Et tu Brute ? ( Brutus, you too ! ) - The Divine Julius - Caesar, Antony & Cleopatra-a beauty with brains

Et  tu  Brute ? (Brutus, you too !) - The  Divine  Julius  -  Caesar, Antony & Cleopatra – a beauty with brains 

               







 

“Et tu Brute”  is a Latin phrase meaning you too, Brutus ?

 

These were the last few words uttered by the Roman Dictator, Emperor Julius Caesar before he was stabbed to death from behind.  Brutus was Julius Caesar’s close associate and trusted lieutenant who killed Caesar by stabbing from back.  The act took Caesar by surprise and these words were shot from his lips unbelievably.  There was a conspiracy hatched to assassinate Julius Caesar in which Brutus was a party too.

The Latin phrase "Et tu, Brute?" which translates to "Even you, Brutus?" was written by William Shakespeare. It was one of the last lines uttered by the title character of his play "Julius Caesar."

The expression is still used in modern times to express shock at the betrayal of an unexpected quarters especially a close friend.

Roman general and statesman Julius Caesar turned the Roman Republic into the powerful Roman Empire.

Julius Caesar’s biography also states his romance with Egyptian Queen Cleopatra.  Cleopatra had a stunning personality and was an alluring beauty.  She was brilliant and undoubtedly one of the greatest women of world history.

In the love triangle of Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, it is the character of Cleopatra who has emerged as a strong object of desire.  Caesar gave security and guidance to Cleopatra to rule Egypt and made her to enter Rome to be his beloved.   However, it was Mark Antony who was madly in love with Cleopatra and sacrificed his life on hearing the fake news of Cleopatra’s death.  Cleopatra reciprocated his love for her by opting to embrace death by the hiss of a venomous Cobra placed in her bath tub to commit suicide upon hearing the death of Mark Antony.

As queen of ancient Egypt, Cleopatra is one of the most famous female rulers in history. The stories surrounding Cleopatra's tragic life inspired a Shakespeare play.  The end of Mark Antony and Cleopatra’s love affair is similar like the tragic death of immortal Romeo and Juliet. 

In the contemporary modern era Angelina Jolie wants to play the lead role of Cleopatra in a movie she wants the Oscar winning Director Ang Lee to direct.  Sony Pictures has approached Ang Lee with the offer to him to direct the epic movie based on the life of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra.

Ocsar-winning director Ang Lee said that  he will “probably” accept an offer to direct historical epic Cleopatra starring Angelina Jolie, after the Hollywood actress wrote to him asking him to come on board.

Lee, whose 3D adventure Life of Pi has earned 11 Oscar nominations, said he would read the script before making a decision but the project was “very attractive”.

“Sony has asked me to shoot the movie and Angelina Jolie wrote to me to express her wishes to collaborate. We admire each other… the project looks very attractive,” the Taiwanese-American told reporters in Taipei.

“It’s a big-budget movie so I am carefully evaluating it … this is a rare opportunity and I will probably take it.”

Lee returned to his birth place over the weekend to celebrate after Life of Pi earned 11 Oscar nominations, including best picture and best director.

It was Elizabeth Taylor and Vivien Leigh the other two actresses from Hollywood who have depicted the character of Cleopatra on celluloid.  Elizabeth Taylor’s cat eyes and plunging neckline to be rivaled by Angelina Jolie’s signature lips and amazing body.

Angelina Jolie seems to be fitting the bill more than any other actress to play the role of Cleopatra.

A brief biography of Julius Caesar -

Julius Caesar is often remembered as one of the greatest military minds in history and credited with laying the foundation for the Roman Empire.  His generalship was characterized by boldness, decisiveness, and a sometimes reckless willingness to move ahead of his supply lines.

Allegedly, a descendent of Trojan prince Aeneas, Julius Caesar's auspicious birth, c. July 12 or 13, 100 B.C., marked the beginning of a new chapter in Roman history. By age 31, Caesar had fought in several wars and become involved in Roman politics. After several alliances, he became dictator of the Roman Empire. This led to a senatorial coup, and Caesar's eventual assassination, on the Ides of March.

The Ides of March is a day on the Roman calendar that corresponds to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances and became notorious as the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC.

A politically adept and popular leader of the Roman Republic, Julius Caesar significantly transformed what became known as the Roman Empire, by greatly expanding its geographic reach and establishing its imperial system.

While it has long been disputed, it's estimated that Julius Caesar was born in Rome on July 12 or 13, 100 BC. While he hailed from Roman aristocrats, his family was far from rich. When Caesar was 16 his father, Gaius Caesar, died. He remained close to his mother, Aurelia.

The Rome of Caesar's youth was unstable. An element of disorder ruled the Republic, which had discredited its nobility and seemed unable to handle its considerable size and influence.

At around the time of his father's death, Caesar made a concerted effort to side with the country's nobility. His marriage to Cornelia, the daughter of a noble, had drawn the ire of Rome's dictator, Sulla, who ordered the young Roman to divorce his wife or risk losing his property. Caesar refused and found escape in the military, serving first in the province of Asia and then in Cilicia.

