Julius Caesar Summary and Study Guide

J​ulius Caesar may have been the greatest man of all times. His birth date was July 12/13, probably in the year 100 B.C., although it may have been in 102 B.C. Caesar died March 15, 44 B.C., which date is known as the Ides of March. By age 39/40, Julius Caesar had been a widower, divorce, governor (propraetor) of Further Spain, captured by pirates, hailed imperator by adoring troops, quaestor, aedile, consul, named to an important priesthood, and elected pontifex maximus (although he may not have been installed) -- a lifelong honor usually reserved for the end of a mans career. What was left for his remaining 16/17 years? That for which Julius Caesar was most well known: the Triumvirate, military victories in Gaul, the dictatorship, civil war, and, finally, assassination. Julius Caesar was a general, a statesman, a lawgiver, an orator, an historian, and a mathematician. His government (with modifications) endured for centuries. He never lost a war. He fixed the calendar. He created the first news sheet, Acta Diurna, which was posted on the forum to let everyone who cared to read it know what the Assembly and Senate were up to. He also instigated an enduring law against extortion. Caesar vs. the Aristocracy He traced his ancestry to Romulus, putting him in as aristocratic a position as possible, but his association with his uncle Marius populism put Julius Caesar in political hot water with many of his social class. Under the penultimate Roman king, Servius Tullius, the patricians developed as the privileged class. The patricians then took over as the ruling class when the Roman people, who were fed up with kings, drove out Servius Tullius murderer and successor. This Etruscan king of Rome was referred to as Tarquinius Superbus Tarquin the Proud. With the end of the period of kings, Rome entered into the period of the Roman Republic. At the start of the Roman Republic, the Roman people were mainly farmers, but between the fall of the monarchy and the rise of Julius Caesar, Rome changed dramatically. First, it mastered Italy; then it turned its sights to the Carthaginian hold on the Mediterranean, to gain supremacy over which it needed a fighting naval force. Citizen fighters left their fields prey to land speculators, although if all went well, they returned home with ample booty. Rome was building its remarkable empire. Between slaves and the conquered wealth, the hard-working Roman became the luxury-seeking spendthrift. Real work was carried out by slaves. A rural lifestyle gave way to urban sophistication. Rome Avoided Kings The governing style that developed as an antidote to monarchy originally included severe limitations on the power of any one individual. But by the time large-scale, enduring wars became the norm, Rome needed powerful leaders whose terms would not end mid-battle. Such men were called dictators. They were supposed to step down after the crisis for which they were appointed, although during the late Republic, Sulla had put his own time limits on his term as dictator. Julius Caesar became dictator for life (literally, perpetual dictator). Note: Although Julius Caesar may have been the permanent dictator, he was not the first Roman emperor. The conservatives resisted change, seeing the downfall of the Republic in every nuance of reform. Thus Julius Caesars murder was incorrectly hailed by them as the only way back to the old values. Instead, his murder led to the rise of, first, civil war, and next, the first Roman princeps (from which we get the word prince), whom we refer to as the Emperor Augustus.​ There are only a few names of the great men and women of the ancient world whom almost everyone recognizes. Among these is the last dictator of the Roman Republic, Julius Caesar, whose assassination Shakespeare immortalized in his play,  Julius Caesar. Here are some of the main points to know about this great Roman leader. 1. Caesars Birth Julius Caesar was probably born 3 days before the  Ides of July, in 100 B.C. That date would be July 13. Other possibilities are that he was born on July 12 in 100 B.C. or that he was born on July 12 or 13 in the year 102 B.C. 2. Caesars Pedigreed Family His fathers family was from the patrician gens of the Julii. The Julii traced its lineage to the first king of Rome, Romulus, and the goddess  Venus  or, instead of Romulus, to Venus grandson Ascanius (aka Iulus or Jullus; whence Julius). One patrician branch of the Julian gens was called Caesar. [See  Surnames of the Julii from UNRV.] Julius Caesars parents were Gaius Caesar and Aurelia, daughter of Lucius Aurelius Cotta. 3. Familial Ties Julius Caesar was related by marriage to  Marius. The first 7-time consul, Marius supported the and opposed  Sulla. Sulla supported the  optimates. (It is common, but inaccurate to consider the  optimates  like the conservative party and the  populares  like the liberal party of modern political systems.) Perhaps more familiar to military history buffs, Marius drastically reformed the military during the Republican period. 4. Caesar and the Pirates The young Julius went to Rhodes to study oratory, but on his way he was captured by pirates whom he charmed and seemingly befriended. After he was freed, Julius arranged to have the pirates executed. 