He was a man in the full sense of genius, he was naturally gifted more than any other historical figure. It is not easy, even directly impossible to describe in in short words the personality of this amazing man, but if you point out at least some, even perhaps not the main, properties of Caesar’s mind and character, then it will become clear how extraordinary his talents were.
Lifetime bust of Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (born, probably, July 12, 100; killed March 15, 44) came from one of the most ancient Roman families and belonged by birth to the highest Roman aristocracy. In his youth, he led a lifestyle typical of rich young people of his circle, indulged in all sorts of hobbies, tasted, one might say, both the foam and the dregs of the cup of pleasures, but did not waste his spiritual and physical strength, gave to hobbies, it seems, only their excess and the end of days remained cheerful and cheerful person, who irresistibly attracted everyone with whom he dealt, and he himself retained the ability to sincerely become attached and love tenderly.
Julius Caesar was a born statesman. He began his activities in a party that fought against the existing government, and therefore for a long time he seemed to be creeping towards his goal, then he played a prominent role in Rome, then he entered the military field and took a place in the ranks greatest commanders- not only because he won brilliant victories, but also because he was one of the first to be able to achieve success not by a huge superiority of strength, but by unusually intense activity, when it was necessary, by skillful concentration of all his forces and unprecedented speed of movements.
Bust of Caesar in military uniform
Then Caesar stood out as an administrator, revealing remarkable oratory and literary talent. In all its manifestations, life was in full swing in this amazingly gifted personality, in all fields Julius Caesar accomplished things that in each gave him the right to first place - and he did not devote his strength entirely to any one field, he always prevailed over everything in Caesar was a statesman: he always had before his eyes his great goal - to revive his homeland, to raise politically, militarily, mentally and morally the deeply fallen Latin nation and the even more deeply fallen Hellenic nation related to it. Only an activist with Caesar’s personal talents was able to achieve such a goal; if he did not achieve it completely, it is doubtful whether it was possible to achieve more, and in any case, Caesar accomplished so much that no other person did more than him.
The spiritual gifts that Julius Caesar displayed are amazing. He not only had a strong character, but also highest degree with a penetrating mind, it is impossible to evaluate people better than he, to find for everyone a place where he could bring the greatest benefit. Caesar's observation was amazing, thanks to it he quickly navigated the most difficult situations, and his orders, even where he gave orders in absentia, were always surprisingly clear and executable. Caesar's memory was unusually accurate and strong: he retained a huge mass of facts in his head and could easily conduct a wide variety of affairs at the same time. The most amazing character trait of Julius Caesar was, so to speak, the brilliant sobriety of his mind: he covered with his mental gaze all aspects of real life, missed nothing, assessed everything correctly, always found the easiest and most direct paths to the goal, never got carried away by anything unattainable , no matter how tempting it may seem. All the affairs that he carried out with unprecedented creative force, all the changes that he made, he directed with wonderful harmony towards one common goal and was never forced to redo anything.
Bust of Julius Caesar, 1st century. according to R.H.
And for all that, Julius Caesar was never clouded by his successes, he always felt that not everything is achievable for a person, that much depends on chance, on happiness, and therefore, on the one hand, he often acted with extraordinary courage, relying on fate, on the other hand, I never experienced a feeling of disappointment. When he became a monarch, he always acted only as required by the duty of a ruler, never succumbed to fluctuations of character or caprice, and was never influenced by the possibility of seeing unquestioning obedience around him.
Everything that Caesar accomplished was done in barely five and a half years, of which two years were occupied by war. Everything that was done during the reign of Caesar, he did as if he had a plan long ago and thoroughly thought out. Whether the plan is complete - let him judge who considers himself capable of measuring himself against the brilliant personality of Caesar. People have not ceased to be amazed at his work for almost two thousand years, and it seems that humanity will follow the paths laid by Julius Caesar until the world is destroyed...
Now we will look into the temples of Rome, wander through the ruins of the Roman Forum and admire other sights.
