Gaius Cilo: Pliny The Younger

A Comparison of Plutarch's The Lives of the Ancient Grecians and Romans and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

A distinguished military veteran and dedicated historian, Pliny the Elder’s work provides us with aspects of everyday life in Ancient Rome, and is a valuable source for knowledge on the state of science in that time. Gaius Plinius Secundus, better known as Pliny the Elder to distinguish himself from his nephew, Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, wrote as a naturalist, biographer, and historian. Around 79 A.D, Pliny died during the eruption of Vesuvius which decimated Pompeii and Herculaneum, his nephew wrote of these events in his letters to Tacitus . Throughout his lifetime, Pliny obtained many military positions in the government, including administrator of Equestrian Rank and Procurator of Africa.

Julius Caesar, a Roman general, dictator, and leader, is considered to be one of history 's most influential and powerful rulers to this day, in which his rise to power, conquest of Europe, and controversial downfall all remain to be told during modern days. The play Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare, portrays the events leading up to Julius Caesar’s assassination, and how those who conspired against him banded together and plotted Caesar’s demise. Many of those conspirators assassinated Caesar due to his quick rise to absolute power, his “acts” of disrespect against the senate such as his failing to stand to receive the title of becoming a “god,” and pure jealousy and anger towards Caesar’s success and rule over the Roman empire. Caesar, an ambitious man, was able to conquer many lands and peoples for Rome through successful military campaigns in which he became one Rome’s best generals due to the amount of successful battles he had won and the amount of blood he had shed for Rome’s expansion. However, Caesar’s trait of ambitiousness would prove to be a double edged sword.

On Doc A, It explains one of the many reasons the Romans persecuted the Christians. “As Christianity spread through the Roman world, some local officials feared that Christians were conspiring against them.” This quote not only shows why the Romans did what they did but it also kind of explains a little bit of background from the Romans side. It also says how there were some rulers that came to see Christianity as a threat to them and of course, they began to persecute the people who practiced it.

This world has seen many great leaders and emperors but two of them standout a little more than the others. Their names are Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte. Both men were highly respected and greatly feared. They also ran great empires that spanned over thousands of miles. They wanted to rule and conquer anything they could. They have many similarities and differences in the way they ruled and conquered. Their empires were so big that there came a time where they couldn’t control it and their reign came to an end. Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte have molded and shaped the way rulers and leaders should rule over

• Refers to rapid spread of Christianity among all classes of people, as well as Roman citizens that are sent to Rome for trial. “They have high ethical standards and if they repeatedly admit they honor Christ as God they are executed”.

When Pliny was first challenged with the issue of Christianity in his region, he was extremely confused and worried. He had never dealt with the issue before and so had no prior experience to dwell upon. However, he ended up dealing with them like any other threat to the Roman Empire he had dispensed with. He viewed these individuals as a contagion and threat to the Empire that needed to be distinguished. However, he knew that he did not have the resources or manpower to adequately confront the issue as it had spread not just in the cities, but also to the towns and farms across his region. This leads to the start of multiple letters to Emperor Trajan, so that he could be informed and order what needed to occur.

The protagonist in this play is Julius Caesar. He is the Protagonist for many reasons. One is that the main plot if the play is to kill Caesar for being a bad ruler against Rome. The consipators were making plans to kill Caesar. There are many warnings in the story that Caesar is going to die, but he ingores all of them because the consipators tell him not to.If he wasn’t the Protagonist then there would be no need to have him in the play for most of them time. Even after his death Caesar still makes many appernices in the book and that makes the other charcters die. Protagonist is the main charcter in a story and that is what caesar is. It is clear that no one else is the Protagonist except for Casear. Caesear lives on in the

Julius Caesar-Through strategic aptitudes and individual attraction, Caesar controlled through 100-34 bc vanquished Rome's foes and his political opponents propelling antiquated Rome on the way to magnificent wonderfulness. This was the start of the brilliant period of Rome.

Background Cicero was one of the greatest orators in Ancient Rome. He was not of noble birth, but in 64 BCE became consul, one of the most powerful offices in the Roman Republic. Cicero's time as consul was difficult, and he successfully prevented an overthrow of the Republic and his own assassination. Once Julius Caesar began to amass more and more personal power, however, he receded from active politics because he believed the ideals of the Republic would be diffused with tyranny. Once Caesar was assassinated, Cicero again became popular but because of his dislike (public and private) of Mark Antony, as Antony's power grew, Cicero's diminished. He was killed in December 43 BCE after being declared an enemy of the Republic.

Tiberius’s mother, Cornelia was no doubt to be partly blamed for Tiberius death, due to the fact that she frequently discredit and rebuke Tiberius about the romans mentioning her as only “ mother-in-law of Scipio” and not mother of the Gracchi. (Plutarch Gracc Ex.8) Tiberius felt his mother berated him for not accomplishing any achievements. Thus, the romans consequentially disrespected and showed contempt to Tiberius and his brother, and above all brought disgrace to his family. Because of Cornelia, Tiberius was forced to gain family glory and challenge the high-class romans, especially the senates on insulting his family. Evidently, his mother attitude towards Tiberius may have contributed Tiberius selfish actions and his ill-considered deeds to fulfill his mother’s demand of family glory.

Unlike Res Gestae, Letters is missing an agenda, which gives this source more weight in terms of being a more genuine account of a Roman emperor. We are able to paint a picture of Trajan, not by him directly addressing an audience, nor Pliny doing so for that matter. Instead, we are reading records of personal messages between the two, giving us a more genuine, fluid, and indiscriminate representation of Trajan. As promised, we are able to conclude that Pliny’s letters provide us with a deeper and better insight into his unique language/narrative of Roman

Rome had seen many leaders step up to the plate in order to rule over Rome with absolute power. There were many who only wanted to exercise their power over the people, those who only wanted the army’s strength, and those who only wanted to advance the senate and laws than help the people or watch the army. However, there were a few emperors who were able to rise above these issues and bring about a seemingly peaceful time in Rome. I have chosen the three, in my opinion, best emperors of Rome, who were able to take command of Rome and make a huge impact. The three emperors that I chose were Sulla, Julius Caesar, and last but not least Augustus.

Gaius Caesar Germanicus (Caligula) was born on August 31, in the year 12 in Antium, now present day Anzio, Italy. He was the third child of six children born to Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder. Furthermore, Gaius’s great-great-grandfather was Julius Caesar, and his great-grandfather was Augustus. Gaius was close to his father and began to accompany him on military campaigns, at an early age. Gaius wore a uniform as well as a small pair of boots. This traditional act earned the young tot the nickname Caligula (Latin---little boots). He would adorn this nickname for the rest of his life. THESIS

Following the assassination of Caesar, in accordance with his great uncle's will, Octavius held celebratory games in Caesar's honor. Doing so, at great personal expense, he garnered the overwhelming support of the public as well as Caesar's legions of troops. Due to the huge importance the Roman citizenry placed on games Augustus won the support of the