5. Cursus Honorum QuaestorJulius entered the course of advancement (cursus honorum) in the Roman political system as quaestor in 68 or 69 B.C.Curule AedileIn 65 B.C., Julius Caesar became curule aedile and then managed to be appointed to the position of  pontifex maximus, contrary to convention, since he was so young.PraetorJulius Caesar became  praetor  for 62 B.C. and during that year divorced his second wife for not being above suspicion, in the Bona Dea scandal involving Claudius/Clodius Pulcher.ConsulJulius Caesar won one of the consulships in 59 B.C. The chief advantage for him of this top political position was that following the term in office, he would become governor (proconsul) of a lucrative province.ProconsulAfter his term as  consul, Caesar was sent to Gaul as the proconsul. 6. Caesars Promiscuity MistressesJulius Caesar himself was guilty of many extra-marital affairs, -- with Cleopatra, among others. One of the most significant relations was with Servilia Caepionis, the half-sister of Cato the Younger. Because of this relationship, it was thought possible that Brutus was Julius Caesars son.Male LoverJulius Caesar was taunted all his life with charges of having been the lover of King Nicomedes of Bithynia.WivesJulius Caesar married Cornelia, a daughter of Marius associate, Lucius Cornelius Cinna, then a relative of Pompey named Pompeia, and finally, Calpurnia. 7. Triumvirate Julius Caesar engineered a 3-way division of power with enemies Crassus and Pompey that was known as the Triumvirate. More on the 1st Triumvirate 8. Caesars Prose Second-year Latin students are familiar with the military side of Julius Caesars life. As well as conquering the Gallic tribes, he wrote about the  Gallic Wars  in clear, elegant prose, referring to himself in the third person. It was through his campaigns that Julius Caesar was finally able to work his way out of debt, although the third member of the triumvirate, Crassus, also helped. Caesars Gallic Wars Commentaries 9.Rubiconand Civil War Julius Caesar refused to obey the command of the Senate, but instead led his troops across the Rubicon river, which started civil war. 10. Ides of March and Assassination Julius Caesar was the Roman dictator with divine honors, but he didnt have a crown. In 44 B.C. conspirators, claiming they feared Julius Caesar was aiming to become king, assassinated Julius Caesar on the Ides of March. More on the Ides of March 11. Caesars Heirs Although Julius Caesar had a living son, Caesarion (not officially acknowledged), Caesarion was an Egyptian, the son of  Queen Cleopatra, so Julius Caesar adopted a great nephew, Octavian, in his will. Octavian was to become the first Roman emperor, Augustus. 12. Caesar Trivia Caesar was known to be careful or abstemious in his consumption of wine and was said to have been particular in his hygiene, including having himself depilitated. I dont have a source for this. Major Events in the Timeline of Julius Caesar 102/100 B.C. - July 13/12  - Caesars Birth84  - Caesar marries the daughter of L. Cornelius Cinna75  - Pirates capture Caesar73  - Caesar is elected Pontifex69  - Caesar is quaestor. Julia, Caesars aunt (Marius widow), dies. Cornelia, the wife of Caesar, dies67  - Caesar marries Pompeia65  - Caesar is elected Aedile63  - Caesar is elected Pontifex Maximus62  - Caesar is praetor. Caesar divorces Pompeia61  - Caesar is Propraetor of Further Spain60  - Caesar is elected Consul and forms the  Triumvirate59  - Caesar is Consul58  - Caesar defeats the Helvetii and Germans55  - Caesar crosses the Rhine and invades Britain54  - Caesars daughter, who is also Pompeys wife, dies53  - Crassus is killed52  - Clodius is murdered; Caesar defeats Vercingetorix49  - Caesar crosses the  Rubicon  -  Civil War  begins48  - Pompey is murdered46  - Thapsus Battle (Tunisia) against Cato and Scipio. Caesar made dictator. (Third time.)45 or 44 (Before Luperca lia)  - Caesar is declared dictator for life; literally perpetual dictator*Ides of March  - Caesar is assassinated *For most of us, the distinction between perpetual dictator and dictator for life is trivial; however, it is a source of controversy for some. Caesars final step, according to Alfoldi, was a compromise. He had been designated Dictator in perpetuum (Livy Ep. CXVI), or as the coins read, Dictator perpetuo (never, according to Alfoldi p. 36, perpetuus; note that Cicero** cited the dative, dictatori perpetuo, which could fit either form), apparently in the fall of 45 B.C. (Alfoldi pp. 14-15). He had taken up this new dictatorship upon the conclusion of his fourth annual dictatorship on or near February 15. (Mason Hammond. Review of Studien à ¼ber Caesars Monarchie by Andreas Alfà ¶ldi. The Classical Weekly, Vol. 48, No. 7, Feb. 28, 1955, pp. 100-102.) Cicero (106-43 B.C.) and Livy (59 B.C.-A.D. 17) were contemporaries of Caesar. Study Guide Non-Fiction Caesars Final Aims, by Victor Ehrenberg.  Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Vol. 68, (1964), pp. 149-161.Caesar: Life of a Colossus, by Adrian GoldsworthyCaesar, by Christian Meier. 1995Party Politics in the Age of Caesar, by Lily Ross Taylor. Reissued in 1995.The Roman Revolution, by Ronald Syme. 1969. Fiction Colleen McCulloughs  Masters of Rome  series provides a well researched historical fiction series on Julius Caesar: First Man in RomeThe Grass CrownFortunes FavoritesCaesars WomenCaesar, A NovelThe October Horse Questions to Consider What would have happened to Rome had Caesar remained in power?Would the Republic have continued?Was the change from Republic to Empire inevitable?Were Caesars assassins traitors?Was Caesar a traitor when he crossed the Rubicon?Under what circumstances is treason justified?Why is Caesar the greatest leader ever?What reasons are there for saying he was not?What are Caesars most important/lasting contributions?

