Julius Caesar, the pride of the Roman Republic, mighty ruler and unrivaled military genius. All these things come to mind and more when one utters the name Julius Caesar. Historians throughout the centuries have painted a picture of a man who was ruthless, cunning and heroic, not to be trifled with. But like any great person of history there are a few interesting tidbits that just might have “slipped through the cracks”. Was there an unseemly side to this great man? Maybe a few facts that just really weren’t meant for the ears of the eager young listeners of the great historians grand explanation of the life and triumphs of such a politically prolific and nearly undefeated warrior? There are a few who would say he wasn’t exactly what he was cracked up to be. Take a gander at a few of the more unusual and interesting facts that have slipped down out of history’s timeline, some of them might surprise you.
A great dandy of a man – Julius Caesar, the greatest manly man of the Roman Republic was rumored to be bisexual. Believe it or not, Caesar’s political rivals took great delight in retelling a rumor that when he was first stationed in the army he played “cabin boy” to King Nicomedes IV with whom he was said to have a long standing affair. Whether or not this rumor was true, it probably didn’t help that he was considered to be a bit of a pretty boy. He was known to be quite vain taking great pains in his personal grooming by always appearing clean shaven with his hair neatly trimmed and having his body hair tweezed. When kidnapped by a band of pirates in his 20’s, he quibbled with them over his ransom price. They were asking for 20 talents of gold, a sizable sum, he insisted that they ask for 50. He was also the first Roman leader to print his own bust on a Roman minted coin and when he reformed the Roman calendar to contain 365 days with 12 months, he included his own name among them, July.
(1)
Ouch that hurts! – Although it is a common belief among the non medical community that the Cesarean section surgery was named so because his mother was actually the first woman to give birth in this manner, the Cesarean operation had actually been in existence several centuries before the birth of Julius Caesar. In fact, during the era of his birth, these operations were reserved only for women who died or were dying during child birth and the child was delivered post mortem in an attempt to save the Childs life, and even then only when the population of an area was in a decrease. Julius Caesars mother lived to see his invasion of Britain. (2)
The priest and the pauper – Appointed at the age of 17 he was the high priest of Jupiter until the title was stripped from him along with his inheritance and his wife’s dowry by his political rival Lucius Cornelius Sulla who seized control of Rome in 82 BC and had himself appointed as dictator. If it had not been for his lost priestly title, Caesar never would have been able to join the military and pursue the military career for which he is so renown. After retiring from the main stream military and trying his hand at politics, he again became a priest, this time of the elected post Pontifex Maximums, the chief priest of the Roman state religion and a very politically influential personage. This was pretty much like being elected the pope at the time and in fact is one of the modern popes official titles. Although Julius Caesar spent much of his adult life in severe debt due to various campaigns both political and military, he managed to avoid prosecution for his debt by having allies in high places which both his religious and political ties helped him to achieve. “Can I write you a check?” (3)
Attack of the killer diarrhea! – The chief reason his assassinators gave as a reason to hatch a plot to kill Caesar was the fact that he had failed to stand and greet the senators who later murdered him when they came to the temple of Venus Gentrix to inform him of new honors that had been bestowed upon him. Apparently a lesson in ungratefulness was in order. Some of Caesar’s supporters insisted that he did not stand due to a sudden attack of Diarrhea. (If only the 24 drug store had been around then.)(3)
Talk about a double standard. – Caesar divorced one of his wives because it was suspected that she was having an affair with another nobleman. Caesar on the other hand ultimately divorced twice and had several very public mistresses including Queen Cleopatra of Egypt and the mother of Brutus whom is well known for his part in the plot against Caesars’ life. The words made famous by the Shakespearean play “Et tu Brute?” resonate the general consensus of the time that Brutus was in fact Caesars’ own son through an extra marital affair. (What’s good for the goose…)
Alternative medicine? – Caesar having been exceedingly vain about his appearance had a great dread of the fact that he suffered from male pattern baldness in his later years. His attempts to remedy this dire blow to his self esteem went so far as to allow Cleopatra to use a mixture of horse teeth, bear grease, burnt mice and deer marrow in her attempt to cure his baldness. Hedgehog urine was also among the list of prescribed treatments of the time. He eventually resorted to wearing a laurel wreath permanently when in public and combing his hair forward. (can anyone say “Rogaine”?)(4)
And Justice for all. – Becoming impatient due to the long delays by congested traffic in going to the Senate and other public buildings, Ceaser passed a law that prohibbited all wheeled vehicles from running in the streets of Rome during day light hours. He also passed a law which allowed him to sleep with anyone he wanted to without reprocussion, and laws that would divy up parcels of publicly owned land to any father of more than three children regardless of who the mother was. (Judge Joe Brown would have a hernia.)
A horse of a different color. – Julius Caesar was noted for being overly superstitious about his luck. He would only ride his “lucky horse” into battle. The horse was distinctive by the fact that instead of having two cloven hooves, it had hooves that were cloven into 5 parts which resembled toes, which he had bred and broken himself. The horse would not allow any one else to ride him.
Another modern spin on interesting facts about Julius Ceasar – His most famous spoken words, “”Veni, vidi, vici” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”) appear on the Marlboro cigarette packet. I’m not sure why but to agree with one internet subscriber who posted on the subject, it may be because they have killed more people than Ceasar himself.
Sources for this article:
(1) http://www.royalty.nu/Europe/Rome/Caesar.html
(2) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/cesarean/cesarean_ 2.html
(3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar
(4) http://menshealth.about.com/cs/hairhairloss/a/hair_l oss.htm
