07-22-2008, 05:47 PM
I wonder if Cato and the other Senators would have been less concerned about the "war crimes" of Caesar if Caesar had taken the side of the Patricians more often then that of the People?
That Caesar wanted to buy back the Public Lands misappropriated by members of the Senate and redistribute it among the people did not endear him with his fellow aristocrats.
That Cato disliked Caesar both personally and politically no doubt has some bearing on this.
It is always dangerous to apply current standards to past, or in this case, ancient behavior, and Jona has been rigorous in avoiding doing just that.
That being said suppose Caesar had been tried and exiled or otherwise punished in such a way that his political and military days were finished before he crossed the Rubicon. Would the Republic have continued?
I doubt that it would have. Someone, Pompey or Crassus or someone else would have taken power and the Republic would have fallen. Caesar's conduct while Dictator indicates, to me at least, that he did have the best interests of the people in mind.
The unbridled greed of the Senators and their fellow Patricians were as much the cause of the Republic's fall as was Caesar.
:?
Narukami
That Caesar wanted to buy back the Public Lands misappropriated by members of the Senate and redistribute it among the people did not endear him with his fellow aristocrats.
That Cato disliked Caesar both personally and politically no doubt has some bearing on this.
It is always dangerous to apply current standards to past, or in this case, ancient behavior, and Jona has been rigorous in avoiding doing just that.
That being said suppose Caesar had been tried and exiled or otherwise punished in such a way that his political and military days were finished before he crossed the Rubicon. Would the Republic have continued?
I doubt that it would have. Someone, Pompey or Crassus or someone else would have taken power and the Republic would have fallen. Caesar's conduct while Dictator indicates, to me at least, that he did have the best interests of the people in mind.
The unbridled greed of the Senators and their fellow Patricians were as much the cause of the Republic's fall as was Caesar.
:?
Narukami
David Reinke
Burbank CA
Burbank CA
