Book Contents Parent's Note
Interview with Author (not in the e-book)
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Caius is back!
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The Author
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History!
Civil War in the Greatest
Nation of the ancient world…
Romance!
She was his first love;
she was his only true love; she was the woman who would forever rule the heart
of the man who would one day rule the world…
Intrigue!
He was the nephew of the
man whose family the Dictator had vowed to destroy, and married to the daughter
of his other archenemy…
And yet he would defy
him…
Adventure!
He would bring Freedom
and the Law to lands that had never known them…
The Man who
would change the world...
Caius Julius Caesar
Introducing a new and original novel based on
the early life of
Julius Caesar
I offer you a
novel based on a revolutionary new approach to the early life of one
of
history's most misunderstood characters,
Caius Julius
Caesar.
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The Author.
Short Introduction and Background
setting
I have painted a
picture of this remarkable personality, which I believe correctly resolves many
of the mysteries concerning his early and later life. Read and see a Caesar as
he truly was, not the power hungry madman bent on world domination as history
has painted him, but the naive and altruistic young Patrician who assisted by
four magnificent women would try and almost succeed in bringing a barbarous and
cruel world, shaped by greed and retribution, justice and freedom.
The times were similar
to our own: a superpower on the brink of falling to pieces, because of the
greed and folly of its leaders and leading citizens; a barbarous and splintered
world of backward countries whose citizens were the pawns of wealthy and
powerful warlords; a world of the many crying out for help against the avarice
and gluttony of the few.
Enter the Caesars, an
old and distinguished Patrician family tied to the Champion of the People's
party, Caius Marius, a self made man, of poor origins, and in his own way a
genius, but an erratic and eccentric one. He was a kind and sympathetic man in
many ways, but also a man given to drink and excesses; a man who achieved the
supreme power of the state, but was often savage when the mood and a cup of
wine persuaded him in that course; a man who could hold a grudge, and never
forgave an enemy or a slight to his vanity.
And so it would turn
out, one of Marius's Generals, Lucius Sulla, himself a vain and arrogant
Patrician would challenge old Marius; in fact send him into a traumatic exile
of sorts. But the old man survived and returned with the vengeance of a rabid
dog, slaughtering the followers of Sulla (the Sullans) without mercy. The old
man and his People's party (the Marrians, as they were called) got the upper
hand and Sulla lost Rome, but Marius at over age seventy finally drank himself
to death. The People's party was now in the hands of Lucius Cinna a character
more wise, but less street smart than old Marius, a man of idealistic
temperament, but no soldier to match the cunning or wrath of the vengeful Sulla
who was now returning.
Here we first meet the
young Caesar, himself a Patrician, but raised in the shadow of his uncle Caius
Marius. A scholar and intellectual brought up by Aurelia, his mother, to the standards
of the ancient Greeks of the golden age. A boy of strong and perceptive will,
molded to the ways of the Athenian citizen soldiers; a first rate horseman, who
Marius had taken under his wing, a boy who had experienced first hand the
effects of vengeance and retribution, lust for power and greed, on his family
and the Nation he loved; a boy bred to serve, his Nation, Rome, and humanity as
the ancient Greek philosophers had taught.
Meet also the beautiful
Cornelia, Cinna's daughter, a girl of beauty, charm and a will that would
compliment that of the husband she would dedicate her life to. Together, she
and Caius would share a love the likes of which few in this world would
experience.
Now the scene is set,
follow it out in the book, or first see the Table of contents
below:
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NEW: A candid interview with
the Author
(Not Included in the E-Book)
February 23, 2006
Excerpts:
Interviewer:
I guess my first question to you
is how did you come to write this novel?
Author:
Well, having grown up in a
bilingual Italian family (my mother and father were both Italians as were all my
grandparents and theirs) in an Italian part of a major American city, I was
well versed in my heritage, unlike many of my non-Italian counterparts. So it
wouldn't seem strange that I would gravitate to Heroes from my own people.