Let's start with the Pantheon. Translated from other Greek. - Temple of all gods. This is one of the main attractions of Rome, the largest surviving domed structure and until the 19th century. unparalleled. The first building of the Pantheon was built by consul Marcus Agrippa in 27-25 BC. After the fires in 80 AD. e. and at the beginning of the 2nd century AD. e., the Pantheon was rebuilt. In 126 AD e. Emperor Hadrian modestly left the name of the first builder on its pediment. The inscription reads: “Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, elected consul for the third time, erected this.”
According to legend, from this place on July 5, 717 BC. The founder of Rome, Romulus, was ascended to heaven by the god Mars.
The temple is a unique structure and a great engineering achievement of antiquity. The diameter of its dome is 43 m, at the top of the arch there is a round hole with a diameter of 9 m, through which light penetrates inside in the form of a giant cylindrical beam. Apart from the front door and this opening, there are no other light sources.
The interior decoration of the Pantheon was constantly changing. Under Agrippa, in the center of the temple, a huge statue of the deified Julius Caesar was installed, and on the sides there were statues of Mars, Venus, Saturn, Neptune and other gods.
On November 1, 609, the pagan temple was consecrated as the Christian Church of St. Mary and the Martyrs.
Below the Madonna of the Rock statue is the tomb of Raphael (1483-1520). The great master indicated the burial place in the Pantheon and how it should be decorated in his dying will. The sarcophagus was installed by order of Pope Gregory XVI. The inscription reads: “Here lies Raphael, whom Nature feared would be defeated forever and die with him.” To the left of the sculpture is a bust of Raphael made of black marble (created in 1833 by the sculptor Giuseppe Fabris).
The second king of Italy, Umberto I, is buried in a red marble sarcophagus.
Fresco from a painting by an unknown artist (1686 from Bari) “Madonna with a Belt and St. Nicholas”. “There is an Orthodox tradition that on the third day after the burial, the Mother of God appeared to the Apostle Thomas and threw Her belt from Heaven to him as a consolation,” because he was late for the burial and cried for a long time near the coffin.
"The Annunciation" This fresco is believed to have been painted by Melozzo (Ambrosi) da Forli during his Roman period (1480-84)
Tomb of the first king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II. (died 1878). "PADRE DELLA PATRIA" - Father of the Fatherland.
We now enter the church of San Silvestro in Capite. "Capite", lat. (Capute) - head, is in the name of the church, because it houses a relic, the head of John the Baptist.
Interior decoration. The basilica is decorated with marble, richly decorated with paintings by famous painters, gilding, statues, frescoes and relics.
The main relic of the church is the head (part of the skull without jaw) of John the Baptist. It is located in the chapel, to the right of the entrance to the church. To doubt the authenticity of this relic is considered blasphemy, but to this day the question remains, because Catholicism believes that the original head is kept in this church, Islamic tradition believes that it is in the Umayyad mosque in Damascus. This relic is also worshiped in Amiens (France), brought there from the fourth crusade, in Turkish Antioch and in one of the monasteries of Armenia.
The figure of the Mother of God mourning Christ.
Let's take a look at another church - the Basilica of San Petro in Vincoli.
In the background of the interior you can see the main altar, in the lower part of which the chains of St. Apostle Peter are stored in the ark (hence the name of the temple). The first part of the chains is from the Jerusalem prison (42), the second part is Roman, under Nero, from the Mamertine prison (64). The temple contains the tombs of the artist Antonio Pogliolo and the powerful Pope Julius II,
In the left nave, a bas-relief depicting death with white wings and a scythe attracts attention.
As the guide explained, she was placed here so that she would not be forgotten as an eternal companion of earthly life. Maybe she's right. The Italians, not without a certain amount of irony, call this work “The White-Winged Lady with a Scythe.”
The walls of the temple are decorated with works of great masters.
We're on the street again. To the left of the Curia Julius you see several columns. This is one of the oldest temples - the Temple of Saturn, or rather what remains of it, eight columns, six of gray granite on the facade and two of red on the sides.
It is believed that the temple was built in 489 BC. e. after the victory over the Etruscan kings in honor of the god Saturn, whom the Romans considered their patron. Inside the temple stood a statue of Saturn made of gold and Ivory. After the completion of agricultural work, the Saturnalia holiday began in the last week of December. The statue was taken out of the temple for the procession, sacrifices were made to the god Saturn, then a general feast and fun began. Perhaps this is where the tradition of organizing a harvest festival in modern times came from.
