The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome

287 Pages·2003·0.8 MB·English

by  Michael Parenti

HISTORY / ANCIENT ROME $16.95 U.S.
“PROVOCATIVE AND ELOQUENT.” MICHAEL “THIS LIVELY, LUCID TRACT REMINDS
PARENTI US THAT HISTORIANS GOTTA
—HOWARD ZINN
HAVE ATTITUDE AS WELL AS GAME.”
MOST HISTORIANS, BOTH ANCIENT AND MODERN, HAVE VIEWED THE LATE —KIRKUS REVIEWS
REPUBLIC OF ROME THROUGH THE EYES OF ITS RICH NOBILITY. IN THE
ASSASSINATION OF JULIUS CAESAR, MICHAEL PARENTI PRESENTS US WITH
A STORY OF POPULAR RESISTANCE AGAINST ENTRENCHED POWER AND
WEALTH. AS HE CAREFULLY WEIGHS THE EVIDENCE CONCERNING THE
MURDER OF CAESAR, PARENTI SKETCHES IN THE BACKGROUND TO THE T
H
CRIME WITH FASCINATING DETAIL ABOUT WIDER ROMAN SOCIETY. THE
E
RESULT IS AN ENTIRELY NEW PERSPECTIVE ON A MUCH-STUDIED ERA. A
S
“WITH LASER-SHARP RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS, MICHAEL PARENTI S
BURNS AWAY STALE ORTHODOXY AND DISTORTION. WHAT A REMARKABLE A
S
PEOPLE’S HISTORY!”
S
—MARK SOLOMON, PROFESSOR OF HISTORY EMERITUS, SIMMONS COLLEGE I
N
A
“A THOROUGHLY THOUGHT-PROVOKING AND STIMULATING READ.”
T
—GERALD ERICKSON, PROFESSOR OF CLASSICAL STUDIES, I
O
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
N

O
“SCINTILLATING STORYTELLING AND DEEPLY EXAMINED HISTORICAL
F
INSIGHT. . . . AN IMPORTANT ALTERNATIVE TO THE USUAL VIEWS J THE
OF CAESAR AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE.” U
—PUBLISHERS WEEKLY L ASSASSINATION
I
U
MICHAEL PARENTIIS THE AUTHOR OF OVER 250 ARTICLES AND S OF

17 BOOKS, INCLUDING THE TERRORISM TRAP, HISTORY AS C
A JULIUS
MYSTERY, DEMOCRACY FOR THE FEW (7THEDITION), AND
E
AGAINST EMPIRE. HIS WRITINGS HAVE BEEN TRANSLATED S CAESAR
A
INTO NUMEROUS LANGUAGES. HE LECTURES WIDELY
R
THROUGHOUT NORTH AMERICA AND ABROAD. FOR
MORE INFORMATION, SEE WWW.MICHAELPARENTI.ORG. A PEOPLE’S HISTORY
OF ANCIENT ROME
MICHAEL PARENTI
WWW.THENEWPRESS.COM
COVER DESIGN BY ALAN HILL
THE NEW PRESS THE NEW PRESS
The Assassination of Julius Caesar
Also by Michael Parenti
The Terrorism Trap (2002)
Democracy for the Few (7th edition, 2001)
To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia (2000)
History as Mystery (1999)
America Besieged (1998)
Blackshirts and Reds (1997)
Dirty Truths (1996)
Against Empire (1995)
Land of Idols: Political Mythology in America (1994)
Inventing Reality: The Politics of News Media (1986, 1993)
Make-Believe Media: The Politics of Entertainment (1992)
The Sword and the Dollar (1989)
Power and the Powerless (1978)
Ethnic and Political Attitudes (1975)
Trends and Tragedies in American Foreign Policy (1971)
The Anti-Communist Impulse (1969)
The Assassination of Julius Caesar
A People’s History of Ancient Rome
(cid:1)
MICHAEL PARENTI
(cid:1)2003byMichaelParenti
Allrightsreserved.
Nopartofthisbookmaybereproduced,inanyform,without
writtenpermissionfromthepublisher.
PublishedintheUnitedStatesbyTheNewPress,NewYork,2003
DistributedbyW.W.Norton&Company,Inc.,NewYork
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Parenti,Michael,1933–
TheassassinationofJuliusCaesar:apeople’shistoryofancient
Rome/MichaelParenti.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN1-56584-797-0(hc.)
1.Caesar,Julius—Assassination.2.Rome—Politicsand
government—265–30B.C.I.Title.
DG267.P372003
937'.05'092—dc21
2002041060
TheNewPresswasestablishedin1990asanot-for-profitalternativetothelarge,
commercialpublishinghousescurrentlydominatingthebookpublishingindustry.The
NewPressoperatesinthepublicinterestratherthanforprivategain,andiscommitted
topublishing,ininnovativeways,worksofeducational,cultural,andcommunityvalue
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To Marina Anttila
with love

Contents
Introduction: Tyrannicide or Treason? 1
1. Gentlemen’s History: Empire, Class, and Patriarchy 13
2. Slaves, Proletarians, and Masters 27
3. A Republic for the Few 45
4. “Demagogues” and Death Squads 59
5. Cicero’s Witch-hunt 85
6. The Face of Caesar 113
7. “You All Did Love Him Once” 131
8. The Popularis 149
9. The Assassination 167
10. The Liberties of Power 187
11. Bread and Circuses 205
Appendix: A Note on
Pedantic Citations and Vexatious Names 223
Notes 229
Index 261

Acknowledgments
O
ver the years Charles Briody tried to improve upon my
childhood altar boy’s Latin with ad hoc lessons, mostlyon
the telephone now that we live at opposite ends of North
America.Imustconfessthatallhisbesteffortsnevergotmemuch
beyond the Omnis Gallı˘a est divisa in tres partes level. For this I
haveonlymyselftoblame.Luckily,allthemajor(andmostminor)
ancientsourcesareavailableinvariousEnglishtranslations.Briody
alsogenerouslyprovidedmewithsomecrucialliteratureandnotes
of his own, and did a most helpful reading of the manuscript. So
too did Iain Boal and Daniel Shoup who, like Briody, gave me
the benefit of their substantive criticisms and their classical edu-
cation.
Peggy Karp did a close and especially valuable reading of the
manuscript. Jane Scantlebury helped me locate sources, and ten-
dered advice and encouragement over the long duration of the
writing. She also contributed a useful critique of the manuscript.
SusanMcAllisterwentoveranearlyversionoftheopeningchapter
for me, and provided other needed assistance.
Peter Livingston saved the day—and the book—laboring hard
to snatch from the jaws of my treacherous computer precious text
and endnotes that had been mysteriously devoured. He thereby
saved me many impossible months of reconstructive effort. Willa