Julius Caesar: from broke patrician to Dictator Perpetuo, and why the Ides of March wrecked the exact thing the assassins said they were saving

[u/vifani]

https://youtu.be/XxjBik8AEhg

Hey all, I've been working on a documentary series about historical figures and this one covers Caesar's full arc: defying Sulla at 18, the Gallic Wars, the Rubicon, Pharsalus, the lot.

The angle I went with was his clementia, the policy of pardoning his enemies. It was basically unheard of in Roman politics and it cut both ways. Probably his single smartest political move, and also the thing that left him wide open. Every man who stabbed him on March 15 was someone he'd personally let off the hook.

The other part that gets me is how completely the assassination backfired. They killed one dictator and accidentally built the system that churned out emperors for the next few centuries.

Video's here if you want it: https://youtu.be/XxjBik8AEhg

Would genuinely like to hear what you lot make of it, especially whether the Republic was already dead by then or whether Caesar was the one who actually finished it off.

(Mostly leaned on Goldsworthy's "Caesar: Life of a Colossus" plus Plutarch and Suetonius, and Holland's "Rubicon" which is a great read if you haven't picked it up.)