The Musings Of A Romanticist - 1188 Words

The Musings of a Romanticist What does Romanticism do to a person? Does it, let uninhibited actions flow free, corrupting human morals? Or does it free the soul from the clutches of society? I thought that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s commentary on uniqueness was compelling. In the Scarlet Letter, he highlights the pros and cons of being yourself. In that, he shows how the lack of individualism can kill a person on the inside. Examples include Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale, both characters who had succumbed to becoming overwhelmingly different than the norm and yet tried to hide it, thus destroying their respective lives at the end of the book. Hester survives the ordeal through showing to the world proof of her romantic notions,†¦show more content†¦Let’s take the word, individuality. Parse it into two different words and you can get â€Å"indivi† and â€Å"duality.† By analyzing this, it’s shown that individuality is the duality of a person is indivi-sible. Individuality shows there is no way to distinguish the personality from the exterior they put out to cope with societal standards. This is the hallmark of what Romanticism means to me. The word individuality, it shows how a person can’t live in society without their own personal effects. That’s why I believe that expressing feelings is important, something that a person can’t live without. Hawthorne also expresses some of the same views as me, shown by the passage he wrote in his introduction The Custom House: Moonlight, in a familiar room, falling so white upon the carpet, and showing all its figures so distinctly,  ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬â€making every object so minutely visible, yet so unlike a morning or noontide visibility,—is a medium the most suitable for a romance-writer to get acquainted with his illusive guests. There is the little domestic scenery of the well-known apartment; the chairs, with each its separate individuality; the centre-table, sustaining a work-basket, a volume or two, and an extinguished lamp; the sofa; the book-case; the picture on the wall;—all these details, so completely seen, are so spiritualized by the unusual light, that they seem to lose their actual substance, and become things of intellect. (Hawthorne 32) In this he represents the moonlight as the

Summary of Misophonia free essay sample

The following consists of four different hand-outs for health professionalsa traditional letter, a fact sheet, a copy of the recent NYTimes article, and the MAS. Misophonia sufferers are encouraged to use any of the following based upon their needs. The fact sheet was compiled with the thought that many doctors will not take the time to read a traditional letter. This letter is an attempt to explain the medical condition termed â€Å"Misophonia† or â€Å"4S† for Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome. This problem is just beginning to be researched by the scientific community. A current hypothesis being explored is that Misophonia is a neurological disorder in which selective auditory signals trigger a fight-or-flight reflex. The average age of onset appears to be between 8 and 12 years old and the symptoms normally come on suddenly causing the patient and his/her family a great deal of anguish. Someone who suffers from this condition typically has a strong negative emotional reaction to the repetition of a variety of soundsfrequently associated with mouth noises such as chewing or slurping or breathing. However, there are many different sounds, or triggers, that can cause a problem for someone with Misophonia such as sniffing, pens clicking, heel-tapping, typing, dogs barking, birds chirping, etc. Typically any sound that is repeated enough has the potential to become a trigger. Sometimes just the sight of one of these behaviors can trigger an intense reaction. Some Misophonia sufferers also have purely visual triggers like jiggling legs or other repetitive mannerisms. Each individual has different triggers and also has different emotional reactions, however, the vast majority have in common a feeling of some degree of anger at mouth sounds. While mild sufferers of Misophonia may feel tense or irritated by these sounds, more severe cases involve uncontrollable outbursts of panic, anger, and often the imaging of violent encounters. It is very important to realize that the individual with Misophonia often has little or no control over their reactions. They realize that their sensitivities to these sounds are irrational, but their brains appear to get hijacked and their emotional centers activated, perhaps related to a brain error involving the normal â€Å"fight or flight† response that all humans experience in a threatening situation. Many people with Misophonia suffer for years in silence, believing that they are the only person experiencing this reaction and that they must be â€Å"crazy. †   They often try many different