My first encounter with Caesar was
when I was about eight or nine and I came across an old "Classics
Illustrated" version of the "Commentaries of Julius Caesar", I
think they called it "Caesar's Conquests". Anyway for those who
may not be familiar with "Classics Illustrated", they were the great
classic books of the world in comic book form. I remember after I read it I sat
down and took up one of the rolls of butcher paper that my father would bring
home for me to draw on, and I spent a few days drawing one of the battle scenes
of the Romans and Gauls. In those days I was better at expressing myself in
drawing than writing.
But that was the beginning of my
love affair with this great hero. Then when I went to High School I read the
original in Latin and truly marveled at the accomplishments of this man. Later
I read many more books on him and his times by many authors, a few of which I
mention in the bibliography of the book.
Over the years I think I read most
of what's available on him in English and Latin. But I always thought that he
had gotten a raw deal. I felt that he was not the megalomaniac that he was
often portrayed to be. I felt a real liking for him and a sympathy, which I
couldn't really put into words. Recently when I saw how authors from other
nationalities had come to write about him as fiction, I thought I would have to
put in my two cents worth so I wrote this book to give the Italian slant on the
matter. I have done a lot of things in my life, but I had never written a book,
so I guess I thought it was a good time to try, and this is the result.
I must say that as I wrote about
him I felt like he was looking over my shoulder encouraging me. About the
middle, before I wrote the Carian adventure, I came down with a severe case of
writer's block; I absolutely could not figure out how I should frame the final
chapters in Caria, and of course the death of Cornelia, who I think I came
almost to love myself. But one morning I woke up and it was all clear as
daylight. I just sat down and wrote till it was finished.
Interviewer:
What is the theme of your novel?
Author:
Well, I guess it’s one family’s
fight against greed and the destructive consequence it was producing on the
world. Well, first, let me say this, I would call this novel, lets see,
probably an interpretive biography. The interpretation is what
makes it a novel. The facts of Caesar’s life are known, not all, but enough.
The motives behind the reported behavior are not known, and will never be
known. The measure of the facts is quite coarse and somewhat muddled. By that I
mean we know only the overall outcomes, not the details involved. And we have
them secondhand or third hand at the least, probably no better than hearsay, by
probable stooges of the tyrant Caesars then in power. So a new interpretation of
the motives to make them more consistent I feel is warranted. This is what I
have done. For instance many historians say that he was packing the Senate, at
the end, with friends of his from the conquered nations like Gaul. This is
exactly what a Patrician Senator would love to say to keep the Senate in the
hands of the Aristocracy, as they had done many times before to oppress the
Plebeians (or later the common people).
I interpret his actions
differently. I say he was bringing representation to the people of the
provinces so they would have a say in their own government. I base this on the
fact that this is consistent with his previous actions to represent the
downtrodden people of the provinces who were being oppressed by their appointed
Roman Governors. Caesar acted very consistently all his life, even in the face
of the foulest of treacheries. What the historians try to say in History is
primarily hearsay, and libel. This was a man that could not be bribed; he
didn’t care about money. Most of his life he lived in debt or near debt,
although he was at times extremely rich especially at the end. They couldn’t
get at him in the usual way. So they libeled and slandered him with charges of
Homosexuality (with the King of Bithynia). They called him the “Queen of
Bithynia”. So he made a joke of it and played it out to the hilt.
But the people loved him. His
soldiers loved him. He had a charisma about him, which made him many friends.
His bravery and courage was legendary. He accepted people as they were and was
as true as he could be to a person. He constantly protected Cicero, even though
Cicero libeled him again and again. Cicero’s brother liked and admired him, and
served under him valiantly.
He was what the ancient Chinese
called in the “Book of Changes”, the “I Ching”, the Superior man. He was
totally in charge of himself, and having become this way he was able to totally
control his surroundings. I think part of this was the great love he shared
with Cornelia who was his female counterpart. They were so close they probably
felt each other’s moods and anxieties.
Interviewer:
Where did you get the idea that
Julius Caesar was actually as you portrayed him; I mean most people think of
Caesar as a man who was power hungry and bent on world domination?
