Julius Caesar (Gift for History Buffs)

by Philip Freeman

Perhaps they were like the moving epitaph later written by a Roman man in Egypt for his departed wife: I COMPETED WITH YOU, MY DEAR, IN DEVOTION, VIRTUE, FRUGALITY, AND LOVE—BUT I ALWAYS LOST. I WISH EVERYONE THE SAME FATE.

Like all Roman roads, the Appian Way (Via Appia) was a marvel of both engineering and propaganda. Construction began on the roads by digging deeply into the soil to lay a foundation of rock, covering this in turn with gravel for drainage, and finally paving with virtually indestructible flagstones over which commerce rolled and armies marched. Unlike the earlier muddy tracks around much of the Mediterranean, Roman roads were meant to endure and rarely yielded to the vagaries of topography.

Unless prevented by impassable mountains or impregnable swamps, the Romans built their roads straight as an arrow across the landscape. They were in fact a sermon in stone to the world—Romans do not yield. Two thousand years later, the Appian Way and other Roman roads still survive throughout the former Roman Empire, from Scotland to Syria.

Of course, as a triumph was an incredible honor to be remembered for generations, no Roman in his right mind would ever trade it for the chance to run for any political office, not even consul. But early the next morning, Caesar left his tent on the Field of Mars clad in a shining white toga and walked deliberately toward the city gate just north of the Capitoline Hill. The few who were awake at that hour must have stared openmouthed as they realized what he was about to do. Passing under the gate, he crossed the sacred boundary of the city and thereby forfeited his triumph. No one could believe that Caesar would give up such an honor, but once again he proved to friends and foes alike that he was unique.

But to walk beneath the towering pyramids and gaze at ruins that were more ancient to the Romans than the Romans are to us today must have struck the sons of Romulus with awe.

Caesar inserts an amazing statement in his Gallic War just before he begins the campaign against the Veneti, in which he describes why the maritime tribes revolted against Rome: “Human nature everywhere yearns for freedom and hates submitting to domination by another.” This kind of refreshing honesty is typical in Roman writers from the earliest days of the Republic to the fall of the empire. The Romans never pretended that they were bringing freedom or a better way of life to the peoples they conquered. They frankly admitted that they were only interested in increasing their own power, wealth, and security through conquest. They had no particular desire to spread classical culture throughout the world unless it served their own plans to better control a province. Caesar freely admits that the Veneti were simply fighting for liberty, just as he would have done in their place. Nevertheless, he was determined to crush them.

Alexandria was so tightly packed that there was no room for traditional battlefield movements and certainly not enough space to deploy his cavalry in any useful fashion. The fighting was waged house by house, day and night, with ground gained or lost measured in feet rather than miles.

covered entrenchments, and towers around the palace quarter. To gain ground along the heavily defended city blocks, the Roman troops employed a surprisingly modern technique of urban warfare. Instead of assaulting a house through the well-guarded doors, they used battering rams to break through the walls from connecting homes. Roman troops would then pour into the gap, kill the defenders, and repeat the procedure to take the next house. Caesar also demolished countless buildings to create a deadly no-man’s-land around his perimeter. He

could only be thankful that, unlike the cities of Gaul built with wood and thatch, the Alexandrian homes he occupied were virtually fireproof with their mud

brick walls and tile roofs. None of Caesar’s actions intimidated the Alexandrians in the least. Messengers went out to all the towns of Egypt to come and join in the war against the hated Romans. Thousands flocked into the city carrying armloads of weapons and dragging artillery pieces behind them. Workshops for making spears, swords, and other armaments sprang up overnight throughout Alexandria. Wealthy masters even armed trusted slaves and donated their services to guard strategic points in the city, freeing the professional soldiers to move along the lines as needed. The townspeople built stone barricades up to forty feet high across streets, adding lofty towers to rain down mi...