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Julius Caesar Research Paper

Decent Essays

The aim of a dictator is to gain complete control over every aspect of a nation or empire, so it is to be expected that this control would extend to their natural and architectural surroundings. Julius Caesar and Adolf Hitler were two such domineering men, with definitive ideas of how their land should appear and function. This essay will explore how two dictators, living thousands of years apart (100-44 BC and 1889-1945, respectively) controlled the design and building of their landscapes. Specific attention will be paid to how each man’s political principles are represented through one iconic symbol of his architectural choices (in this case, the Forum of Julius Caesar in Rome, Italy and the Reichsparteitagsgelände-Nazi party rally grounds-in …show more content…

Caesar believed that in order to take that title away from Alexandria, Rome would have to look the part, and so he directed his efforts towards the public legal buildings. One such building was the Forum Julium (Forum of Julius Caesar) (Figure 1), which was built as an extension of the Forum Romanum, especially the law courts, between 54 and 46 BC and funded by Caesar’s war campaign in Gaul (Boatwright, Gargols, and Talbert 249). Caesar also anticipated using the Forum as a spectacular architectural setting from which he could deliver speeches and regally preside over public ceremonies (Stamper …show more content…

“It is nearly always the Romans, and not the Spartans, to whom Hitler refers when praising military discipline and expertise in the ancient world” (Scobie 22). Both the ancient Romans and the Nazis were steadfast in their conviction of their own superiority and right to conquer and rule all. However, it was not only their political and military superiority that Hitler admired. He also acknowledged the design of their city, whose aqueducts, roads, and countless monuments made Rome’s authority and power known to all of her subjects (Scobie 22). “The Roman Empire never had its like. To have succeeded in completely ruling the world! And no empire has spread its civilization as Rome did” (Hitler

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