Journal Entries for Julius Caesar


Caesar Journal #1 - Quote #1



Julius Caesar was great at everything he did. Whether it was the military, politics, or even interaction with others he was always the best in ancient Rome. This is why he achieved such greatness. Caesar was respected by all even those who feared his power and wanted him dead. The commoners loved him because he made their lives better. Caesar gained all of his power and prestige by climbing through the ranks of the military and the government. He worked hard to get where he finally ended up. Caesar’s life ended when he was nearing closer and closer to the coveted title of being named a Monarch. As the quote states, Caesar truly wanted to be able to pass his crown down to his heirs. However, Calpurnia had not borne Caesar any children to pass the proverbial thrown down to after his death. Thus Caesar brought in his distant nephew Octavius Caesar to try and become the heir to his thrown that he would hope to acquire in the years to come. Caesar would never be satisfied with the job he had done as the ruler of Rome unless he was able to be called a Monarch. Without that title his reign was unsuccessful. We may never know if he would have been able to have that title, because on March 15, 44 B.C. the conspirators chose to take his life for fear that he may one day gain the title, ‘King of Rome.’


Caesar Journal #2 - Quote #7


It is hard for a person to question everyone and fear all people around him. But that is often what a major political figure, especially a military leader, and a dictator must do in order to remain protected from assassins. Trust nobody. Caesar did not follow this insulated type of lifestyle. He trusted too many people, he could not imagine that his friends and colleagues would ever turn against him. In the quote it states that Caesar seemed to “die as much from a broken heart as from the daggers.” This is exactly what happened in my interpretation of the play. When Caesar was being stabbed he was fighting it until he saw that Brutus too had stabbed him. After this he stopped fighting it and laid to rest peacefully. Caesar trusted Brutus, and he was friends with Brutus. It was one of his best friends literally ‘back-stabbing’ him. That is what created his surprised reaction when he said, “Et tu, Brute?” He could not believe his eyes. His overconfidence had come back to haunt him. He may have lived to create a Monarchy if it were not for this ‘tragic flaw.’ This teaches all prominent political leaders that nobody is really who they seem to be, and that nobody is trust-worthy when it comes to power hungry politicians.


Caesar Journal #3 - Quote #3


In a play is is extremely important to have the part match the actor or actress involved. It was said in the Traditions of Literature book that William Shakespeare most likely wrote the characters in the play for certain actors that worked for him. Having an actor playing a role that matches their strengths or weaknesses creates a better play. Rather than just put the best actor playing the starring role for Shakespeare's’ play, he writes the starring role to fit that actor’s ability. In a play there is not just one person, thus the actors have to be able to fit together in their separate parts to create a well unified production. A play consists of teamwork, similar to certain jobs or sports teams. For example, in a baseball game you do not just put your best player at the hardest position, but rather you put that player at the position that he is best at. You use your players like a puzzle and fit them together using their strengths, and hiding their weaknesses, this is why Shakespeare was and continues to be so successful. So by writing parts for specific actors, William Shakespeare was “tailoring roles to their particular strengths and weaknesses.” The amazing thing is that these magnificent plays are still enjoyed today hundreds of years later, with totally different actors and actresses.




Caesar Journal #4 - Quote #4


As the book states there is much conflict concerning who is the “Tragic Hero” of the play, Caesar or Brutus. “A tragic hero is a man of high rank or station in life who possesses a tragic flaw that leads to his downfall.” I believe that Caesar is definitely the obvious choice. He fits this definition like a glove. First, Julius Caesar was definitely a man of high rank in life, and of whom this historic play is named after. He possessed an enormous amount of power during his life, and that was why he was killed. But he could have prevented his premature death if it was not for his tragic flaw. This flaw was that Julius Caesar had too much arrogant ambition, and he was naive to the fact that anyone would want him dead. By this he entrusted too many people. That is why he was so surprised when it was Brutus who last stabbed him during the Ides of March. Also, after Caesar’s death his influence still remains as a prominent factor throughout the play. It is his power and influence that makes him the tragic hero, more so that Brutus. Brutus did not have the type of influence that Caesar had, and this is why the play is not named after Brutus. I believe that Caesar truly was meant to be the tragic hero when Shakespeare was writing it.





