Primus Pilus

Only the articles not written by me are by-lined. My "credit" is in the about section of the site.

Does anyone else think that this new version of christ, or the anti-christ, or whomever he may be is actually the evil side of George Lopez? But who's the fat guy with the fro? mysterious! And oh no, but Samuel L Jackson seems to be a member... I hope he doesn't go medieval on our asses.

The Denarius at the time of Caesar was roughly 4 grams of silver and by the time of Caracalla it had been reduced to about 50% purity. Because of this debasement, Caracalla introduced the Antoninianus. This new coin was worth roughly 2 denarii at the time it was introduced but only had a total silver content of about 1.5 times that of the Denarius. Perhaps more importantly, this new coin worth 2 denarii in theory, had only the same actual buying power of a denarius of a century or more earlier. (ie, if a amphorae of wine cost a denarius during the reign of Trajan, it would've cost 2 under Caracalla.)

Could've been simple circumstances.... flailing his arms, stumbling around, an involuntary act of self defense, etc. Though I am quite willing to believe it was an honest voluntary action to cover himself. Perhaps the reasons implied by the sources have a certain dramatic flair, but I believe that such an action is still plausible. (Though I readily admit a lack of forensic evidence to support this theory).

Yes, exactly what I was attempting and failed to elude to. My only remaining question is whether or not this was an invention of Suetonius, or if there truly was a surgeon by name of Antistius (who seems likely under our scenario to have been a Caesarean as well.) It is perhaps telling that of the 5 accounts, only Suetonius bothers with this; and he might be considered the least "Republican" of the 5 authors (admittedly and entirely subjective.)

I don't doubt that if Caesar did say such a thing, that it should be meant as a simple term of endearment or friendship, rather than indications of family biology. I just doubt that someone in those particular circumstances would've had the time or wherewithal to pause and reflect so dramatically. Truly, just reading the accounts (especially that of Nicholaus... thanks for posting that one Cato... which is particularly brutal), it seems absurd that such an utterance would have been made. As an aside, I am particularly fond of the following Suetonius account: "And of so many wounds none turned out to be mortal, in the opinion of the physician Antistius, except the second one in the breast." This is particularly impressive because it is clearly one of the earliest recorded autopsy's in history. What is more significant is perhaps the political implications of the announcement... that despite the assassins attempts to make Caesar's death a deed performed with anonymous unity, this surgeon suggests that only one conspirator was ultimately responsible for striking the blow that mattered. I suppose it is interesting that none of the ancient sources indicate who it might have been that struck that particular blow. The idea may be ridiculous, because even without that particular wound, it seems likely that Caesar would have bled to death anyway once we consider the nature of ancient surgery and the length of time before Caesar was attended. This obviously does not change the involvement of each particular conspirator, nor their motivations, etc. However, I do wonder if Antistius had any particular political motivation (and if as a result it had any effect on the feelings of the people) or if he were truly attempting an honest medical appraisal. Sorry for that tangent.

I've pinned this thread since this seems to be a recurring issue.

Or we could try him as a witch. If he floats... he must be a very small pebble.

I agree. Is it just me, or does Cassius look better in HBO Rome than he did in Shakespeare? His limited role at least seems to be one of steadfast convictions.

In theory I should vote the "little bit of everything" category, but for the purposes of your poll I felt a more distinctive choice was in order. As a result, I chose politics/personalities.

It's a cookie/cache issue (same thing was driving me batty on my own recent avatar change). Try to clear your internet cache files as a first step. The attached image is what I see

Off to Guyana you go to repent!

I couldn't resist the C&H reference

Yeah, send them to me and I'll send 'em to him. I'm his local collection agent. Whatever you say oh great representative of he who was once the reincarnation of the Apostle Paul, before being "integrated" with the second coming of christ and has now transmogrified into the anti-christ. Please don't send me any kool-aid though. I get too hopped up on the sugar.

I feel his magnetic force pulling me in... must... send... tithes.

Click on someone else's blog... in this example let's use Moonlapse's. Keep your eyes on the right side menu and look for "My Blog Links". (It may be in a different spot on some blogs because the appearance is somewhat adjustable, but that's where it is on Moon's blog). If you click "Track this blog" I believe you will be notified whenever there is a new post. I'm not sure if it works with comments, or only the main entry though. You can untrack a blog within your own control panel. I'm not having any luck with tracking comments in the gallery though I'm afraid.

It's probably a fairly good bet that you will know it when you read them. All kidding aside... I'll have to investigate the gallery (maybe some others already know of a way) but tracking comments in your blog can be set through the "My Controls" link. After clicking, there is a menu on the left hand side. Click "Your Blog Settings" and a checkable "New comment notification" box is the last menu item available.

I think Skarr is rather accurately presenting the way the character is being developed in the show, regardless of our personal feelings on the matter. This Brutus is clearly torn over his own role in the assassination and perhaps whether or not he is right or wrong. I think the writers simply want to humanize both him and the events at end, but in the process, they may be doing a disservice to the historical Brutus. Either way, it will be interesting to see how his character develops with war looming.

Tacitus is fine, I meant to edit your description of his writing that I found to be inappropriate, but I hit the wrong button. It's been a long day.

If you looked carefully at next week's preview after the show, it doesn't look like Atia actually died from the poisoning. I suppose we are making a presumption based on the historical chronology that she should be dead soon. You are right though... we obviously don't know yet how she will die in the show.

And as for the original question (sorry for missing the point GO), I don't believe the ages make it plausible for Caesar to have been Brutus' father. Caesar born in 100 or 102 BC would have made him either 15 or 17 when Brutus was born in 85 BC. (Somewhere around here we discussed the 100 or 102 BC birth for Caesar as well.) Servilia was roughly the same age but was already married to the elder Marcius Junius Brutus at the time. Plutarch makes mention of Servilia and Caesar in the 60's BC, roughly about the time that Caesar was coming to political prominence and developing adversarial relationships with members of Servilia's family.

I'm in complete agreement.. the "Et Tu Brute" has always seemed a Suetonian embellishment that was popularized centuries later by Shakespeare. Sorry for the length of this post but I figured the source material was appropriate here. Plutarch, the first of the four to be published, makes no mention of it. Suetonius says simply: though some have written that when Marcus Brutus rushed at him, he said in Greek, "You too, my child?" implying that the statement is unconfirmed and less viable than the rest of the story. Appian makes no mention of it and Cassius Dio, who wrote several generations after the previous three, admits to the same unverifiable claim as Suetonius. Enjoy for yourself... From Plutarch Life of Caesar From Suetonius "Life of Caesar" From Appian: Civil War Book 2 From Cassius Dio book 44

Agreed, less flatulence might be a start! Is that an accusation or something?!?!?!? LOL, no, it was just a general observation that less flatulence might be beneficial.

Yes, he is quite lively as usual.

Agreed, less flatulence might be a start!