strategies to cope with or avoid their triggers including earplugs, eating in isolation, white noise generators, prescribed medications, drugs/alcohol/self-medication, hypnosis, CBT and other therapies, but nothing truly seems to provide significant relief. Misophonia sufferers feel misunderstood, isolated, and hopeless. In extreme cases, sufferers can become deeply depressed and even suicidal. The growing strength of international online support communities suggests that Misophonia is a widespread problem. There are currently many thousands of registered users on the sites listed below, and posts often express frustration with health care providers who are ignorant of the existence of this condition and who underestimate   the severity of its symptoms. It will be most helpful for medical professionals to become more aware of this syndrome and understand that their patients who have Misophonia are in desperate need of understanding and creative treatment. Some informative websites about Misophonia are listed below: www. misophonia. nfo http://health. groups. yahoo. Sufferers often feel they are alone in this condition and may think they are â€Å"crazy†. Feelings of embarrassment often overcome the desire to speak out. * In an attempt to cope with Misophonia, many strategies including earplugs, eating in isolation, white noise generators, prescribed medications, drugs/alcohol/self-medication, hypnosis, CBT and other therapies have been experimented with, with little or no success. * Misophonia has similarities to OCD, PTSD, Panic Disorder, and even Autism; yet it is distinctly different from these disorders. Misophonia is also often misunderstood to be hyperacusis, tinnitus or other related audiological disorders. It is the very specific, barely audible, everyday noises that tend to be problematic, regardless of their volume * Many individuals with Misophonia are told by health care professionals that their problem is psychological and dismiss its significance, mostly due to a lack of understanding of the condition. A current hypothesis being explored is that Misophonia is some type of neurological disorder in which repeated auditory signals trigger a fight-or-flight reflex. Several sufferers have reported treatment success with Neurofeedback. * See attached enclosures for more detailed information or visit the following websites: www. misophonia. For people with a condition that some scientists call misophonia, mealtime can be torture. The sounds of other people eating — chewing, chomping, slurping, gurgling — can send them into an instantaneous, blood-boiling rage. Or as Adah Siganoff put it, â€Å"rage, panic, fear, terror and anger, all mixed together. † â€Å"The reaction is irrational,† said Ms. Siganoff, 52, of Alpine, Calif. â€Å"It is typical fight or flight† — so pronounced that she no longer eats with her husband. Many people can be driven to distraction by certain small sounds that do not seem to bother others — gum chewing, footsteps, humming. But sufferers of misophonia, a newly recognized condition that remains little studied and poorly understood, take the problem to a higher level. They also follow a strikingly consistent pattern, experts say. The condition almost always begins in late childhood or early adolescence and worsens over time, often expanding to include more trigger sounds, usually those of eating and breathing. â€Å"I don’t think 8- or 9-year-olds choose to wake up one morning and say, ‘Today my dad’s chewing is going to drive me insane,’ † said Marsha Johnson, an audiologist in Portland, Ore. who runs an online forum for people with misophonia. But that is what happens, she said, adding, â€Å"Soon the kid doesn’t want to come to the table or go to school. † Aage R. Moller, a neuroscientist at the University of Texas at Dallas who specializes in the auditory nervous system, included misophonia in the â€Å"Textbook of Tinnitus,† a 2010 medical guide of which he was an editor. He believes the condition is hard-wired, like right- or left-handedness, and is probably not an auditory disorder but a â€Å"physiological abnormality† that resides in brain structures activated by processed sound. There is â€Å"no known effective treatment,† Dr. Moller said. Patients often go from doctor to doctor, searching in vain for help. Dr. Johnson agreed. â€Å"These people have been diagnosed with a lot of different things: phobic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar, manic, anxiety disorders,† she said. Dr. Johnson’s interest was piqued when she saw her first case in 1997. â€Å"This is not voluntary,† she said. â€Å"Usually they cry a lot because they’ve been told they can control this if they want to. This is not their fault. They didn’t ask for it and they didn’t make it up. And as adults, they â€Å"don’t outgrow it,† she said. â€Å"They structure their lives around it. † Taylor Benson, a 19-year-old sophomore at Creighton University in Omaha, says many mouth noises, along with sniffling and gum chewing, make her chest tighten