar Fell: Philosophy, Politics, and Assassination 145 8 The Evil that Men Do: Caesar and Augustus 167 Important Dates 189 Bibliography 190 Index 194 v Lists of Charts, Maps, and Figures Charts 1 The family of Julius Caesar ix 2 Caesar and the Aurelii Cottae x 3 Cato and his connections xi Maps 1 The Mediterranean in the time of Caesar xii 2 The city of Rome during the republic xiii 3 The Roman Forum during the republic xiv Figures 1 Colossal portrait head of Caesar, from the 2nd century ad 2 2 Portrait of Pompey, a fi rst century ad copy of an original dating to the fi fties bc 7 3 Portrait of Cicero, an imperial copy of a late republican original 9 4 P ortrait of Cato in bronze, from the 1st century ad 10 5 Caesar, a contemporary portrait 19 6 F unerary procession in a relief from Amiternum, 1st century ad 34 7 Obverse of a denarius of 44 bc representing Caesar as Pontifex Maximus and as Parens Patriae (Father of his Country) 36 vi lists of charts, maps, and fi gures 8 Lionel Royer’s Vercingetorix throws his arms at the feet of Caesar 58 9 Obverse and reverse of a denarius of 32 bc. The obverse depicts Mark Antony, the reverse Cleopatra 116 10 Portrait of Cleopatra, probably (in large degree) a replica of Cleopatra’s statue in the Temple of Venus Genetrix 118 11 Cleopatra and Caesarion as Isis and Osiris making sacrifi ce to the goddess Hathor. South wall of the Temple of Hathor, Dendera, Egypt 119 12 Reverse of a denarius of 43–42 bc depicting a pileus (a cap indicating freedman status and so an emblem of freedom) between two daggers resting above the phase “Ides of March.” The obverse of this coin depicts Brutus 142 13 Obverse of a denarius of 44 bc depicting Caesar as Dictator for the Fourth Time 150 14 Vincenzo Camuccini’s Assassination of Julius Caesar 166 15 Obverse and reverse of a bronze coin of approximately 38 bc. The obverse depicts Octavian described as “Caesar, son of god.” The reverse depicts Caesar as Divus Iulius 177 16 Augustus as Pontifex Maximus, a contemporary portrait 179 vii Acknowledgements It is my pleasure to thank Tricia Smith, at Art Resource, Jenni Adam and Axellle Russo at The British Museum, Luisa Veneziano at the German Archaeological Institute, Rome, and Heidie Philipsen and Claus Grønne at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek for their helpfulness. I also owe thanks to Indiana University Press for permission to quote from R. Humphries, Ovid. Metamorphoses, and to Penguin Press for permission to quote from D. West, The Aeneid by Virgil. I am grateful to Otago University for appointing me its De Carle Distinguished Lecturer in 2005 and to the university’s Department of Classics for its unexcelled hospitality during my stay. I am indebted to Al Bertrand, Nancy de Grummond, John Marincola, Marjorie and Keith Maslen, and (especially) Jon Hall. My debts to Robin Seager run deeper, and it is my pleasure to acknowledge that reality in the dedication, a billing he shares, for different (but also profound) reasons, with Angela Aslanska. viii CHART 1 THE FAMILY OF JULIUS CAESAR Sex. Julius Caesar Q. Marcius Rex (cos. 157) (pr. 144) L. Julius Sex. Julius C. Julius Caesar = Marcia Caesar Caesar (pr. by 129) (pr. 123) ? Sex. Julius JULIA = GAIUS C. Julius Caesar = Aurelia Caesar MARIUS (pr. ca. 93) (cos. 91) CAESAR Julia = M. Atius Balbus ? = (1) L. Marcius Philippus (2) = (2) Atia (1) = C. Octavius (cos. 56) (pr. 61) CATO = Marcia GAIUS OCTAVIUS/AUGUSTUS Octavia