CÆSAR (Julius), the illustrious Roman general and historian, was of the family of the Julii, who pretended they were descended from Venus by Æneas. The descendants of Æscanius son of Æneas and Creusa, and surnamed Julius, lived at Alba till that city was ruined by Tullus Hostilius king of Rome, who carried them to Rome, where they flourished. We do not find that they produced more than two branches. The first bore the name of Tullus, the other that of Cæsar. The most ancient of the Cæsars were those who were in public employments in the 11th year of the first Punic war. After that time we find there was always some of that family who enjoyed public offices in the commonwealth, till the time of Caius Julius Cæsar, the subject of this article. He was born at Rome the 12th of the month Quintilis, year of the city 653, and lost his father an. 669. By his valour and eloquence he soon acquired the highest reputation in the field and in the senate. Beloved and respected by his fellow-citizens, he enjoyed successively every magisterial and military honour the republic could bestow consistent with its own free constitution. But at length having subdued Pompey the great rival of his growing power, his boundless ambition effaced the glory of his former actions: for, pursuing his favourite maxim, "that he had rather be the first man in a village than the second in Rome," he procured himself to be chosen perpetual dictator; and, not content with this unconstitutional power, his faction had resolved to raise him to the imperial dignity; when the friends of the civil liberties of the republic rashly assassinated him in the senate-house, where they should only have seized him and brought him to a legal trial for usurpation. By this impolitic
impolitic measure they defeated their own purpose, involving the city in consternation and terror, which produced general anarchy, and paved the way to the revolution they wanted to prevent; the monarchial government being absolutely founded on the murder of Julius Cæsar. He fell in the 56th year of his age, 43 years before the Christian æra. His commentaries contain a history of his principal voyages, battles, and victories. The London edition in 1712, in folio, is preferred.
The detail of Cæsar's transactions (so far as is consistent with the limits of this work) being given under the article RÔME, we shall here only add a portrait of him as drawn by a philosopher*.
"If, after the lapse of 18 centuries, the truth may be published without offence, a philosopher might, in the following terms, censure Cæsar without calumniating him, and applaud him without exciting his blushes.
"Cæsar had one predominant passion: it was the love of glory; and he passed 40 years of his life in seeking opportunities to foster and encourage it. His soul, entirely absorbed in ambition, did not open itself to other impulses. He cultivated letters; but he did not love them with enthusiasm, because he had not leisure to become the first orator of Rome. He corrupted the one half of the Roman ladies, but his heart had no concern in the fiery ardours of his senses. In the arms of Cleopatra, he thought of Pompey; and this singular man, who disdained to have a partner in the empire of the world, would have blushed to have been for one instant the slave of a woman.
"We must not imagine, that Cæsar was born a warrior, as Sophocles and Milton were born poets. For, if nature had made him a citizen of Sybaris, he would have been the most voluptuous of men. If in our days he had been born in Pennsylvania, he would have been the most inoffensive of quakers, and would not have disturbed the tranquillity of the new world.
"The moderation with which he conducted himself after his victories, has been highly extolled; but in this he showed his penetration, not the goodness of his heart. Is it not obvious, that the display of certain virtues is necessary to put in motion the political machine? It was requisite that he should have the appearance of clemency, if he inclined that Rome should forgive him his victories. But what greatness of mind is there in a generosity which follows on the usurpation of supreme power?
"Nature, while it marked Cæsar with a sublime character, gave him also that spirit of perseverance which renders it useful. He had no sooner begun to reflect, than he admired Sylla; hated him, and yet wished to imitate him. At the age of 15, he formed the project of being dictator. It was thus that the president Montesquieu conceived, in his early youth, the idea of the spirit of laws.
"Physical qualities, as well as moral causes, contributed to give strength to his character. Nature, which had made him for command, had given him an air of dignity. He had acquired that soft and insinuating eloquence, which is perfectly suited to seduce vulgar minds, and has a powerful influence on the most cultivated. His love of pleasure was a merit with the fair sex; and women, who even in a republic can draw to
them the suffrages and attention of men, have the highest importance in degenerate times. The ladies of his age were charmed with the prospect of having a dictator whom they might subdue by their attractions.
"In vain did the genius of Cato watch for some time to sustain the liberty of his country. It was unequal to contend with that of Cæsar. Of what avail were the eloquence, the philosophy, and the virtue of this republican, when opposed by a man who had the address to debauch the wife of every citizen whose interest he meant to engage; who, possessing an enthusiasm for glory, wept, because, at the age of 30, he had not conquered the world like Alexander; and who, with the haughty temper of a despot, was more desirous to be the first man in a village than the second in Rome.
"Cæsar had the good fortune to exist in times of trouble and civil commotions, when the minds of men are put into a ferment; when opportunities of great actions are frequent; when talents are every thing, and those who can only boast of their virtues are nothing. If he had lived an hundred years sooner, he would have been no more than an obscure villain; and, instead of giving laws to the world, would not have been able to produce any confusion in it.
"I will here be bold enough to advance an idea, which may appear paradoxical to those who weakly judge of men from what they achieve, and not from the principle which leads them to act. Nature formed in the same mould Cæsar, Mahomet, Cromwell, and Kouli Khan. They all of them united to genius that profound policy which renders it so powerful. They all of them had an evident superiority over those with whom they were surrounded; they were conscious of this superiority, and they made others conscious of it. They were all of them born subjects, and became fortunate usurpers. Had Cæsar been placed in Persia, he would have made the conquest of India; in Arabia, he would have been the founder of a new religion; in London, he would have stabbed his sovereign, or have procured his assassination under the sanction of the laws. He reigned with glory over men whom he had reduced to be slaves; and, under one aspect, he is to be considered as a hero; under another, as a monster. But it would be unfortunate, indeed, for society, if the possession of superior talents gave individuals a right to trouble its repose. Usurpers accordingly have flatterers, but no friends; strangers respect them; their subjects complain and submit; it is in their own families that humanity finds her avengers. Cæsar was assassinated by his son, Mahomet was poisoned by his wife, Kouli Khan was massacred by his nephew, and Cromwell only died in his bed because his son Richard was a philosopher.
"Cæsar, the tyrant of his country; Cæsar, who destroyed the agents of his crimes, if they failed in address; Cæsar, in fine, the husband of every wife, and the wife of every husband; has been accounted a great man by the mob of writers. But it is only the philosopher who knows how to mark the barrier between celebrity and greatness. The talents of this singular man, and the good fortune which constantly attended him till the moment of his assassination, have concealed the enormity of his actions."