The Mentor Julius Caesar 3

The Mentor Julius Caesar 3

Cicero’s chief claims to greatness lie in the fields of literature and

philosophy. He was a poet of no mean ability. His “Orations,” with

their kaleidoscopic range of mood and choice of words, are the most

brilliant in the Latin language. The painstaking labor required for

this supreme mastery of speech is shown in his rhetorical works. His

“Letters,” written in simple style, lay bare a human heart, with all

its shortcomings and aspirations, while through their wide range of

topics they bring the reader into intimate touch with the spirit of the

age. Of farther-reaching influence are his works on political science

and philosophy. His “Republic” aims to discover the best form of

government, and to examine into the foundations of national prosperity.

His many philosophic writings set forth the various Greek schools of

thought, especially the Platonic and the Stoic. Through the medium of a

diction so perfect as to make Latin the universal language of culture

for centuries to come, Cicero successfully transplanted Greek thought

to Latin soil. Nor did his influence cease there; from his philosophy

the Church fathers drew inspiration; and in it centuries later the

scholars of the Renaissance first found the vitalizing spark of Greek

culture.

 

Of Cæsar’s immediate associates, Cassius, Brutus, and Antony are most

interesting, if only for their important rôles in Shakespeare’s “Julius

Cæsar.” Though showered with offices, Cassius, a malcontent, bore a

grudge against Cæsar for being his master, and began to plot against

him. He found many influential men, who, jealous of Cæsar’s power, were

themselves anxious to divide the spoils of government. To give the plot

an air of respectability, he won over Brutus, ostensibly a student and

man of letters, but at heart an unfeeling usurer. Appointed by Cæsar

governor of Cisalpine Gaul and prætor, Brutus became an assassin of his

benefactor.

 

Among the three near associates of Cæsar, Mark Antony was far the

ablest, and possessed the merit of remaining faithful till the death

of the benefactor. He had filled many military and civil offices with

distinction, and was Cæsar’s colleague in the consulship at the time

of the murder. Shortly before this event, at a public festival, Antony

offered Cæsar a crown, alleging that it was from the people. Although

Cæsar would gladly have welcomed any device for legitimizing his rule,

he refused the kingly title because of its unpopularity.

 

The assassination left Antony sole consul. Having control of Cæsar’s

papers and property, he skilfully used these advantages to make himself

absolute. In a clever oration at the funeral he turned the feelings of

the populace against the murderers, who thereupon fled from Rome. With

young Octavianus (Octavius) he patched up a temporary alliance, and in

combination they defeated the armies of Brutus and Cassius in the two

battles of Philippi, 42 B. C. The beaten generals committed suicide,

and the victors divided the empire between them, Antony taking the

East and Octavianus the West. The later history of Antony is told in

connection with Cleopatra.

 

PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION

ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 6. No. 2, SERIAL No. 150

COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.

 

 

 

 

[Illustration: RUINS OF THE TEMPLE OF THE DEIFIED JULIUS CÆSAR--ROMAN

FORUM]

 

 

 

 

_JULIUS CÆSAR_

 

_The Portrait Sculpture and the Reproduction of Buildings in this

Number of The Mentor_

 

SIX

 

 

