Book contents
- Julius Caesar and the Roman People
- Julius Caesar and the Roman People
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Chapter 2 The Early Caesar
- Chapter 3 Caesar’s “Entry into History”
- Chapter 4 Caesar’s First Consulship
- Chapter 5 Caesar in Gaul
- Chapter 6 No Return
- Chapter 7 Taking Sides
- Chapter 8 Caesar’s Leniency
- Chapter 9 En Route to the Parthian War
- Chapter 10 Conclusion
- Appendices
- Works Cited
- Select Index of Passages Cited
- General Index
Chapter 9 - En Route to the Parthian War
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2021
- Julius Caesar and the Roman People
- Julius Caesar and the Roman People
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Chapter 2 The Early Caesar
- Chapter 3 Caesar’s “Entry into History”
- Chapter 4 Caesar’s First Consulship
- Chapter 5 Caesar in Gaul
- Chapter 6 No Return
- Chapter 7 Taking Sides
- Chapter 8 Caesar’s Leniency
- Chapter 9 En Route to the Parthian War
- Chapter 10 Conclusion
- Appendices
- Works Cited
- Select Index of Passages Cited
- General Index
Summary
The story of the final months of Caesar’s life has been dominated by the question whether he wanted to be "king." That is to focus the question in a way that privileges the perspective of his assassins. Caesar himself was preoccupied at this time with massive preparations for a war of vengeance against the Parthians on a truly extraordinary scale. The knock-on effects of the mobilization effort were themselves extremely disruptive, causing an explosive intensification of the political game at a time when the Dictator was about to absent himself from the capital for several years. He had gravely alienated the urban plebs, encouraging the conspirators’ expectations (falsified in the event) that they would have popular support. The Caesarian coalition was coming apart, as shown by the remarkable clash between Mark Antony and Dolabella on the eve of Caesar’s scheduled departure. Caesar made little to no effort to create a new political system out of the ruins of civil war during the short period that he spent in Rome before his intended departure on an expedition that would keep him abroad for several years, much less to oversee a transition to a whole new kind of politics.
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- Julius Caesar and the Roman People , pp. 488 - 579Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021