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Cultural depictions of Julius Caesar

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Cultural depictions of Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar (100 BC – 44 BC), one of the most influential men in world history, has frequently appeared in literary and artistic works since ancient times.

Contents

Ancient literary works

  • Caesar is referred to in some of the poems of Catullus (ca. 84 – 54 BC)
  • He is depicted in Virgil's Aeneid (ca. 29 – 19 BC), an epic poem about the foundation of Rome
  • He appears as a character in Lucan's Pharsalia (AD 61), an epic poem based on Caesar's Civil War

    • Medieval works

  • A legendary account of Caesar's invasions of Britain appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1136).
  • In the 13th century French romance Les Faits des Romains, Caesar is made a bishop.
  • In the 13th century French chanson de geste Huon of Bordeaux, the fairy king Oberon is the son of Caesar and Morgan le Fay.
  • Caesar appears in Canto IV of Dante Alighieri's epic poem, the Divine Comedy (c. 1308–1321). He is in the section of Limbo reserved for virtuous non-Christians, along with Aeneas, Homer, Ovid, Horace and Lucan. His assassins, Brutus and Cassius, and his lover, Cleopatra, are seen among the souls of the wicked in the lower regions of hell.
  • Caesar was included as one of the Nine Worthies by Jacques de Longuyon in Voeux du Paon (1312). These were nine historical, scriptural, mythological or semi-legendary figures who, in the Middle Ages, were believed to personify the ideals of chivalry.
  • Caesar's Civil War and assassination are recounted in Geoffrey Chaucer's "Monk's Tale" (c. 1385, one of his Canterbury Tales)

    • Renaissance and modern works

  • In Historia de omnibus gothorum sueonumque regibus (History of all Kings of Goths and Swedes) by Johannes Magnus, published in 1554. Caesar appears as a contemporary of the Swedish King Lindormus.

    • Theatre

  • Thomas Kyd's Cornelia (1594)
  • William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (1599)
  • George Chapman's Caesar and Pompey (c. 1604)
  • William Alexander's Julius Caesar (1607)
  • Ben Jonson's Catiline His Conspiracy (1611)
  • John Fletcher and Philip Massinger's The False One (c. 1620)
  • Jasper Fisher's Fuimus Troes (c. 1625)
  • Pierre Corneille's The Death of Pompey (1642)

    • Operas

  • Giulio Cesare (1724), George Frideric Handel
  • La morte di Cesare (1788), Francesco Bianchi
  • Die Ermordung Cäsars (1959), Giselher Klebe

    • Statues

  • Fountain of Caesar in Olomouc (1725). It is based on the statue by Gian Lorenzo Bernini depicting Constantine the Great in Scala Regia (Vatican).

    • Advertising

  • Benetton's 1988 "United Superstars of Benetton" print and billboard campaign, paired with Leonardo da Vinci
  • Little Caesars, chain of pizza restaurants

    • Theatre

  • Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw

    • Fiction

  • The Story of the Amulet (1905), a children's time-travel novel by E. Nesbit, includes an episode with Julius Caesar on the eve of his invasion of Britain.
  • The Magic City (1910), a children's fantasy novel by E. Nesbit, has Julius Caesar emerge from the pages of De Bello Gallico to rout the barbarians.
  • Tros of Samothrace (1934), a historical novel by Talbot Mundy, has Julius Caesar as the novel's villain.
  • The Ides of March (1948), is an epistolary novel by Thornton Wilder.
  • First Citizen (1987), by Thomas Thurston Thomas, a science fiction book based on the life and times of Julius Caesar but set in the 21st century.
  • Sword of Caesar (1987), in the Time Machine series, asks the reader to travel back to ancient Rome and find the fate of Caesar's battle sword.
  • Masters of Rome, a series of seven novels by the Australian writer, Colleen McCullough: The First Man in Rome (1991), The Grass Crown (1991), Fortune's Favorites (1993), Caesar's Women (1995), Caesar (1997), The October Horse (2002), and Antony and Cleopatra (1969).
  • Roma Sub Rosa (1991-2008), a series of historical mysteries by the American writer, Steven Saylor.
  • Emperor, a series of five novels by the British writer, Conn Iggulden: The Gates of Rome (2003), The Death of Kings (2004), The Field of Swords (2005), The Gods of War (2006), and The Blood of Gods (2013).