Author:
Well, again, first of all this is
a novel, I have based it on historical facts, but no one will really ever know
what really occurred, at least as far as the details are concerned, during this
early stage of his life. I believe Caesar actually wanted it to be this way,
because of the very intimate relationship he had with Cornelia. What I have
conjectured fits the known facts, but flies in the face of certain historical,
how shall we say, myths, which I believe the historians were fed by the tyrants
they lived under.
That is the very thing I wanted to
correct, I mean the idea that Caesar was a man bent on becoming an absolute
ruler. The historians, and by the way they all lived during the time of the later
Caesars, the tyrants, all seem to want to show him as you have said, power
hungry and avaricious.
You must realize that these
Caesars had total control of all the media and press of the day. They were
absolute rulers, beginning with Caesar Augustus, Octavian. It is a well known
fact that Octavian censored his uncle's writings when he came to power and had
many of them suppressed. After all it wouldn't be a good public relations move
to show the world that the uncle who he had deified (Caesar was declared a God)
was actually a man of the People, and wanted to restore the Republic that it
had taken the People over 500 years to construct, and not only that, he wanted
to open it up to the people of the world.
Another thing, the history of Rome
as shown and taught today is shown only as a progression of a small tribe on
the Tiber river who gradually gained power and became a world power. This is
true but the real story of Rome is the constant and progressive building of a
Republic that truly represented the Plebian majority as opposed to the
Aristocratic minority. This internecine war that was constantly fought from
practically the founding of Rome for another 500 years, culminated for a time
in the most advanced form of Democracy that the world has ever known.
[Later added by the Author]
(By the way, there is one book
that dramatically shows this struggle, "A Short History of Rome and
Italy" by Mary Platt Parmele 1908. Everyone interested in Roman History
should read this book.)
If you read the history of the
Hannibalic War by Livy, you see this truly magnificent government in action.
People and Aristocrats all working and sacrificing together to overcome and
triumph over a devastating enemy which for 10 years ravaged all of Italy, yet
they not only overcame this menace but never wavered in their beliefs. And most
remarkable of all they never once slipped into absolutism; in fact their
profound conviction in democracy often conflicted with their aim to defeat
Hannibal, and probably lost them a few battles, yet unlike their Carthaginian
Plutocratic opponents this actually gave them the flexibility to win.
By the time of our Caesar, this
form of government was eclipsed by the absolutism of Sulla and the greed of the
Patrician class, which was now amalgamated with the wealthy "New" men
of the Equestrian class. This was what Caesar wanted to correct, he wanted to
bring back that same Democracy that the Plebeians had so painfully extracted,
one could almost say squeezed out of the Patricians over the last 500
years.
But all that I just said doesn’t
really answer your question, does it.
I think that the “why” is because
his actions were inconsistent with greed or megalomania. He wasn’t the conniver
that such a person that fit that description would be. He was magnanimous,
true, steadfast, brave and honest. Are these the traits of a power hungry
megalomaniac? No, never.
Interviewer:
The theme you mentioned is Greed
and its consequences, but you also seem to include with this revenge and
retribution, can you expand on this?
Author:
Yes, there is a difference between
revenge and justice. People who break the law need to be punished, this is not
revenge but justice; it is what makes real freedom possible. A freedom that
allows people to interfere with, or oppress other people's freedom could never
last; the society would break down. The Romans learned this early on. They were
a society ruled by laws.
Now what occurred between Marius
and Sulla was pure revenge or retribution. This was an example of how a society
can be destroyed by tyranny, laws no longer exist, and right and wrong no
longer matters, only the whims of the tyrant or clique in charge. Caesar was
constantly exposed to this in his youth; he showed how much he hated this by
the magnanimity he showed to his enemies later on, almost to his own detriment.
