Julius Caesar, Hero or Tyrant?
For a good period of time, historians have been arguing over the question “Was Julius Caesar a hero or a tyrant?” In order to determine this, I think we should first ask ourselves the questions: What is a hero? What is a tyrant? A hero is one who tries to better the lives of his/her people. A tyrant does what he/she does for themselves. Julius Caesar did a mixture of those two, bettering his people while still doing things for himself. Although Caesar is guilty for committing some tyrannical crimes, he ultimately made the lives of the Roman people better.
Many would argue that Caesar marching his army into Rome is tyrannical, but he did it to take control of Rome to make the city a better place to live. After Julius Caesar took complete control of Rome, he did many things to make it safer and better. The article ‘Problems with the Roman Republic and Caesar’ states, “After Cesar took over Rome, he reorganized the army and improved the way the provinces were governed.” Those are just two of the many ways that he improved the Roman Empire. Also, according to the article ‘Caesar History from Roman Empire.net’ Caesar “…was a builder, a visionary statesman, the likes of which the world rarely gets to see. He established order, begun measures to reduce congestion in Rome … gave full voting rights to the inhabitants of the Alps … resettled many Romans in new homes…” The list could go on for a long while. He made the congested city of Rome less crowded, and gave some of the Roman citizens new homes. Caesar cleaned up the crime filled streets of Rome up, too. He did much for the Roman people, and improved their lives.
Although Caesar conquered many countries, back then, everybody conquered. Julius Caesar first became very powerful after conquering Gaul, and getting appointed governor of it. Many people think the conquering of other nations was tyrannical and evil. It may be considered that way today, but it was not back then. Conquering brought honor to many leaders. “When Caesar had finished his series of brilliant campaigns, he had changed the nature of the Roman empire from a purely Mediterranean realm into western European empire. He had also driven the empire’s frontier up to the Rhine, a natural, easily defendable borer, which should come to be the imperial border for centuries.” This quote is from Caesar History from Roman Empire.net, and talks about how Caesar conquered Gaul, expanding the borders of Rome. After conquering Gaul, the citizens of Rome loved him, and the Senate was most likely pleased. Conquering Gaul gave Caesar lots of honor, and made him a hero in Rome.
Caesar destroyed the corrupt Republic system and started a much better system of government. This next reference is taken from the article ‘Caesar History from Roman Empire.net’. “Julius Caesar had changed the nature of the Roman Empire, he had swept away the old, corrupt system of the late Roman republic and had set an example to future Roman emperors as well as other future European leaders to live up to.” The old republic consisted of almost all rich citizens, and the Senators were very focused on just making more money for themselves instead of doing things for the people. As emperor, Julius Caesar hoped to set an example to future emperors by doing all of the good deeds he did so that Rome may stay at its elite status, although some of the future emperors wouldn’t follow his example.
Many would think that dictatorship is one of the worst kinds of government, but Caesar used it to make Rome a better place. “Caesar was granted a 10-year dictatorship for purposes of restoring the republic.” This is from the article ‘Why Caesar Was Assassinated’. It shows that Caesar didn’t only want to make Rome a better place, but it also showed that the Roman citizens and officials trusted him enough to bring it back to its old, great state. And Caesar fulfilled that duty of bringing Rome back to its old state. He made room for the citizens, and cleaned up the crime filled streets of Rome.
For a good period of time, historians have been arguing over the question “Was Julius Caesar a hero or a tyrant?” In order to determine this, I think we should first ask ourselves the questions: What is a hero? What is a tyrant? A hero is one who tries to better the lives of his/her people. A tyrant does what he/she does for themselves. Julius Caesar did a mixture of those two, bettering his people while still doing things for himself. Although Caesar is guilty for committing some tyrannical crimes, he ultimately made the lives of the Roman people better.
Many would argue that Caesar marching his army into Rome is tyrannical, but he did it to take control of Rome to make the city a better place to live. After Julius Caesar took complete control of Rome, he did many things to make it safer and better. The article ‘Problems with the Roman Republic and Caesar’ states, “After Cesar took over Rome, he reorganized the army and improved the way the provinces were governed.” Those are just two of the many ways that he improved the Roman Empire. Also, according to the article ‘Caesar History from Roman Empire.net’ Caesar “…was a builder, a visionary statesman, the likes of which the world rarely gets to see. He established order, begun measures to reduce congestion in Rome … gave full voting rights to the inhabitants of the Alps … resettled many Romans in new homes…” The list could go on for a long while. He made the congested city of Rome less crowded, and gave some of the Roman citizens new homes. Caesar cleaned up the crime filled streets of Rome up, too. He did much for the Roman people, and improved their lives.
Although Caesar conquered many countries, back then, everybody conquered. Julius Caesar first became very powerful after conquering Gaul, and getting appointed governor of it. Many people think the conquering of other nations was tyrannical and evil. It may be considered that way today, but it was not back then. Conquering brought honor to many leaders. “When Caesar had finished his series of brilliant campaigns, he had changed the nature of the Roman empire from a purely Mediterranean realm into western European empire. He had also driven the empire’s frontier up to the Rhine, a natural, easily defendable borer, which should come to be the imperial border for centuries.” This quote is from Caesar History from Roman Empire.net, and talks about how Caesar conquered Gaul, expanding the borders of Rome. After conquering Gaul, the citizens of Rome loved him, and the Senate was most likely pleased. Conquering Gaul gave Caesar lots of honor, and made him a hero in Rome.
Caesar destroyed the corrupt Republic system and started a much better system of government. This next reference is taken from the article ‘Caesar History from Roman Empire.net’. “Julius Caesar had changed the nature of the Roman Empire, he had swept away the old, corrupt system of the late Roman republic and had set an example to future Roman emperors as well as other future European leaders to live up to.” The old republic consisted of almost all rich citizens, and the Senators were very focused on just making more money for themselves instead of doing things for the people. As emperor, Julius Caesar hoped to set an example to future emperors by doing all of the good deeds he did so that Rome may stay at its elite status, although some of the future emperors wouldn’t follow his example.
Many would think that dictatorship is one of the worst kinds of government, but Caesar used it to make Rome a better place. “Caesar was granted a 10-year dictatorship for purposes of restoring the republic.” This is from the article ‘Why Caesar Was Assassinated’. It shows that Caesar didn’t only want to make Rome a better place, but it also showed that the Roman citizens and officials trusted him enough to bring it back to its old, great state. And Caesar fulfilled that duty of bringing Rome back to its old state. He made room for the citizens, and cleaned up the crime filled streets of Rome.