General view of the ruins of the Imperial Forums.
Remains of the temple in the form of three columns located in the Forum of Julius Caesar.
Caesar's Forum was built in 54-46. BC e. (the photo shows its remains).
The monument to Julius Caesar is a bronze copy of the statue located in the Capitol. Recently installed. The abbreviation on the pedestal is lat. S.P.Q.R. - Senatus Populusque Romanus (Senate and Citizens of Rome), often found in many historical places of the city.
Gaius Julius Caesar was born on July 13 (12), 100 (102) BC. e. Killed March 15, 44 BC e. Ancient Roman state and political figure, dictator, commander, writer. IN different time, married three times. Children: Julia Caesaris (daughter from her first marriage) and Ptolemy XV Caesarion (doubtful - illegitimate son from connection with Cleopatra). With his conquests, Caesar expanded the borders of the Roman power to the British Isles. He also carried out very important government reforms, changing the calendar, which we now call the Julian. The month in which he was born is named after his name - July, and in honor of his successor, adopted by the will of Octavian's nephew Augustus - the month of August. The life and work of Julius Caesar is described in detail in various sources, including in his own “Notes” (memoirs), as well as in biographies, characteristics and reviews of him (sometimes of different polarities) written by his contemporaries. Among them is the ancient Roman politician and philosopher, a brilliant orator, Cicero. So I suggest you familiarize yourself with these materials. The Russian words “tsar”, “Caesar” and the German “Kaiser” were subsequently derived from the name of Caesar.
In the center is the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. Built on the ruins of the Temple of Hercules in the 8th century. The elegant belfry adorning the city is visible from afar, built in the 12th century.
Excavations of the remains of a temple complex from the times of the Roman Republic in Torre Argentina. To this day it has not been established to whom these four temples are dedicated and so far they have been named conventionally - A, B, C and D. It is known that in the 1st century BC. e. Around these temples there were public buildings - a circus, a theater, the Curia of Pompeii, etc.
The area of the column is so named because the marble Column of Marcus Aurelius (41.5 m) is located on it.
The column is hollow, inside it there is a spiral staircase with 190-200 steps. Previously, a sculpture of Marcus Aurelius was installed on top of the column in honor of the victory over the Germans and Sarmatians in the Marcomannic War. The entire surface of the column is richly decorated with bas-reliefs depicting scenes from this war. The small holes that are visible along the column are windows for lighting the stairs inside the column.
In the 16th century, the statue of Marcus Aurelius was lost and in 1589, at the direction of Pope Sixtus V, a bronze statue of the Apostle Paul was installed in its place. St. Paul is often depicted with a sword in his hand, because before he met Jesus Christ, he was a Pharisee and took part in the persecution of the first Christians.
Street of the Imperial Forums.
Once upon a time, life was in full swing here and these forums were filled with crowds of Romans. Here their fates and the fates of other peoples were decided. In the photo on the left is the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina. Built in 141 AD. e. by order of Emperor Antoninus Pius in honor of his deceased wife Faustina.
In the foreground is part of the surviving five-story Roman residential building "Insula Araceli", 2nd century. n. e., in the northern part of the Capitoline Hill, discovered during excavations during the construction of the Vittoriano monument. In one of the upper floors, during the Middle Ages, a church was built.
View of the city from the ledge of the Vittoriano monument.
Vittoriano (Italian: Vuttoriano) is a monument in honor of the first king of united Italy. Built from 1885 to 1935. In the center of the monument, on a ledge, is a twelve-meter bronze equestrian statue of the king. Below it stands a statue of the goddess Roma. Even lower is the grave of the Unknown Soldier who died in the First World War, the so-called “Altar of the Fatherland” and a permanent Guard of Honor. The Romans do not like this structure because it contrasts with the surrounding buildings and ironically call it: - “Typewriter*,” “Wedding Cake,” “False Jaws,” etc.
To be continued...
Julius Caesar is probably the most famous character of ancient history, and indeed of all ancient history. Only Alexander the Great can compete with him. Countless volumes of scientific works, popular biographies and fiction have been written about Caesar.