His distinction between Justice and vengeance was real, but in many ways his
Justice could seem harsh, but he also knew who he was dealing with and their
attitudes, so you can be sure if he made an example which seemed harsh, it was
this idea of Justice and a knowledge of the people he was dealing with which
motivated him. You see many of the nations and peoples of that time, especially
the barbarian peoples to the North of Italy, saw any magnanimous gesture as a
sign of weakness in the perpetrator. Almost like a naughty child, if you let
him get away with something without spanking his bottom, he takes it to mean
that you will always let him get away with it, so he does it over and over
again.
Caesar felt that a harsh example
the first time would end that disregard of the law for good. Later historians
in judging his actions often failed to realize this or, to take into account
the times and circumstances.
Interviewer:
There is another unusual point you
seem to want to show in your book, namely the importance of the women in
Caesar's life. In fact you seem to almost make this their story.
Can you expand on this?
Author:
Well, one thing I think that all
Historians and biographers of Caesar will admit is that he was an extraordinary
man. Saint or Devil, this will probably be argued to the end of mankind, but no
one with any sense will deny that this was an amazing man. Amazing men such as
he, are made, they don't spring full born from the brow of Zeus, to use a
well-worn cliché.
Caesar lost his father early, in
his teens, even Marius died when he was still a teen, Caesar grew up in a
household full of strong Italian women, and there is little doubt that they had
a great effect on him. In my own experience, having been raised by an Italian
mother with probably the same hereditary makeup as Aurelia, I think she had a
great effect on him. Also his aunt Julia definitely had a great effect on him,
after all she was the woman who handled one of the most obstinate men in Rome
for some 50 years, Marius! You see the Romans were Italians even if at times
they tried to hide it with myths about Troy and whatever. They, like all
Italians, made the family a very important part of their lives, this is why
they more or less worshipped their ancestors, and their lineage.
Caesar also had sisters, so he was
totally surrounded by women all his young life. You know the Romans made much
of the "Patria Potestas" or the power of the Father and Husband, but
like all Italians you know who really ruled the Roman house... the mother or
wife!
All the historians of Caesar make
much of the funerals he gave his Aunt and wife, this is what got me thinking as
to the real force behind his force. Romans had impressive funerals for
impressive people, so I said to myself there was more here than meets the eye
at first glance. An old woman like aunt Julia had plenty of time to become
impressive, but Cornelia was still in her twenties, why would he make such a spectacle
for her, all right he loved her, but still why such a public spectacle when
otherwise she is barely mentioned anywhere else? And if he loved her, wouldn't
privacy fit better? All this got me thinking she must have been something very
special.
Along with this was his daughter
Julia. Pompey the Great adored her and she him; she seemed to be a very
"take charge" type of woman, like her aunt Julia, in fact there
seemed to be here this very same type of relationship as there had been between
Marius and aunt Julia. All these things made me realize that these women were a
great force behind the man Caesar. I wanted to make their parts known, because
just now we are starting to recognize the great contributions that women make
that are rarely acknowledged, often they are the anonymous force behind great
movements. It just seemed to me that they should have their day.
Another thing, what Caesar
did...defying Sulla when he commanded him to divorce Cornelia; even Pompey
divorced his wife when Sulla told him to. Pompey had already defied Sulla on
several occasions before this for very much less important matters. It seemed
to me that Caesar's defiance just didn't fit unless this was a very special
love between these two. It immediately reminded me of Dante's love for
Beatrice. A "twin soul" spiritual type of love, such a love has been
known even as far back as the ancient Greeks. Plato mentions such a love in the
dialog in his "Symposium". Such a love unites the people involved in
an all-encompassing way. They feel almost as though they are one person instead
of two. Probably this was the love (real or imagined) between Helen of Troy and
Paris. I suddenly realized that this was the love that Caesar and Cornelia
experienced, this would fit with the elaborate funeral that he gave her. I also
felt that Cornelia and like her, her daughter Julia, were active women so I
included them in the Carian adventure in the book.
Interviewer:
Another character in the story who
seems to play a large role in Caesar's life is Cornelia's brother Lucius Cinna.
Was he a real historical character or just a made up one?
