123: The Fault In Ourselves

Julius Caesar was getting a little too popular, but Cassius had a solution.

Kill him.

If you’re not familiar with what happened after Caesar’s assassination you should know that the plot to kill him backfired in an enormous way.

Leading up to the assassination a lot of Roman higher ups were worried that Caesar was getting too powerful. They were thought that if they let him go on he would become a king or an emperor and destroy the low key Republic which formed the basis of Rome’s government.

Problem is that after they killed Caesar a civil war broke out with some of the people who actually kind of liked Caesar, and the guys who assassinated him lost. After a lot of feuding back and forth Caesar’s nephew, Octavian, was like “hey guys, I’m in charge now” and made himself emperor.

The Republic was destroyed forever, and one of the most powerful and ruthless empires in the history of the world was born.

Good work guys.

If you think people never learn from history consider the fact that the folks who killed Epstein at least had the good sense to try hiding it.

It’s a pretty fantastic story with awesome consequences. Too bad a really great writer hasn’t sunk their teeth into it.

Oh, yeah.

There was this one guy named William Shakespeare who took it on. Maybe you’ve heard of him? Shakespeare calls the little thing he wrote Julius Caesar, but Caesar himself actually plays a somewhat small role. Instead the writer focuses on the people who conspired to kill him. 

Needless to say, the situation depicted here is somewhat politically charged. But Shakespeare has next to no comment on the politics of it. All he is really interested in are the human elements of this story. The leading characters are relatebly human. Cassius is the somewhat unsteady firebrand who hatches the plot, and Brutus is the grudging accomplice who really doesn’t want to kill Caesar, but is convinced that it’s for the best. Once Caesar is dead we get to see Brutus and Cassius struggle with the aftermath of his death, as their plans spiral wildly out of control. 

Was it a good idea to kill Caesar? Was it a bad idea? If The New York Times was writing this piece it most certainly would not show the impartiality that Shakespeare shows. He is not a political commentator, he is an entertainer interested in plumbing the depths of the human condition. Which he does in a fascinating and quite entertaining manner, complete with plenty of blood and guts.

I If you’ve avoided Shakespeare because you’re nervous about getting in over your head in Shakespearean language, Julius Caesar is a great place to start. The language is actually pretty straightforward and easier for modern readers to understand than a lot of Shakespeare’s other works. A great way to way to get into Shakespeare is to get some of your friends together and read it aloud.

Oh hey, would you look at that? Just so happens that on March 15th I will be hosting a read through of Julius Caesar. So, if you happen to be in Wisconsin on the ides, let me know and I will give you the deets. 

Read it. If you don’t I can only paraphrase Cassius, and tell you that you have no one to blame but yourself.

Yeah, Shakespeare wrote that line a little better than I did.

 

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