Julius Caesar was not only one of the most famous figures in Roman history, but was arguably the one of the greatest military leaders of all time. From his invasion of Gaul to his triumphant victory at Pompey, Caesar was destined to be the next ruler of Rome. His achievements would lead Rome to success and make the Roman people proud to be under Caesar's rule. However, Caesar's success as a general did not translate well into his rise to power. Before Caesar is crowned the new ruler of Rome, he is killed by his council who he said admired and respected him and wanted to see him as king. While it is true that Caesar suffered from health issues like epilepsy and made questionable decisions based on his advice, Caesar did not deserve to be killed. The senators who plotted to kill Caesar and manipulated and deceived the people around him in hopes of restoring Rome as a prosperous city, set Rome on a path that would only seal its fate. Why Caesar's death was clearly an error of immoral counsel is demonstrated by the effects of his death on some of the characters in the play and on the city of Rome. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Because of the contributions that Caesar made to both the city and the people of Rome, it would hardly be surprising if he will be the next leader. For example, Caesar was idolized and admired by the people of Rome for many reasons; one reason being Caesar's handling of widespread debt in Rome caused by a civil war, which led to suffering for lenders and borrowers. According to Mary T. Boatwright, Caesar reinstated an earlier law that goods sold must be accepted for reimbursement at their prewar value. He also reinstated a previous law that prohibited a single person from holding more than 60,000 sesterces in cash. Caesar later canceled all interest payments since early 49 BC and allowed authorized tenants to pay no rent for a year. Although Caesar's actions did not fully settle Rome's debt, his creative thinking and quick decision-making helped alleviate the debt in a way that not only satisfied lenders and borrowers, but also showed the people of Rome the leadership skills Caesar possesses for the throne. . Another reason why the people of Rome wanted Caesar to become the next ruler of Rome was Caesar's nobility. As Plutarch speaks of Caesar in his battles, he says: “He, however, succeeded in making his retreat to a strong position, where, after gathering and mustering his men, his horse was brought to him; whereupon he said: "When I have won a battle, I will use my horse for hunting, but for the moment let us go against the enemy." » While Caesar could have simply stayed on his horse and let his men fight for him, he instead decides to stay and fight alongside them, showing how Caesar will stand alongside his men and help them in battle no matter what. whatever their rank. This would not be the only time Plutarch praises Caesar since later in his volume, Plutarch describes Caesar's actions and his inner conflict by saying: "Caesar was born to do great things, he had a passion for honor, and the many noble exploits which he had accomplished, did not now serve as an inducement to him to sit still and reap the fruit of his past labors, but were inducements and encouragements to continue, and aroused in him ideas even more actionsgreat and a desire for a new glory, as if the present were entirely past. It was in fact a kind of emotional struggle with himself, as it had been with another, to see how he could surpass his past actions with his future. Caesar's inner conflict over his future goals reflects his nobility, for as Caesar continues to pursue more difficult goals, he credits his noble mindset as the main reason for his past achievements. He even convinces himself that this mindset will continue to carry him to achieve goals that make his past accomplishments seem like minor tasks. While Julius Caesar's leadership, combined with his noble mentality, should have made him an obvious candidate to become the next ruler of Rome, the council was, however, unconvinced of Caesar's leadership due to his questionable actions and his health problems. The council considered Caesar's rise to power. as a threat to the city of Rome, due to a series of questionable actions by Caesar and his followers regarding health problems. For example, as Caesar began to draft more constitutional reforms, the council interpreted this as a deceptive means for Caesar to overthrow the Roman Republic and form a monarchy. According to Frank Frost, Caesar limited the terms of governors and then increased the number of senators in the Senate. Before this law was implemented, Caesar had the power to control the process of nominating a member of the Senate and he was now able to increase the number of senators, allowing him to choose more members of the Senate who were loyal to him. It is reasonable for the Council to assume that Caesar's new reform was a means of maintaining power, since he now not only had the ability to eliminate all members of the Senate who did not agree with him , but he could now increase the number of members of the Senate. who were more faithful to him. Another way in which the lawyer witnessed a questionable change in Caesar's actions is shown in Shakespeare's play when Caesar is