Author:
No, no all the main characters are
real life people in Caesar's life taken from history. Also all the main events
are taken from actual historical facts, I only added the details, which as I
said before, no one will ever really know for sure.
Getting back to your question, No,
Lucius Cinna (the son) was real and just as in the story he tried to make an
abortive attempt at bringing back a resurgence of the Marrian or people's
party, in which Caesar did not take part, which to me, at least seemed to be
quite strange indeed. Suetonius, (for our Readers: this is one of the
primary biographers of Caesar) mentions this and also says that he was later
admitted back into Rome at the behest of Caesar who seemed to have pulled some
political strings with the Senate to do this. I felt that there was no doubt
that he was probably involved in the Carian adventure, so I included him in the
story, I think quite likely in his proper role.
Interviewer:
In the Afterthought for your book,
where you primarily defend your assumptions for the basis of the book, you
mention some rather unique views on the social conditions of the period in which
the book is set, especially on the matter of slavery, perhaps you could expand
somewhat on this topic.
Author:
Why yes, of course. You see
slavery was at this particular period in history a worldwide phenomenon. I
think that you would be quite put out to find a country or group of people that
did not engage in it at that time. The why of this is probably unanswerable,
but very likely was, as with most human failings even to this day, the result
of greed.
The foulest of foul human
institutions seem to have all emanated from this one cause, and slavery was
probably the foulest. The "quick buck" is probably the goad to all
these types of things.
The gladiatorial games were also
probably continued for this same reason, although their origin probably was
concerned with religion. I think that most people of good sense, and Caesar was
probably among the most sensible, viewed slavery as something they couldn't do
anything about, but in a way they could make the best of it, I mean by that,
that they could use it as a sort of social tool which could channel off
criminals and would-be criminals (perhaps defeated soldiers) into useful work
for the state or private individuals. You see this wasn't a thing they had a
choice over, slavery existed and they probably thought it would always exist,
so it was a compromise, a way to make the best of a bad situation.
You must also realize that
soldiers and politicians were probably more at risk than anyone because of the
risk of losing in battle.
Now I applied this same idea to
the gladiatorial games, but with these since they seemed to have so much appeal
amongst the common people, (why, I don't know, perhaps misery loves company) I
think that the rulers also viewed this as a pacifier, to calm the angry mobs,
and keep order. I mention in my Afterthought that this was much like TV is
today and it was. Again why? Why did people line up to watch executions right
up to the turn of the twentieth century in the good old USA? You see people
don't change much, do they? I don't know! Perhaps if we hadn't invented movies
and TV it would still be going on, unfortunately people love to watch violence.
Anyway this is what I meant when I said they were social tools.
Interviewer:
I like the cover picture for your book it seems to be
symbolic, is it?
Author:
Why yes, it is. I put it together from public domain
material, which is very old. But yes it shows Caius and Cornelia facing each
other with the Eagle of the Legion between them. It symbolizes the great
anomalous situation between their love and their situation in life. On the one
hand the state is what unites them and unifies their view of life, but on the
other it is the thing, which keeps them from enjoying the great love they
share, and the family life they most enjoy. It is their agony and ecstasy.
Their love was the kind, which was all consuming, yet it occurred between two
people who were bound so fully to their places in the world, it left them
little time to enjoy it. If Caesar had known he would have her for only some fifteen
years I wonder if he would have even bothered with the duties that life had
conferred on him. In one way his story is a triumph, but in another it is the
greatest of tragedies.
Interviewer:
The last chapter “The Beginning” also seems to be symbolic,
is it?
Author:
Yes, the tree that Julia comments on is symbolic of the
Caesar’s themselves, a family that would not give up. Well, you might say, he
did give up to them when he let them kill him on the Ides of March.
I don’t think so. Caesar at that point had gone as far as
any man could go. As he lamented to the spirit of Cornelia in his soliloquy in
the first Chapter, the problem was not one which a man, or for that matter a
society could fix, it was one of spirit. As he said: Only the Gods could deal
with it. Here it foreshadows the coming of the change, which Christianity would
bring. A religion based on Love and Charity, which would perhaps change the
outlook and perspective of men’s hearts.