He was played in films by such outstanding actors as John Gielgud, Rex Harrison, Klaus Maria Brandauer and Ciaran Hinds. Around any outstanding historical figure sooner or later the husk of myths and legends grows. Caesar did not escape this either.
Myth 1. His name was Caius Julius Caesar
Let's start with the name. Caesar, like almost every Roman boy from a good family, had three names: firstly, praenomen, or personal name (Gaius), - their Ancient Rome there were very few, Guy being among the most common; secondly, nomen, or family name (Iulius), and thirdly, cognomen, originally a nickname with some dictionary meaning, attached to a branch of the clan and becoming hereditary (Cicero - Pea, Naso - Nosy). What the word Caesar meant is unknown. There were many explanations: Caesar himself claimed that it was “elephant” in the “Moorish language,” and Pliny the Elder raised the word to the verb caedo, “to cut, cut,” arguing that the very first Caesar (not ours, but one of his ancestors) was born from a cut uterus, that is, as a result of a procedure later known as a caesarean section. Already thanks to the glory of our Julius Caesar, his cognomen in different forms entered into many languages of the world as a synonym for ruler - Caesar, Kaiser, Tsar.
The variant Kai (not Gaius) Julius Caesar has been around in everyday speech for a very long time. It is also found in literature: for example, in the fantastic story “Ghosts” by Turgenev, in “The Golden Calf” by Ilf and Petrov, or in “The White Guard” by Bulgakov. A search through the corpus of Russian literature texts produces 18 results for the query “Caius Julius” versus 21 for “Gai Julius,” almost equally divided. Ivan Ilyich in Tolstoy recalls an example from the “Logic” of the German Kantian philosopher Johann Gottfried Kiesewetter: “Kai is a man, people are mortal, therefore Kai is mortal” (in Kiesewetter: “Alle Menschen sind sterblich, Caius ist ein Mensch, also ist Caius sterblich”). This is also, of course, “Caius” Julius Caesar. In languages with Latin-based graphics, the variant Caius instead of Gaius also continues to be found - not only in novels, but also, for example, in the books of the modern British popularizer of antiquity Adrian Goldsworthy. This writing is the result not so much of a misunderstanding, but of a peculiar ancient Roman idea of fidelity to tradition.
Although in Latin the sounds [k] and [g] were always different; at first this difference was not reflected in writing. The reason was that the Etruscan (or some other Northern Italic) alphabet, from which Latin developed, did not have a stop [g]. When the volume of written information began to increase and literacy began to spread (in antiquity, in principle, there were not many free people who could not read and write at least at a primitive level), it became necessary to somehow distinguish between letters denoting dissimilar sounds, and C was attached tail. As linguist Alexander Piperski notes, the letter G is an innovation with a diacritic like the letter Ё, only more successful in historical perspective. The letter E, as you know, was invented by Karamzin, and Roman lovers of antiquities recorded that G was introduced into the alphabet by a certain Spurius Carvilius, a freedman and the first owner of a private property in Rome. primary school- in the 3rd century BC. e.
The capital C, representing the sound [g], was often used as the initial of the names Guy and Gnaeus (C and CN respectively). Such initials were found in dedicatory inscriptions, on tombstones, and in other contexts of increased importance. The Romans were very neurotic about this kind of thing and preferred not to change anything about them. Therefore, in the inscriptions starting from the 2nd century BC. e. we often see the letter G where it should be (for example, in the word AVG, short for Augustus), but the name Guy is abbreviated in the old fashioned way as C. The same with the name Gney, which is abbreviated as CN (however, the form “Kney”, as far as I know, is not found anywhere in Russian).
Most likely, it was this ambiguity that caused the split of the popular Roman name into the correct Guy and the erroneous Kai. Kai from " Snow Queen"Andersen most likely has no relation to Caesar - this is a common Scandinavian name, and there are many other etymological hypotheses about its origin, mainly going back to the Frisian languages.
Myth 2. We know what he looked like
Let's look at some sculptural portraits.
The first is the so-called Tusculan portrait, excavated in 1825 by Lucien Bonaparte (brother of Napoleon I). It is kept in the Museum of Antiquities of Turin. Several more sculptural images, stored in the National Roman Museum, the Hermitage, the New Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, etc., belong to the same type.