Caesar Journal #5 - Quote #11

It seems as though Julius Caesar was the ancient form of Michael Jordan. He was and is known throughout the world, even to people without common knowledge of history. His name alone signifies power. This play that Shakespeare wrote only further increased the fame of Caesar. He is famous for his influence and the power that he had on ancient Rome, just as Alexander the Great had on ancient Greece. Caesar was not the most powerful leader that ever existed, but he is quite close. He brought Rome to a new summit; a summit that made them one of the largest and most powerful empires ever. He was proclaimed everything but ‘King of Rome;’ the title that he strived so many years to get. It was this that was the cause of his death. The fear that he would be able to completely abolish the Republic, and recreate an absolute ruler in Rome again. The reason he was able to get this high stature in the government was due to his followers. He was widely liked throughout the empire by the poor and rich alike. He gained this popularity by making the lives of his supporters better. He did this by creating reforms that gave them more rights in addition to many other things. This is why Julius Caesar name is associated with supreme greatness, and why he may have been the greatest leader ever. He was able to bring Rome to a level of unimaginable greatness that world had never, and may never see again.


Caesar Journal #6 - Quote #14

I think it is a historic stereotype that the poor or common people do not possess the wisdom to have a say in governmental affairs. This held true with ancient Rome as well, because the non-educated were thought to be stupid. Primarily, the wealthy owned the government, and consequently the poor had little say in the politics of Rome. However, they did not have enough money to pay for education, and thus the wealthy felt they were ignorant. This created great problem mainly because the common citizens made up over seventy percent of the population, and deserved more, if not at least equal, say in the government. Julius Caesar was popular with the lower classes because he created many reforms for them, even though he came from a wealthy background. He knew that if he could win over the majority of the population he would be able to gain an amazing amount of power. And this is exactly what he went on to do. It is a common misconception that the richer you are the brighter you are. This mistake continued into the United States, and still continues today. We still have an electoral college that checks up on the normal people, and what they think. In ancient Rome the wealthy ruled over the poor for the sole reason that they had the common misconception that the common citizen has a lack of political wisdom.



Caesar Journal #7 - Quote #16


When a person gains something they always are happy for what they have gained, but it is not good enough. It seems to me that it is human nature to always want more. In this story Julius Caesar wanted to rule the pirates, and if they question his authority he would make fun or them and threaten to kill those who defied him. This is a prime example of Caesar’s greed. The greed that wanted to become the ‘King of Rome,’ and the greed that wanted to rule the world. He always wanted more then what he had. So if he conquered a country, then the next day he would try to conquer another. Perhaps all people are like this and this may not be a bad thing. It is a good thing to always want to be better than what you are. So Julius Caesar was just following along with human nature when he came across these pirates, and automatically thought he was their leader and they should follow his laws. He could not imagine someone questioning his power, or trying to kill him. It was because of his greed that he took all of these things for granted. So it seems that greed is okay to a certain extent, but then in some chaotic manner it becomes too much. Among other things, that is one of the causes that led to the demise of Julius Caesar.





Caesar Journal #8 - Quote #17

To be a major political figure there is one need in which you must have, and that is popularity. Without popularity you will not be able to succeed as a politician, much less get elected into office. This is one of the many amazing qualities that Julius Caesar possessed. He was liked by all. His whole demeanor, and the way he handled himself in public made people like him. The citizens liked the way he was able to make it seem as though he was just an ordinary citizen, and almost like an equal to them. “He had an ability to make himself liked which was remarkable in one his age, and he was very much in the good grace of the ordinary citizen because of his easy manners and the friendly way in which he mixed with people.” This is truly the main reason why Caesar was able to gain an incredible amount of power. Unlike his predecessors he was liked by the poor and the rich. This created an enormous amount of followers that believed in his ideas and his goals for Rome. Without these qualities possessed by Caesar, he would not have been the major historic figure that we know today.