But getting back to the symbolism, as he and Julia look down
over the panorama of Rome, they view a thunderhead departing as the sun breaks
through the clouds and Rome shines like a precious jewel in the morning sun.
This is the beginning that the chapter is named for, the beginning of his rise
almost like a meteor to the heights of Power. But also the transformation of
Rome into an Empire whose culture would spread to build the modern Europe we
see today, and even the United States whose government it was modeled on. Oh,
the fruits would not be seen for almost fifteen hundred more years, but the
seed was planted by him, then and there.
Was Caesar a failure? I think not. He had followed the
tenants of the ancient Philosophers, as Timenes of Tyana, in the book, had
suggested to him, he had tried. That is all that a man can do. Success
and failure are immaterial to the spirit. If we try the very best we can, as
Caesar did, that is all that matters.
I like to think that he faced death that morning of the Ides
of March as he had faced it everyday of his life, head on. The cowards faced
him with their daggers, but none of them looked him in the face, because as
Militetes said in the book, “bad people fear people with true hearts.” They
stabbed him scores of times because they themselves could not believe he could
be killed, that is how much they feared him. They feared him as children who
have disobeyed their parents fear their parents; as evil fears good. With every
wound he felt himself that much closer to those he loved, till he fell at the
feet of Pompey’s statue; his recalcitrant son in law who he still loved. No I
think his death itself was a triumph, his greatest triumph.
Interviewer:
By the way what is the Dragon’s corner?
Author:
Ahh! [laughter]
Well, actually, that’s what I named my kitchen, which I just remodeled.
I like dragons a lot, and I have many wooden dragons, displayed there, hence
the name!
Did you know (as an aside) that the Roman Army depicted the
dragon, at least during the Empire, on a pennant they used for training. Or for
that matter that a Roman Army, probably under Marc Antony, after Caesar’s
death, was mentioned as being sighted by a Chinese Army in Chinese literature,
although they avoided each other!
Interviewer:
Well, Mr. Macaluso thank you for your thoughts, although I
do have one last question. I noticed that the horse named Maculosus has a name
very similar to Macaluso, is there a connection there?
Author:
Well, I thought you might catch that. Well maybe I did get a
little carried away there, but you know Maculosus is Latin for "Spotted
one" (masculine) actually "Spot" as Little Julia would say. What
better name for a spotted horse? But to answer your question, no, no connection
except perhaps a little vanity in the writer!
More Excerpts added 3/18/2006
Interviewer:
When Caesar is in Athens talking
with Timenes, he asks him about the existence of absolute evil, how does this
fit in with the novel?
Author:
Well, He and Cornelia have taken
up the challenge of trying to create the world that Cinna (Cornelia’s father)
and they dreamed of. Caius is trying to solidify the assumptions he has come to
on a practical basis, also on a theoretical basis.
He has grown up with the savagery
and chaos that the evil of greed has created in both his nation and his family.
It has resulted in the death of almost all the male members of his immediate
family. His heart tells him what the problem is, but being the intellectual and
practical man he is, he looks further to reason to see if perhaps there is
another cause. Perhaps religion can provide an answer; although he is an
agnostic at heart, he has still deep within him a belief in a power that
furthers the “Good” throughout the universe. Perhaps, he thinks there is also a
power that furthers the evil in the world.
But Timenes shows him, using the
dialectical reasoning of the Greek philosophers that this is not the case. The
problem lies in the will of man itself, that through interaction with an
inharmonious world has been perverted to an evil will, that causes not only the
evil will but also causes the dysfunctional world that originally created it.
I think that we should note that
in their discussions, nothing is said about how to go about resolving
the problem. Timenes shows what must be done, for instance, factions should be
broken and laws must be passed that do not benefit any particular group; he
says that every possible method must be used to restore reason and justice. But
exactly how is not specifically mentioned. The furthest that Timenes will go in
this direction is his statement that if you follow what is in your heart, you
will never be very far off the track. He also hints that constant requestioning
is needed in showing that what you find there is indeed that which follows the
“Good”. He mentions that following the “Good” is not easy, but also it is not
impossible. Caius resolves to make an effort to combat the evil that he
perceives has caused the problems in Rome. He resolves to follow the “Good”.