The second common type of portrait of Caesar is the so-called Chiaramonti bust (now kept in the Vatican Museums). Adjacent to it is another bust from Turin, sculptures from Parma, Vienna and a number of others.
Finally, in the fall of 2007, another alleged bust of Julius Caesar was raised from the bottom of the Rhone River near the French city of Arles.
It is noticeable that even within the same type, the portraits are not very similar to each other, and if you compare one type with another, it is not at all clear how they can be the same person. At the same time, ancient Roman portrait sculpture was very different high level realism and consistently achieved portrait resemblance. To be convinced of this, just look at the numerous portraits of later emperors - Augustus, for example, or Marcus Aurelius. They cannot be confused with each other or with anyone else.
What's the matter? The fact is that almost all the ancient sculptural portraits that have come down to us are not signed and their attribution is a highly guess-working matter. Signed portrait images were found only on coins, and Caesar was the first Roman whose image appeared on coins during his lifetime (this happened in 44 BC, and already on March 15 of this year, on the ever-memorable Ides of March, he was killed ). Caesar's denarius, minted by the mint official Marcus Mettius, became the model for all later coins of imperial times.
The 55-year-old Caesar was depicted on the denarius with the realism characteristic of the late Republican era: a very long neck with folds, a protruding Adam's apple, a wrinkled forehead, a thin face, in some versions - wrinkles in the corners of the eyes, a wreath, which, according to rumors, Caesar camouflaged his baldness. But still, a coin is a special genre, and the attribution of a sculptural bust on the basis of a stylized numismatic picture is an unreliable matter. Of course, archaeologists from Arles wanted as many people as possible to know about the Roman bust of outstanding quality - which is undoubtedly a rare find - and this should also help finance the work. And for such a purpose, the “bust of Julius Caesar” is more suitable than the “bust of an unknown Roman.” The same caution must be applied to all other sculptural images of Julius Caesar.
In how the public imagines a character, reputation is often more important than credibility. If you do a Google image search for Emperor Vitellius, the first thing you see is a bust from the Louvre depicting an obese, arrogant man with a triple chin. This correlates well with the image of the emperor, who, according to Suetonius, “was most distinguished by gluttony and cruelty.”
But the surviving coins show a completely different face - a man also not thin, but certainly not with a snub nose.
Myth 3. He could do several things at once.
Have you ever heard your mother or grandmother say, “Don’t read while you eat, you’re not Gaius (or Caius) Julius Caesar”? This warning is based on the idea that Caesar could multitask and that this kind of multitasking was his unique property, inaccessible to most people.
Firstly, this meme is most common in Russia. In Western European cultures there is no such stable expression, although the fact itself is known and sometimes mentioned. However, finding it in sources is not so easy. Suetonius says nothing about this in his biography of Caesar. Plutarch, with reference to a certain Oppius, notes that Caesar “during the campaign, he also practiced sitting on a horse and dictating letters, simultaneously employing two or even... even more scribes”. This remark is inserted between a mention of dashing physical dexterity ( “He knew how to put his hands back and put them behind his back and let his horse run at full speed.”- if it seems to you that this is not so difficult, I remind you that ancient horsemen did not use stirrups) and a story about the invention of SMS ( “They say that Caesar was the first to come up with the idea of conversing with friends about urgent matters through letters, when the size of the city and exceptional employment did not allow meeting in person.”).
Pliny the Elder speaks in somewhat more detail about this feature in his monumental work Natural History. He finds the quickness of mind that distinguished Caesar unprecedented: “It is reported that he could write or read and at the same time dictate and listen. He could dictate four letters to his secretaries at a time, and on the most important issues; and if you weren’t busy with anything else, then seven letters each.”. Finally, Suetonius, in his life of Augustus, notes that Julius Caesar during the circus games “read letters and papers or wrote replies to them”, for which he was criticized - and Augustus made efforts to avoid repeating this PR mistake of his adoptive father.
We see that we are not talking about real parallel processing, but (as happens with computers) about quickly switching from one task to another, about competent distribution of attention and prioritization. Life public person in antiquity set before his memory and attention tasks that were incomparable with those that had to be solved modern people: for example, any speech, even one that lasted many hours, had to be learned by heart (opportunities for improvisation, of course, existed, but in any case the general outline had to be kept in mind). Nevertheless, even against this background, Caesar’s abilities made an indelible impression on his contemporaries.