    • Film

  • Played by Fritz Leiber, Sr. in Cleopatra (1917)
  • Played by Warren William in Cleopatra (1934)
  • Played by Claude Rains in Caesar and Cleopatra (adapted from Shaw's play, 1945)
  • Played by Harold Tasker in Julius Caesar (adapted from Shakespeare's play, 1950)
  • Played by Louis Calhern in Julius Caesar (adapted from Shakespeare's play, 1953)
  • Played by John Gavin in Spartacus (1960)
  • Played by Gustavo Rojo in Caesar Against the Pirates (1962)
  • Played by Rex Harrison in Cleopatra (1963)
  • Played by Kenneth Williams in Carry On Cleo (1964)
  • Played by John Gielgud in Julius Caesar (adapted from Shakespeare's play, 1970)
  • Played by Gottfried John in Asterix & Obelix Take On Caesar (1999)
  • Played by Klaus Maria Brandauer in Druids (2001)
  • Played by Alain Chabat in Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002)
  • Played by Alain Delon in Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008)
  • Played by Fabrice Luchini in Asterix and Obelix: God Save Britannia (2012)

    • TV

  • Bewitched: "Samantha's Caesar Salad", Aunt Esmerelda tries to conjure up a Caesar salad, but conjures up Caesar, played by Jay Robinson
  • Cleopatra, played by Timothy Dalton
  • Histeria!: Caesar's physical appearance is based on Frank Sinatra
  • Horrible Histories, played by Ben Willbond/Adam Riches
  • Julius Caesar played by Jeremy Sisto
  • Empire, played by Colm Feore
  • Rome, Gaius Julius Caesar (Rome character) played by Ciarán Hinds
  • Spartacus (2004 TV movie), an adaption of the Howard Fast novel- Caesar, played by Richard Dillane is a minor role
  • Spartacus: War of the Damned, stars a younger Caesar played by Todd Lasance
  • Wayne and Shuster's "Rinse the Blood off My Toga" spoofs Shakespeare's Julius Caesar as a Dragnet episode
  • Xena: Warrior Princess: Caesar was a major antagonist, played by Karl Urban
  • SCTV: in a 1980 episode in which Bobby Bitman (Eugene Levy) portrays Caesar in a live television broadcast of the Shakespeare play telling bad jokes, which is then interrupted by a Russian satellite cutting into the broadcast feed of SCTV and showing Russian TV.

    • Radio

  • In "The Histories of Pliny the Elder" – a 1958 episode of the British radio comedy "The Goon Show" parodying epic films – Caesar is portrayed by Peter Sellers as Hercules Grytpype-Thynne, with Moriarty as a centurion and sidekick.
  • In the BBC Radio 4 series Caesar! (2003–2007) written by Mike Walker, David Troughton played Julius Caesar in "Meeting at Formiae", the first episode of Series One.
  • In the "Life of Caesar" Podcast, by Cameron Reilly and Ray Harris Jr., which ran from 2013-2015 and continued onto Octavian in August 2015.

    • Comics

  • A depiction of the Gallic War Commentaries of Caesar's, entitled "Caesar's Conquests", appeared in the now defunct Classics Illustrated comic series from the 1940s to the 1970s.
  • The Adventures of Alix, where he is the political protector of the main character.
  • Asterix comics, written by René Goscinny and drawn by Albert Uderzo, include a fictionalized Julius Caesar (complete with Roman nose) as a recurring character.
  • Caesar appears in Neil Gaiman's Sandman #30, "August" (collected in The Sandman: Fables & Reflections).

    • Games

  • Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego features Julius Caesar in one of its stages.
  • Caesar is depicted as Akihiko Sanada's ultimate persona in Persona 3.
  • Fallout: New Vegas depicts a dictator who patterns himself after the various Caesares, Julius in particular.
  • Julius Caesar appears as the leader of the Roman Empire in the Civilization series of strategy games.
  • Caesar is mentioned in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood as a Templar and that his assassination by Brutus and other members of the Assassin Order is to prevent the Templars from gaining power in Rome. Brutus' account of the killing is told in Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy.
  • In Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome, a player can act as Julius Caesar.
  • Gaius Julius Caesar appears as a servant in the mobile game Fate/Grand Order, summoned as the class of Saber.
  • In the Total War: Rome 2 expansion Casesar in Gaul as a playable General.

    • Music

  • Appears as a participant in an episode of Epic Rap Battles of History alongside Shaka Zulu.

    • References

    Cultural depictions of Julius Caesar Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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