and her heart pound. She finds herself clenching her fists and glarin g at the person making the sound. â€Å"This condition has caused me to lose friends and has caused numerous fights,† she said. Misophonia (â€Å"dislike of sound†) is sometimes confused with hyperacusis, in which sound is perceived as abnormally loud or physically painful. But Dr. Johnson says they are not the same. â€Å"These people like sound, the louder the better,† she said of misophonia patients. â€Å"The sounds they object to are soft, hardly audible sounds. † One patient is driven crazy by her beloved dog licking its paws. Another can’t bear the pop of the plosive â€Å"p† in ordinary conversation. When people with the disorder can’t avoid the sounds, they sometimes try earplugs to block them, or white-noise devices to mask them. Family links are common. Ms. Siganoff suspects her father had the condition, too. â€Å"He would buy us new shoes and complain we were walking too loud,† she said. The prevalence is unknown. Dr. Johnson’s Yahoo group, soundsensitivity, has about 1,700 members worldwide. One member, a man from Canberra, Australia, runs soundsensitivity. info, an informational site for the general public. Meanwhile, those with the condition cope as best they can. Ms. Siganoff says she remains enraged until she says something like â€Å"shut up† or â€Å"stop it. † â€Å"If I don’t say anything, the rage builds,† she said. â€Å"That vocalization is enough to stop the reaction. † (Echolalia, or mimicking the offensive sound, is common, Dr. Johnson said. As a young adolescent at the dinner table, Heidi Salerno tried to discreetly plug her ears or chew in sync with others so her own chewing noises would drown theirs out. Doctors told her she was too controlling, said Ms. Salerno, 44, a lawyer in San Diego. â€Å"But there are many things I am not in control of, and I don’t feel rage about it,† she said. â€Å"I was always brushed off. † Ms. Salerno shuts her office door against bothersome sounds like pen clicking. She is a champion swing dancer, and when she teaches dance she prohibits gum chewing in class, telling her students, â€Å"If you are chewing gum, I will be distracted. Donna McDow, 57, a retired secretary who lives near Los Angeles, tries a different tack, telling people she has a bad headache. â€Å"Everybody understands a headache,† she said. â€Å"Nobody understands what we have. † The Misophonia Activation Scale (MAS-1) Excerpted from http://www. misophonia-uk. org/the-misophonia-acti vation-scale. html is intended to guide clinicians and patients in assessing the severity of a sufferers condition. It concentrates on physical and emotional reactions to a particular misophonic trigger. Someone with Misophonia may not necessarily exhibit all, or even many, of these behaviours. Also, some sufferers may experience symptoms in a different order, for instance, engaging in some confrontational coping behaviours before adopting more co-operative ones. This scale is being enclosed here in an attempt to facilitate dialogue between patients with Misophonia and their physicians. Level 0 Person with misophonia hears a known trigger sound but feels no discomfort. Level 1 Person with misophonia is aware of the presence of a known trigger person but feels no, or minimal, anticipatory anxiety. Level 2 Known trigger sound elicits minimal psychic discomfort, irritation or annoyance. No symptoms of panic or fight or flight response. Level 3 Person with misophonia feels increasing levels of psychic discomfort but does not engage in any physical response. Sufferer may be hyper-vigilant to audio-visual stimuli. Level 4 Person with misophonia engages in a minimal physical response non-confrontational coping behaviours, such as asking the trigger person to stop making the noise, discreetly covering one ear, or by calmly moving away from the noise. No panic or flight or flight symptoms exhibited. Level 5 Person with misophonia adopts more confrontational coping mechanisms, such as overtly covering their ears, mimicking the trigger person, engaging in other echolalias, or displaying overt irritation. Level 6 Person with misophonia experiences substantial psychic discomfort. Symptoms of panic, and a fight or flight response, begin to engage. Level 7 Person with misophonia experiences substantial psychic discomfort. Increasing use (louder, more frequent) use of confrontational coping mechanisms. There may be unwanted sexual arousal. Sufferer may re-imagine the trigger sound and visual cues over and over again, sometimes for weeks, months or even years after the event. Level 8 Person with misophonia experiences substantial psychic discomfort. Some violence ideation. Level 9 Panic/rage reaction in full swing. Conscious decision not to use violence on trigger person. Actual flight from vicinity of noise and/or use of physical violence on an inanimate object. Panic, anger or severe irritation may be manifest in sufferers demeanour. Level 10 Actual use of physical violence on a person or animal.