Napoleon Bonaparte, whose desire to imitate and surpass Caesar is well documented, was also famous for his ability to dictate up to seven letters at once and, according to the memoirs of one of his secretaries, Baron Claude François de Meneval, attributed this superpower to his virtuoso mastery of the technique, which in modern managerial jargon is called compartmentalization . “When I want to take my mind off something, - said, according to Meneval, Napoleon, - I close the drawer in which it is stored and open another. The two things never mix and never bother or tire me. When I want to sleep, I close all the drawers.". This system of spatial visualization of topics or tasks also dates back to classical antiquity.
Bonus. Where was Julius Caesar killed?
Caesar was killed on his way to a Senate meeting. This fact, combined with the authority of Shakespeare (who places the assassination scene somewhere near the Capitol - that is, perhaps in the Forum, over the western part of which Capitol Hill rises), gives many the erroneous impression that he was killed directly in the Senate building . The Senate building still stands on the Forum and is even called the Julian Curia. But during the time of Caesar he was not there: the old curia burned down during the unrest that preceded his reign, he ordered a new one to be built, but did not have time to see it (it was completed under Augustus; the building that has survived to this day is even later, from the time of Emperor Diocletian) .
While there was no permanent meeting place, senators gathered wherever they could (this practice has always existed and did not stop after the construction of the curia). On this occasion the place of the meeting was the portico of the newly erected Theater of Pompey; there the conspirators attacked Caesar. Today this point is located in a square called Largo di Torre Argentina. In the 1920s, the ruins of four very old temples from the Republican era were discovered there. Under Augustus, the site of Caesar's murder was walled up as if it were cursed, and a public latrine was built nearby, the remains of which can still be seen today.
Igor Aksyuta,
Livejournal.com
The monument to Julius Caesar is a bronze copy of the statue in the Capitol, recently installed in the Forum of Julius Caesar.
The Forum of Julius Caesar itself was the first of the imperial forums built with funds from military spoils in the war with the Gauls. On the morning before the decisive battle with Pompey at Pharsala, Caesar vowed to dedicate a new temple to his Divine Ancestress. Pompey was finally defeated, and Caesar built a new forum in the place between the old Forum and the Quirinal, in the center of which stood the temple of Venus, the ancestor.
Excavations recent years presented many surprises, discovering the magnificent remains of the Forum and the Temple of Venus the Progenitor. For this occasion, a monument was erected.
Monument to Victor Emmanuel II
The design of the monument in honor of the first king of united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II, in Piazza Venezia in Rome was developed by Giuseppe Sacconi in the empire spirit of ancient Roman architecture. The statue is also known as "Victorian". Construction of the monument was completed in 1911. The monument is decorated with various details characteristic of ancient Roman buildings (columns, statues, bas-reliefs). The monument glorifies the Monarchy, the Fatherland, the Risorgimento and Military Valor.
Under the 12-meter-tall bronze equestrian statue of the king is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the so-called “Altar of the Fatherland.” An unknown soldier gave his life in the fight for his homeland in the war of 1915-1918. Above the chapel in a niche there is a statue of Rome, and to the right of it is a bas-relief glorifying work and love for the fatherland.
Monument to Victor Emmanuel II near the Roman Forum
A huge white marble building is a monument to Vittorio Emanuele II where you can take a glass elevator to the top)))
By the way, the residents of Rome did not like the architecture and location!
Address: Italy, Rome, Roman Forum
Main attractions: Temple of Venus
Coordinates: 41°53"38.3"N 12°29"06.3"E
Short description
Thanks to the tireless work of archaeologists and historians, more and more historical and architectural monuments are being born in Rome, one after another. Surprisingly, from almost any high-rise building in Rome you can see the ruins of some complex dating back to the heyday of the Roman Empire.
Bird's eye view of Caesar's Forum
One of these attractions, discovered by scientists relatively recently, is the Forum of Caesar, which, by the way, is considered the first imperial forum erected on the territory of the modern capital of Italy.