asked to pardon Cimber for his crime and he responds with "Your brother by decree is banished... Caesar does not do evil, nor without reason... But I am as steadfast as the North Star.” Caesar's response of asking for forgiveness makes it clear that he does not feel he should forgive anyone since he states that he is never wrong, and the fact that he is being questioned makes him feel quite insulted. Caesar even refers to himself in the third person, showing a very particular trait that the council had not shown before. Obviously, after seeing this, the council would feel that someone so arrogant and strange is not fit to become the next ruler of Rome. The lawyer not only had to deal with Caesar's actions, but also take his health into account when deciding whether or not he deserved to rule. For example, when Suetonius writes about Julius Caesar's complexion, he describes Caesar as having “sharp black eyes; He was in good health, except that towards the end he was subject to sudden fainting spells and nightmares as well. As Caesar suffered from health problems, it makes sense that the lawyer would think that a man like this would not have the mind to lead a civilization and therefore could not be the next ruler of Rome. While Caesar's actions and health could have been reasonable evidence that the council should assassinate Caesar, in reality this "evidence" would backfire on the council because not only was their reasons for saving Rome a devious lie, but death of Caesar would torment Caesar's mind. some council members and those unaffected by his death sufferedthe consequences that the city of Rome endured during its transition from a republic to a monarchy. Julius Caesar's assassination ultimately proved to be unjustified, and this is primarily demonstrated by the effects Julius Caesar's death would have on certain members of the council. In order to analyze the effects of Caesar's death on the council, it is important to know the effects of social class in Rome. According to Michael Parenti, the upper class of Rome hated and feared the common people of Rome (all of whom loved Caesar) and anyone who wanted to limit the privileges they had. The oligarchs were no exception as they cherished the luxury and wealth that came with being a member of such a class and despised the dedicated rulers who took up their cause as confiscating their luxuries and giving them to the lower class. The greed of the Council of Rome made it difficult to believe that these people wanted to kill Caesar for the good of the city and the people. It makes more sense that the council wanted to kill Caesar simply so they wouldn't have to share their wealth with the lower class. Caesar's death would particularly torment the minds of the council members who were once nobles. In Shakespeare's play we meet Brutus who, like Caesar, was loved by the Roman people. Brutus ultimately becomes, according to Aristotle, a tragic hero, someone noble but who commits an error of judgment that leads to his demise. For Brutus, his error in judgment was joining the conspiracy to kill Caesar without realizing that he was being manipulated by the council into killing Caesar because of his power, not for the benefit of the city or of the Roman Republic. This is shown in the play when Brutus is plagued by nightmares about Caesar and his wife says to him: "You suddenly got up and walked around, thinking and sighing, with your arms crossed." From this quote, it is clear that Brutus is going crazy thinking about Caesar's death and he cannot convince himself that what he did was honorable. According to Aristotle, Brutus' courage and moral codes are what lead him to his error of judgment and ultimately his death and death, supposedly, purges the public of their emotions because Brutus never realizes that the council does not never cared about Rome and justifying Caesar's death like he did. Caesar's death would change the council for the worse, as their goal of killing Caesar would corrupt the minds of some council members, and their desire to retain their wealth would backfire as the city of Rome would suffer from the council's actions. Julius Caesar, in cold blood, thought his death would be the end of a new monarchy. However, the councils' plan inevitably failed as not only would they suffer Caesar's death, but the Roman Republic they were trying to hold together would collapse, with the city of Rome soon becoming the Roman Empire after a series of civil wars that followed after Caesar's victory. death, and the people of Rome would endure the transition of government. The civil wars that Rome would be a part of have a small glimpse of this in Shakespeare's play, when Mark Antony tells the people of Rome that Caesar's death was caused by the council and in their rampage they kill a man named Cinna who has the same name as one of the members of the council. The rampage created by Antony symbolizes the future of Rome under the Roman Republic without Julius Caesar, as the lack of discipline, control and respect shown by the people of Rome towards the council of the Roman Republic and the city clearly shows that The current government of Rome is not fit to rule without Julius Caesar. According to William C. Morey, the board had little or no idea how to effectively lead.