Supposed quote from Julius Caesar, true or false?

[Anonymous]

The quote under has been circulating the internet for a while now, is there an substance to it or is it just another internet hoax?<br>
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"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind…And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded with patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader, and gladly so.How do I know? For this is what I have done.And I am Caesar."<br>
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regards<br>
<br>
Simon<br>
<p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Here's a site that says it is a hoax:<br>
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www.talkleft.com/archives/001038.html<br>
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and another:<br>
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www.snopes.com/quotes/caesar.htm<br>
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and this is what it says:<br>
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"Yet as popular as the quote is, it's not real. These words are not anything Julius Caesar ever wrote or said. No biographies of Caesar or histories of Rome contain these lines, and scholars who have made it their business to know everything about the man draw a blank on this quote. Likewise, Shakespeare did not stuff this soliloquy into the mouth of the title character in his play Julius Caesar, nor did any of the Bard's other characters utter it. No record of this quote has been found prior to its appearance on the Internet in late 2001."<br>
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I'll have a look myself (I certainly couldn't see it in a cursory glance at Plutarch) <p>Veni Vidi Bibi</p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

I know I've heard that quote before "the internet in 2001" though I have not run across it in any of my meger sources either.<br>
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Regardless, it IS a good quote.<br>
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Occulus, your play on Caesar's quote..."I came, I saw, I drank?" I'm taking Latin class and our teacher actually taught us that one... (actually he corrupted Descartes with BIBOERGOSVM, or <i> bibo, ergo sum.</i> <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war"<br>
There were no "drums of war" in Roman times...<br>
Trumpets of war, war horns, maybe, but drums of war... No archaeological record.<br>
The American indians had drums of war.<br>
The Parthians had drums of war.<br>
The Indians had drums of war..<br>
So did the Turks.<br>
But not the Romans.<br>
The propagandastaffeln person who wrote this should check history before trying to make us believe Caesar wrote such blatant nonsense directly tied to the very contemporary debate about US intervention in Iraq.. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showLocalUserPublicProfile?login=antoninuslucretius>Antoninus Lucretius</A> at: 10/2/02 12:18:48 pm<br></i>

[rusty myers]

This was actually debunked pretty thouroughly on talk radio recently, as apparently Barbara Streisand used it in her recent "I hate the Republicans and Bush is Satan" tirade during what purported to be a concert.<br>
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No one can find any evidence for this quote in history... yet...<br>
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I guess it should be attributed to Barb? With the last line being "I am Barbara" and all Roman references being changed to "Liberals"<br>
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Rusty<br>
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I'd say stick to movies hollywood, it is what you are best at... even though you aren't that good anymore either. <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

the 'drum thing' spears it pretty cleanly through the thorax (good cast there, Piercingathorax!) but aside from that Caesar wouldn't have said it anyway. He never did any kind of war demagoguery in his career, but that was only because he never had to. If he'd seen a sesterce profit in it, he'd have been off like a shot. War was HONOURABLE back then, remember? There isn't a peacenik in all of recorded Roman history. MAYBE somebody would have taken on Alcibiades or one of the other Athenian krazos in those terms, but only if he was looking for a good cup of hemlock after the debate.<br>
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Eric <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

I think what Caesar said was, "Ow!" <p><BR><p align=center><font size=2><font color=gold>
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