Caesar: The Religion of Politics

This history documentary explores the unique landscape of polytheistic roman belief, focusing on the intersection of politics and religion in the late republic.

But even the use of a term like intersection to describe the influence of religion on politics and vice versa is a bit of an anachronism as it falsely implies that the two were separate and distinct concepts when in reality they were so closely linked in the Roman mind that they couldn’t have fully separated where one began and the other ended.

By focusing on the religious attitudes of Pontifex Maximus Julius Caesar, we can discover the radically different roman approach to religion and political thought

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00:00 - Caesar's Gamble
04:34 - Pontifex vs. Consul - Religious Conflicts in Political Life
09:03 - Why We Misinterpret Roman Religion
15:21 - Belief and Society

Ancient Sources:
On His House - Cicero
Civil Wars - Appian
Life of Caesar - Plutarch
Roman History - Cassius Dio

Modern Sources:
Belief and Cult: Rethinking Roman Religion - Jacob Mackey
Religions of Rome - Mary Beard, John North & Simon Price
Plebs and Politics in the Late Roman Republic - Henrik Mouritsen
Public Opinion and Politics in the Late Roman Republic - Christina Rosillo-Lopez

#spqr #history #religion

[tribunateSPQR]

What aspect of Roman religion should we cover next?

[joeyates]

i love that you often make distinctions between the modern world and our natural interpretations and comment on the viewpoints and intentions of your sources

[bulletflight]

If Bibulus truly believed in his beliefs, he'd have allowed the mob to kill him. A consul's death would have mattered in 59 BCE even after Sulla's dictatorship.

[truthinesssss]

Extremely well done. To answer your question - I would like to see you explore the relationship between the Roman office of Pontiff and the resultant office of Pontiff in the inception of the Roman Catholic religion. I would find this fascinating. Thank you.

[rustomkanishka]

The last time I was this early, Ceaser was still a hostage.

Great video as always.
Just curious, isn't Pointifex Maximus one of the titles held by the Bishop of Rome?

[StanGB]

Really interesting - I love these in depth looks at Roman religion

[no-secret-chart]

Valde bona! Another great video. Thank you for your hard work!

[jacksquire]

Thank you for this high quality informational content! Please don't ever stop producing!

[rursus]

Caesar might have known about monotheism from Platonism and Judaism. But it didn't fit into the Roman Imperial model, where gods of all peoples existed, but the Roman pantheon ruled over all others on merit of them being protectors of the Roman Empire.

[ParkerRobertson-tm]

I would go into hiding too if a mob poured poo on my head lmao

[CBrace]

Really compelling storytelling and narrative

[InhabitantOfOddworld]

YouTube be recommending videos real early

[TobyTubeS]

Really good - more deep dives on Religion please

[durfkludge]

I am enjoying this video and I would like the almighty algo to notice you. I chuckled when GWB suddenly showed up :)

[amanabout]

0:16 Caesar Vs Pompey war was not the last of Roman Republic's civil war. Octavian Vs Antony's Actium was.

[durfkludge]

I like how you go to great lengths to discourage us from making parallels between Rome and modern religious/social/political thought. That's a really easy trap to fall into. Their minds were products of their environment, just as much as ours are. "The past is a foreign country, " after all.

[Buzterer]

We also can't say the Caesar was above using religion to further his own goals

[idm]

Fighting anachronism and seriously considering what the romans thought and wrote about their own thinking and experiences are very important. But saying that someone ("us, moderns") has to take their own words about those experiences and thinking is a step too far, in my opinion. Every society have their own interdictions, mental taboos and opinions and experiences that cannot be freely shared. And there are mental dispositions that may not be actually entirely understood by the person itself or cannot be formulated clearly in the intellectual framework of a specific culture and time.

[androidmar]

Pontifex- is that the same as pontiff?

[EdwardM-tp]

Please, cover the funeral of Julius Caesar and the Julian Games held later in the year. Did you know that at Caesar's funeral a wax image of his body showing all 23 stab wounds was mounted on a cruciform tropaeum?