Ancient Rome: People
Ancient Rome: People
The death of Julius Caesar and aftermath.
It was written in the stars: Julius Caesar would die violently. Everybody knew it. The only one who wouldn’t see it was Caesar himself. Suetonius describes what happened the months before his dead.The tomb of the founder of Capua was discovered and on a bronze plate they found the following Greek text: “When they will find the bones of Capi, a descendant of the Gens Julia will be killed by the hand of his people, and will be vindicated by great tumult and sorrow in the whole of Italy”. And more; only a few days before his dead, the horses with which he crossed the Rubicon, didn’t want to eat anymore, and the augur Spurinna warned him for the ides of March. Even his wife Calpurnia had a premonition: She dreamt that the roof of her house would collapse and that he would be buried underneath. Her upset stomach convinced her that something bad was to happen. But Caesar didn’t want to listen to those silly voices , and stubborn as he was, he went to the reunion of the senate at the theatre of Pompej.
And so it happened: on the Ides of March 44 BC, when the senate came together at the theatre of Pompej, Julius Caesar got killed. And his wife, receiving the notice of his dead for sure must have said: “his own fault, I told him my worries !” and she cried. Not for long, because there was Caius Octavius or Octavianus, the young adopted son by Julius Caesar, who even received his name and who was at the time of his death 17 years old. He went to Calpurnia and said: “don’t worry, we with the younger senator took the power, and we will give you on behalf of the government a new house, a life-insurance and Volkswagen with chauffeur.
But on the other side of the River, in the villa of Caesar was sitting Cleopatra with Caesarione, their son. When she heard of the dead of her lover, she must also have been in tears. But not for long, as we know from the history, very soon after she was already in bed for the first time in bed with Richard Burton, euhh….., Marc Anthony. He was known as one of the best generals of Julius Caesar, and thought that the power should go to him. Therefore he probably told her: “Look my dear, we with the lobby of the elder senators took over the power, and from us you will get a new house, a life-insurance and because you are a queen, a Mercedes with chauffeur.
Between the two lobbies started a civil war, who lasted thirteen years. Then, everybody was tired. It was time to make an end at that civil war. And they decided to fight a final battle in the sea, near Actium, in 31BC. Actium is a city near Greece in the Ionian Sea. When Cleopatra heard of the imminent battle, she begged Marc Anthony to take her with him. And you can imagine his reply: “War is for men, and women stay at home !” She was a bit offended. What follows is confirmed by a papyrus that the Belgian Egyptologe Jean Bingen found by accident in the Museum of Berlin. The authenticity of the papyrus was also confirmed by Prof. Peter van Minnen of the Catholic University of Leuven and by Dr. Dietrich Wildung, director of the Egyptian museum in Berlin. She convinced in that letter a general, named Cheney? or was his real name Publio Canidio, to take her on his ship. As we know, wartime is always an opportunity to make good money. The letter is an authentic act of corruption for love. She authorised Publio Canidio to export 5 thousand amphora’s of wine and to import 10 thousand bags of grain … and all tax free, on the condition that she would be allowed to be on his ship, following Marc Anthony. And, being a diplomatic ship, nobody would check what was in the boot. Signed by Cleopatra with the Greek word: Genesthoi “and so it will be !”
Augustus, British Museum, London
Maybe a last observation about Cleopatra: Why a woman, so wealthy, didn’t use gold, but only a fiscal exoneration to corrupt the general ? The latter she could revoke in any moment, and that shows us the she was indeed the superb wheeler-dealer that the history made from her.