History Summarized: Julius Caesar and the Fall of the Republic

This was supposed to be a 10-minute video on Caesar and Augustus, but as you can see, I got a little carried away. My next history video will be part of something cool and new that I'm really excited for, but after that it's back to Rome to tackle Augustus! Constantinople ain't gonna sack itself, and we have a lot of Roman history to get through between here and then. So get hype, because plenty more videos are on the way!

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[kfizzledizzle]

"What're you gonna do, stab me?"

-Julius Caesar

[weirdo]

60 senators 23 stab wounds sounds about right for a group project.

[andrewhoward]

Julius Caesar, the Romaniest Roman who ever Rome'd

Politically and militarily effective, established lasting and coherent bureaucracies that both helped citizens and strengthened the country as a whole, conquered enemies and made new allies outside the borders of Rome, and to top it all off, he was an egotistical power hungry monster who would not be stopped (until he was).

[valencia_mua]

Caesar: *I just came for a good time and honestly I feel attacked right now.*

[joshuahoener]

Cesar: *get's stabbed*
The Senate: All right guys! Now the people will love us for disposing of their oppresso-
The Roman People:

[Cappy-Bara]

C:Ah Brutus, I see General Pompey has been destroyed
B: In the name of the Roman republic, you are under arrest
C: it’s treason then
B: the senate will decide your fate
C: I AM THE SEN- *proceeds to get stabbed 23 times by the senate*

[juke]

When caesar read about Alexander the kinda-half-decent he cried because he thought he could never be like him

[JackRackam]

You know, the way you talk about Caesar, I'm beginning to think he's the perfect embodiment of the Prince.

[sinvector]

Ceasar could save Rome, but not himself. Ironic.

[mparker]

(After being stabbed 23 times)
Julius Caesar: Quick name a salad after me!

[Just_Some_Guy_with_a_Mustache]

Julius Caesar gave us many things. For example, pin cushions.

[U.Inferno]

While people have noticed parallels of Caesar and modern politicians, the biggest difference between the two is popularity. Caesar was seen by the general populace as sort of a savior, one who took down the corrupt Republic and brought many government reforms, today, with the much more hands-on Western Republics with the citizens, the same politicians aren't viewed in such a positive light. The support of the people is another piece of Caesar's success, and it's a piece those politicians are missing.

[Wreckonning]

The reason Caesar was able to gain power through bribes was because it was such an established practice that people would openly complain about the size of their bribes if they were too small. The discussion around Caesar always seems to single him out for paying bribes, but Roman politics were lubricated in bribes as far back as the codifying of the Twelve Tables of Law. Caesar wasn't even the first person to declare himself dictator for life, two previous dictators, Sulla and Marius, had gained power through civil war, declared themselves dictator for life, and then been deposed by the coming of another rival for that position. They weren't even out of living memory by the time Caesar came to power.
His Co-consul declared every day for the calendar year a holiday, meaning that no business could be conducted in Rome. This was a last-ditch stab at preventing Caesar's popular and pro-pleb reforms, and it was killing the city. Caesar ignoring it was basically saying "Yeah, this will kill Rome, so we're not going to do that".
Caesar brought in veterans to the city because his opponent's "Guilds" (physically oppressive political gangs, more like mafia) were bigger and Caesar had more pull with the military crowd. The political gangs were established during the time as noted by the clashes between Clodius and Milo, which became regular fair at the time. However most of Roman political "scandal" dealt with someone being outed for something bleedingly obvious and normal at the time.

[cyndrift]

11:31
Blue: ...[Caesar] was making moves both with and on the Queen Cleopatra.

Caesar: Oh ~Salve~ Domina
Translation: Oh ~Hello~ mistress (female master)

this killed me omg

[LordOmnit]

I'm glad to see someone actually address both the positive and negative sides of Caesar in a more comprehensive way. Way too often do I see him either lionized as a people's champion slain by a corrupt oligarchy or demonized as THE dictator who was completely irredeemable because he wanted to remove a corrup- I mean he was destroying the republic. The funny thing is is that I would expect to hear about his sketchy actions when people take the latter of those two positions, but it's only ever that he was a dictator (with all the modern baggage that has) and destroying a (kinda) democratic system.

[jagirl]

I just realized those little statues are Virgil and Dante with glasses

[TerantQ]

"Anyone with enough connections and resources could effectively cripple the normal flow of government and steer it in favorable directions for their own benefit."

Uh oh.

[GonnaDieNever]

Julius Caesar wasn't the first dictator for life though, I'm always sad that people skip Sulla.

[alexmann]

I recommend Historia Civilis. It's really interesting seeing all the little details within roman politics. Seeing how Caeser played the system and what he accomplished is very interesting. Also seeing what a brilliant commander he was in Gaul explains why he was so accomplished in the civil war.

[cyndrift]

I love your Age of Mythology music in the background for the last half of the video. That game was my childhood and I haven't been able to play it in years, but this gave me a nostalgia boom.