Talk:Julius Caesar
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Was it right to kill Ceasar?
[edit source]- Arguments for (Ceasar's arrogance)
- Just preceding his death, Caesar refuses Artemidorus’s pleas to speak with him, saying that he gives last priority to his nearest, most personal concerns. He thus again demonstrates a split between his public and private selves, endangering himself by believing that his public self is so strong that his private self cannot be harmed.
- This sense of invulnerability manifests itself clearly when Caesar compares himself to the North Star, which never moves from its position at the center of the sky: “constant as the Northern Star, / Of whose true fixed and resting quality / There is no fellow in the firmament. / [the] one in all [that] doth hold his place” (III.i.60–65). He not only considers himself steadfast but also infallible, beyond the questioning of mortal men, as he compares the foolish idea of him being persuaded of something to the impossible act of hefting the weight of Mount Olympus. In positioning himself thus as a divine figure, Caesar reveals his belief that he is truly a god.
- Arguments against (Envy)
- Brought tributaries to Rome, in which that money caused wealth for the Romans.
- He helped the poor.
- Refused the crown three times on the Lupercal feast day.
- 75 drachmas were to be given to every Roman citizen (from the will).
- His private gardens and walkways are available to all the Romans for public pleasures.