Caesar Journal #9 - Quote #19


Persuasion is skill that is needed to become a political figure. Without it you will not get anywhere in politics. Caesar learned this skill early in his life, and that is what got him high up in the Roman Government a such a young age. Julius Caesar knew that he had to say what the majority of the people would want him to say. However, it is impossible to impress everybody, and as a public figure you are never going to do something that everyone agrees with. So this is why you can never totally win in politics. For example, if Clinton decided to send in ground troops to Kosovo there would be a portion of the population who would agree with the move, and a portion who would hate the move. That is what is hard about politics; you always know there is someone out there hating what you are doing. Julius Caesar experienced this when Cicero’s bodyguards surrounded him with swords. They were followers of Cicero, and they disagreed with what Caesar was doing or what he was saying. It seems as though politics is a no win, no lose situation, because you are most always going to have people on your side, but then you most always will have people against you.






Caesar Journal #10 - Quote #20


When Julius Caesar came across a small village with a small number of inhabitants, and realized that people there were struggling to become the respected leader of this town, he saw his rich friends joking about how ridiculous it was. To this he stated, “As far as I am concerned, I would rather be the first man here than the second man in Rome.” This short quote explains why Caesar was so successful in his military and political reign over Rome. He had the hunger to get where he was, and he would not settle for second best. This is why he wanted to be the king of Rome, this is why he always wanted to conquer more land, and this is why he was one of the greatest leaders of all time. You can not get somewhere without hard work. For example, why was Michael Jordan the best basketball player of all time? Because he practiced the most, play the hardest, and most of all he wanted it more than any other player. Caesar wanted to be the leader of Rome more than any other person. It is human nature to want to be the best at anything we do, but to reach those goals you have to climb the ladder to the top. Nobody is just placed on top. Julius Caesar would not settle for second, and when he reached first he still wanted more. It was his hunger to be the best that propelled his name to stardom even today.

Caesar Journal #11 - Quote #24


One of Julius Caesar’s great talents was his leadership abilities. He was a natural born leader. When his army was losing in northern Gaul and were nearing complete demolition he decided he had to do something. He would not accept the thought of losing, and thus he picked up a shield and thrust himself into the front line of battle. When the rest of his men saw how courageous their leader was, they got fired up and fought off their enemies. This reminds me of the story we read for the mid-term CAPT exercise this year about the drummer boy. When the troops were down, and the captain himself told the drummer boy that he was the most important soldier of all. Although the boy had no weapon, he was their leader, and if he played soft and heartless the army would fight soft and heartless. But if the drummer boy played steady and hard, the whole army will respond with a victory. The drummer boy then lead his army to victory. These two examples of leaders proves how one person can make a difference. It seems as though Julius Caesar knew what he had to do, and whatever it was he would do it. He would not accept the loss, so he led his army to victory. That is what a leader is all about, someone who will sacrifice anything for the people that they are leading, and both Caesar and the drummer boy did this to perfection.

Caesar Journal #12 - Quote #27


Caesar may or may not be the tragic hero of the play, but it was indeed the tragic flaw that killed him. According to the quote Caesar knew about the flaw. After his friends had asked him to get a bodyguard for protection he responded by saying, “It was better to die once than always to be in fear of death.” He did not seem to be scared of death, or if he was it was not going to control his lifestyle. If he had feared that someone would want to kill him, he would have lived in fear rather than concentrating on leading Rome, and therefore he would not have been as great of a leader. He would have never given offices in the government to Brutus and Cassius, for they were defeated enemies, if he valued his life more than his greatness. He knew that by giving good leaders roles in his government, it would make him better, because if he had a superior supporting cast his reputation and success would be even greater. Consequently he gave them positions in the government, and this resulted in his death. He obviously realized that he could never achieve supreme greatness if he measured his life more than his goal. So this truly shows how hungry he really was to be the best. He ultimately put his life second to his greatness. This also shows that he would rather live a good and open public life rather than a sheltered public life consisting of constantly watching his back. I have read many of Julius Caesar’s quotes, and this more than any other proves truly how great of a man he was.





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