Again the means are not specified, except that when he “assumes power”, which
would be to become Consul in the normal course of events, but I think he knows
more than even this is needed.
This brings us to question the
first chapter where he decides that all his efforts at rectifying the problems
that Rome and the world has experienced was in vain. He has in effect fought
the evil with the very same means that the evil ones used against him. This has
not seemed to work, since the freedom that he wanted to spread and instill in
the world, can only be kept by the benevolent dictatorship which he has
instituted, in essence he must do that which all his principals tell him not to
do, in order to keep these principals enforced. His conclusion is that the matter
is beyond the bounds of human reason. He has tried and toiled as far as human
efforts can go, if he continues to keep the world at rest through the efforts
of his legions, then he has in essence denied the very principals he has fought
to establish.
Of course after Caesar’s death
Augustus was in effect carrying on the status quo in a tyranny, which would
continue for the next four and one half centuries, progressively decaying till
the complete collapse and the introduction of Christianity. But this is beyond
our story.
I will say though that these are
still problems that are present today. Christianity has brought in the correct
perspective, which the ancients did not have. But look at what immediately
occurred with the growth of Christianity, people immediately replaced the
temporal dictatorship with a spiritual one. The result was a dark age where not
only physical, but spiritual bondage occurred; in essence all freedom was lost!
Not until the renaissance was a way shown which led to where we are today. But
alas are we just back again to where Caesar was in his day? We have that new
perspective of the heart, that Caesar in his day, had only a vague insight
into, but we seem to have forgotten it or maybe we just ignore it. I don’t
know, as Timenes said, following the “Good” is not easy, but then again it is
not impossible.
Interviewer:
I know you don’t want to get into
any relevance that this story may have as a reflection on the current world
situation, but there is a real similarity between this particular time in
Rome’s history and what is happening today, would you care to amplify this?
Author:
Well, you know I’m presenting a
story, which is at a unique time in history and has some far reaching relevance
because of the similarities you mention. I think I’ll only mention what these
are. At this time Rome was showing what some authors refer to as a “democratic
imperialism”. It was conquering barbarian nations and colonizing them. The
reason for this was quite simply greed. It was a way for politicians and the
Equestrian “New” men to get rich fast. Caesar saw that this was inevitable, so
he thought perhaps he could actually make this a good thing instead of a
travesty of the democracy that Rome offered. He wanted to reform the system and
give direct representation to those that were given the franchise. This would
take away all the power that the Aristocracy or I might say Plutocracy had
gained. Caesar saw Rome as offering a system of government that would give the
people in these conquered states more freedom not less, because all of these
states were under tyrannies of Nobles or Kings or Warlords. But he also saw
that the colonial system that Rome had, was flawed, and that’s what he was in
the process of trying to fix at the end.
Now the parallel to today’s world
isn’t so hard to see; I’ll just say that greed is still very much at work
today.
Also I think there is another
thing that should be mentioned here. I don’t know if you are familiar with the
old long shore man philosopher from the sixties, Eric Hoffer, but anyway he
termed our age the “Age of the Masses”. He was writing during the sixties but
he said that just about everything then was mass this or mass that, mass
culture, mass media etc. Well, I think that today this is even more so, at
least appearance-wise. Well, Caesar’s age was basically the age of the
Aristocracy, the minority that dictated to the masses. What I tried to show was
that Caesar planted the seed back then for this modern age of the masses. If he had not lived we may never have had
the society we have today. And even today if we don’t do something to offset
the role of the special interests in our society, we may go back to that age he
tried to end. Perhaps what we should strive for in this Twenty-first century is
the age of the “Meritorious Masses”. Where everyone does his part to promote a
better society through merit, and merit alone.
Book Contents Parent's Note Interview with Author (not in the
e-book)