In the Rome of Cæsar Hellenic influence was active, not only in

literature and philosophy, but also in art. The Roman portrait

sculpture of this period reveals Greek knowledge and skill; but its

essential character was determined by native tradition. The earliest

Roman portraits were waxen death masks formed from a moulding over

the face. Hence they were mechanically accurate but utterly devoid

of animation. Though this material has perished, the visitor to the

museums of Rome will find in relief many a family group in which

the faces retain the mask-like quality. Only in a slighter degree

does the principle apply to portrait sculpture in the round. At

its best the Republican face accordingly is intensely realistic

yet with no intimation of the inner spirit. Commonly the hair is

indicated by parallel scratches made by firm chisel strokes. By these

characteristics many busts and statues may be easily dated. It should

be noticed, too, that in the Republican age the portrait heads, as

distinguished from statues, include in addition to the head scarcely

more than the neck, and that the bust is a gradual development during

the subsequent period. With this criterion we are able to assign the

Brutus of this number of The Mentor to the administration of Claudius,

41-54 A. D. In the colossal portrait of Cæsar of the National Museum

at Naples the bust is a modern restoration, and we may only cherish

the reasonable faith that the head is genuine, though somewhat later

than his lifetime. The famous Cæsar of the British Museum, comprising

head and neck, would satisfy the criterion here formulated, but fails

to pass another even more important test. The indication of the

pupil in the eye was not devised till after Hadrian, 117-138 A. D.,

and accordingly this head could be no earlier. Recently it has been

suggested, with some reason, that the work is a modern study. If so, it

is a great success, as it most admirably expresses the physique and the

character of the famous man.

 

Another aid to identification is the circumstance that a colossus could

represent no one but a preéminent person; and this criterion favors

the Neapolitan head of Cæsar mentioned above. The colossus statue in

the Conservatori Palace seems to be authentic, but was made a half

century or more after his death. The face is fuller than the literary

description or the coins would warrant, but the difference may well be

due to idealization. The images on coins are doubtless true likenesses,

but in the case of his sculptured portraits we can only deal in

probabilities.

 

For Pompey we are in a less fortunate condition. The colossal statue

in the Palazzo Spada, a detail of which is given in this number, has

long passed as the image at the feet of which Cæsar met his death;

but the proof is insufficient, and it seems at least as likely that

it represents an emperor. Other portraits are equally uncertain.

The Madrid bust of Cicero is genuine, and well represents the

orator’s great intelligence with a momentary __EXPRESSION__ of scorn.

The better-known Vatican head, the bust of which is modern, is also

genuine and stands second in merit. For Cleopatra there are no certain

sculptural portraits. The reclining woman of the Ariadne type has been

mistaken for her because of the snake, as she is known to have died by

the bite of an asp. The illustration is given merely because it long

passed for Cleopatra and is a Greek work of rare beauty. Her true image

is shown on coins.

 

The various reproductions of edifices are not creations of the fancy,

but have been carefully worked out by archæologists from remains of

buildings according to the well established principles of architecture.

 

PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION

ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 6. No. 2, SERIAL No. 150

COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.

 

 

 

 

THE MENTOR · DEPARTMENT OF BIOGRAPHY

 

MARCH 1, 1918

 

JULIUS CÆSAR

 

By GEORGE WILLIS BOTSFORD

 

_Late Professor of History, Columbia University. Author of “Story of

Rome,” “History of Rome,” etc._

 

_MENTOR GRAVURES_

 

JULIUS CÆSAR

 

THE ROMAN FORUM IN THE TIME OF CÆSAR

 

THE RIVER TIBER IN THE TIME OF CÆSAR

 

_MENTOR GRAVURES_

 

CÆSAR CROSSING THE RUBICON

 

DEATH OF CÆSAR

 

RUINS OF THE TEMPLE OF THE DEIFIED CÆSAR

 

[Illustration: From History of Rome, by G. W. Botsford, The Macmillan

Co., Publishers

 

JULIUS CÆSAR]

 

Entered as second-class matter March 10, 1913, at the postoffice at New

York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright, 1918, by The

Mentor Association, Inc.

 

 

_Rome’s Conquest of the Civilized World_

 

To understand the world in which Cæsar lived it is necessary first to

review the growth of the Roman Empire. Four hundred years before the

beginning of the Christian era Rome was a small city, an independent

state, it is true, but in possession of a territory no larger than an

American county. In a succession of wars lasting through a century and

a third (400-264 B. C.), she gained control of the whole peninsula of

Italy. In another century (264-167 B. C.), through a new series of

wars, she built up an empire that nearly surrounded the Mediterranean

Sea. This rapid expansion of power is one of the most notable events in

the world’s history. In the present number of The Mentor, however, we

are less concerned with the process of conquest than with its result.

When Rome subdued a foreign state, she exercised her right of war in

depriving it of a great part of its wealth, including money, land,

and art treasures, not only paintings and marbles, but works of great

intrinsic value in bronze, silver, and gold. These confiscations and

the subsequent taxes levied by the imperial government, together with

the illegal exactions of officials, tended to impoverish the world for