Julius Caesar’s Self-Created Image and Its Dramatic Afterlife

248 Pages·2019·2.04 MB·English

by  Miryana Dimitrova

Julius Caesar’s Self-Created
Image and Its Dramatic Aft erlife
i
Bloomsbury Studies in Classical Reception
Bloomsbury Studies in Classical Reception presents scholarly monographs
off ering new and innovative research and debate to students and scholars in
the reception of Classical Studies. Each volume will explore the
appropriation, reconceptualization and recontextualization of various aspects
of the Graeco-Roman world and its culture, looking at the impact of the
ancient world on modernity. Research will also cover reception within
antiquity, the theory and practice of translation, and reception theory.
Also available in the series:
Ancient Magic and the Supernatural in the Modern Visual and
Performing Arts, edited by Filippo Carlà and Irene Berti
Ancient Greek Myth in World Fiction since 1989, edited by
Justine McConnell and Edith Hall
Th e Codex Fori Mussolini, Han Lamers and Bettina Reitz-Joosse
Th e Gentle, Jealous God , Simon Perris
Greek and Roman Classics in the British Struggle for Social Reform,
edited by Henry Stead and Edith Hall
Imagining Xerxes, Emma Bridges
Ovid’s Myth of Pygmalion on Screen, Paula James
Victorian Classical Burlesques, Laura Monrós-Gaspar
ii
Julius Caesar’s Self-Created
Image and Its Dramatic Aft erlife
Miryana Dimitrova
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
LONDON • OXFORD • NEW YORK • NEW DELHI • SYDNEY
iii
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway
London New York
W C 1B 3 DP NY 10018
UK U SA
www.bloomsbury.com
BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published 2018
© Miryana Dimitrova, 2018
Miryana Dimitrova has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identifi ed as Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission
in writing from the publishers.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on
or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be
accepted by Bloomsbury or the author.
British Library Cataloguing-i n-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN : HB : 978-1-4742-4575-3
e PDF : 978-1-4742-4577-7
epub: 978-1-4742-4576-0
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n-Publication Data
A catalog record is available from the Library of Congress.
Cover design: Terry Woodley
Cover image: Teatro alla Scala, Milan. © Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images
Typeset by Refi neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk

To fi nd out more about our authors and books visit w ww.bloomsbury.com.
Here you will fi nd extracts, author interviews, details of forthcoming events and
the option to sign up for our n ewsletters.
iv
To my parents Radostina and Stefan, with love and gratitude
v
vi
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction. Caesar Is Dead. Long Live Caesar! 1
Th e commentaries 5
Th e plays 8
Lucan and the historiographers 14
Structure and scope of the book 20
1 ‘I Am He’: Aspects of Caesar’s Self-Representation in the
Commentaries 29
An overview of the enemy 30
Speed/effi ciency 35
Rationality and benevolence 40
Author–character interaction 46
Th e Caesarean world beyond the narrative – the author-character
and his audience 56
Coda: the continuators 62
2 Effi cient Benevolence, the Shadow of Hubris and an
Eastern Infatuation 67
Celerity or f uror ? 68
Practical and merciful 71
Caesar’s greatness against the rhetoric of the vanquished 74
A balancing act – ruthless but honourable 77
Caesar’s hubris is in the eye of the conspirator 87
Th e Cleopatra subversion eff ect 94
3 ‘For Always I Am Caesar’: Performative Actualization of
Caesar’s Self-Styled Image and Illeism as a Marker of
Self-Institutionalization 115
Th e world is a stage 119
vii
viii Contents
Th e power of the name 127
Degrees of self- institutionalization 130
Th e political role 140
4 Transhistorical and Quasi-Divine: Caesar Connecting the
Th reads of Time 155
Embodying past, present and future 159
Supernatural à la Lucan and a descendant of Venus 166
Ghostly presence 171
Th e human side of greatness 178
Epilogue 193
Notes 203
References 217
Index 233
Acknowledgements
Th is book is the revised version of my PhD thesis, completed under the
supervision of Professor Edith Hall. I am deeply grateful to Edith for believing
in me and for her inspirational energy and passion for research, which provided
me not only with consistent academic guidance but also with invaluable
moral support. I would also like to thank Mike Ingham for his enduring
interest in my work, his willingness to discuss my ideas at various stages, and
his comments and effi cient copy- editing. I have benefi ted greatly from the
competence and patience of the editorial team at Bloomsbury. Last but not
least, special thanks to Lyubo, my tower of strength and comfort, whose love
and knowledge about tigers have changed my world.
ix