The Forum of Caesar, despite its small size (170x75 meters), is quite popular among tourists. This is due, first of all, to the history of its construction. And the name of Gaius Julius Caesar is known to almost every civilized and more or less literate inhabitant of our vast planet. Only the ruins of the complex, which included numerous statues, a basilica and a temple, have survived to this day.
View of the Temple of Venus
Construction of Caesar's Forum
As we know from history, Gaius Julius Caesar was the greatest and fearless commander, a warrior who knew no fear, and fought with his legion on the sites of the bloodiest battles. In addition, Caesar had an innate talent as a strategist and politician, thanks to which he became the emperor of the Roman Empire, who was respected not only by aristocrats, but also by the people. In 54 BC, Caesar decided to build his own forum.
To do this, he entrusted Marcus Tulius Cicero, who was known among the people not only as a philosopher, orator and politician, capable of causing delight and worship among the public with his speeches, a huge sum for those times: 60 million sesterces for the purchase of land. Some sources contain information that the amount for purchasing a plot for the construction of Caesar's forum was much higher, amounting to approximately 100 million sesterces.
Gaius Julius Caesar was not a narcissistic and selfish ruler, like Nero, for example, and the new Forum of Caesar was supposed to be built as part of the legendary Roman Forum. Forum, which was considered the main square of ancient Rome.
In 48 BC, the famous battle between the troops of Julius Caesar and the army of his former friend Pompey took place. Then the enemy managed to lure Caesar into a trap, and a decisive battle could not be avoided. Pompey's troops were several times larger than Caesar's 30,000-strong army, and future emperor He put everything on the line, including his life. In the morning, shortly before the battle, Gaius Julius Caesar made a vow to his patroness Venus, from whom, according to legend, the Julian family descended, that if his army defeated the army of his former friend, who basely betrayed him in his time, he would immediately give the order to build on his forum of the Temple in honor great Venus. In fairness, it is worth noting that in 48 BC. construction of the forum had just begun.
Those who are at least a little familiar with the history of the Roman Empire and the “eternal city” know that the decisive battle began at Pharsala. It is not known what played a decisive role in those days - the help of Venus or the talent of Caesar, but Pompey with his superior army was completely defeated and was forced to flee to Egypt. In this country, where Cleopatra and Caesar were revered, Pompey was stabbed to death as soon as he set foot on the shore. The battle of Pharsala became a landmark, and in the Forum of Caesar it was immediately decided to erect a temple of Venus, which became, perhaps, the central building of the entire complex. In the temple of Venus itself, according to documents compiled by ancient chroniclers, there was a huge statue of Venus and Caesar himself on horseback. They were made of bronze and plated with gold. The emperor did not forget about his beloved Cleopatra: her huge portrait also adorned one of the walls of the Temple of Venus.
In addition to this majestic structure, which delighted the guests of Rome for several centuries, the Silver Basilica was built, serving as an exchange where money was exchanged. Amazing, isn't it? Both censors and exchanges appeared in ancient Rome. The archaeologists who showed the world Caesar's forum wrote in their reports that they found the remains of shops and even workshops that they managed to fit into such a small space. Alas, to this day, they, naturally, have not survived, since for the most part they were made not of stone, but of short-lived wood. Another interesting fact is that most of the buildings were erected from Caesar’s personal trophies, which he received during the war with the Gauls.
Caesar's Forum: history and our days
Shortly after the assassination of Caesar, his forum fell into disrepair and only came to life again in 113 AD thanks to reconstruction carried out on the orders of Trajan. The inauguration of the new emperor took place in the Temple of Venus, in honor of which a new column was erected there, called Trajan's Column. Surprisingly, thanks to the study of ancient documents, even the exact date of the second opening ceremony of Caesar's forum is known - May 12, 113.
Nowadays, numerous tourists can see that excavations on the territory of Caesar's Forum do not stop. Thanks to them, light is shed on the events that occurred during the heyday of the Roman Empire. Our contemporaries have not forgotten the name of, perhaps, the most greatest emperor Guy Julius Caesar. In his honor, not so long ago, a bronze copy of the emperor’s statue was installed on the territory of the ruins of the Forum of Caesar, the original of which can be seen in the Capitol.