Following the death of Sulla, Caesar returned to Rome to begin his career in politics as a prosecuting advocate. He relocated temporarily to Rhodes to study philosophy, but during his travels there was kidnapped by pirates. In a daring display of his negotiation and counter-insurgency tactics, he convinced his captors to raise his ransom. He then organized a naval force to attack them. The pirates were captured and executed.

His stature was enhanced further in 74 BC when he put together a private army and combated Mithradates VI Eupator, king of Pontus, who had declared war on Rome.

When Caesar returned to Rome he began to work with Pompey, a former lieutenant under Sully, who'd switched sides following the dictator's death. Not long after, in 68 or 69 BC, Caesar was elected quaestor (a base political office) and then went to serve in several other key government positions under Pompey.

His personal life meanwhile offered up tragedy when his wife, Cornelia, passed away in 69 BC. Two years later he remarried, taking Pompeia, a distant relative of Pompey, as his wife. Their marriage lasted just a few years, and in 62 BC the couple divorced.

Caesar's political ascendency, however, continued. In 61-60 BC he served as governor of the Roman province of Spain. He also continued his close alliance with Pompey, which enabled him to get elected as consul, a powerful government position, in 59 BC.

As Caesar was cultivating his political partnership with Pompey, the astute leader was also aligning himself with Marcus Licinius Crassus, a Roman general and politician who'd served valiantly during Sulla's rule.

Crassus proved to be instrumental in Caesar's rise to power. A leader himself, and cited as the wealthiest man in Roman history, Crassus offered financial and political support to Caesar.

Over the years Pompey and Crassus had come to be intense rivals. But once again Caesar displayed his abilities as a negotiator, earning the trust of both men and convincing them they'd be better suited as allies instead of enemies.

This partnership among the three men came to be known as the First Triumvirate. For Caesar, this political alliance and the power it gave him was the perfect springboard to greater domination
.

Triumvirate -

In ancient Rome a group of three men holding power, in particular ( the First Triumvirate ) the unofficial coalition of Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus in 60 BC and ( the Second Triumvirate ) a coalition formed by Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian in 43 BC.

An early controversial move came when he tried to pay off Pompey's soldiers by granting them public lands. While initially unpopular, Caesar hired a collection of Pompey's soldiers to stage a riot. In the midst of all the chaos, he got his way.

Not long after, Caesar secured the governorship of Gaul (now France and Belgium), allowing him to build a bigger military and begin the kind of campaigns that would cement his status as one of Rome's all-time great leaders. Between 58 and 50 BC, Caesar conquered the rest of Gaul, up to the river Rhine. As he expanded his reach, he also showed his ruthlessness with his enemies. In one instance he waited until his opponents' water supply had gone dry, and then ordered the hands of all the remaining survivors be cut off.

Even while he conquered Gaul, Caesar was mindful of the political scene back home, and he hired key political agents to act on his behalf in Rome.
 

But Pompey, who grew envious of his political partner's power and prestige, did not meet Caesar's growing stature with enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Crassus still had never completely overcome his disdain for Pompey. The three leaders patched things up temporarily in 56 BC at a conference in Luca that cemented Caesar's existing territorial rule for another five years, and granted Crassus a five-year term in Syria and Pompey a five-year term in Spain.

Three years later, however, Crassus was killed in a battle in Syria. Around this time Pompey revisited his old concerns about Caesar.

Through a series of events, Caesar eventually went to war against Pompey, leading troops across the river Rubicon on January 10-11, 49 BC. With Pompey further aligning himself with nobility, and the nobility increasingly seeing Caesar as a national threat, civil war proved to be inevitable.

But Pompey and his troops were not a match for Caesar and his military campaign. By the end of 48 BC, Caesar had pushed his enemies out of Italy and pursued Pompey into Egypt, where he was eventually killed. There, Caesar aligned himself with Cleopatra, with whom he had a son, Caesarion.

Upon his return to Rome, Caesar was made dictator for life and hailed as the Father of his Country. For Caesar and his countrymen, his rule proved instrumental in reforming Rome.

He would serve just a year's term before his assassination, but in that short period Caesar greatly transformed the empire. He relieved debt and reformed the Senate by increasing its size and opening it up so that it better represented Romans as a whole. He reformed the Roman calendar and reorganized how local government was constructed. In addition he resurrected two city-states, Carthage and Corinth, which had been destroyed by his predecessors, and he granted citizenship to a number of foreigners. He also proved to be a benevolent victor by inviting some of his defeated rivals to join him in the government.

But Caesar was also careful to solidify his power and rule. He stuffed the Senate with allies, and required the same body to grant him honors and titles.

 He was allowed to speak first at assembly meetings, and Roman coins bore his face.

Caesar's reforms greatly enhanced his standing with Rome's lower- and middle-class populations. But his popularity with the Senate was another matter. Envy and concern over Caesar's increasing power led to angst among a number of politicians who saw in him an aspiring king. History had shown that Romans had no desire for monarchical rule. Legend had it that by the time Caesar came to power it had been five centuries since they'd last allowed a king to rule them.

Caesar's wish to include his former Roman enemies in the government helped spell his downfall. Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus were both former enemies who'd joined the Senate. Together, the two of them led the assassination of Caesar on the Ides of March (the 15th), 44 BC.

It's not altogether clear whether Caesar knew ahead of time of the plot to kill him. What was clear, though, was that the conspirators, who dubbed themselves "the liberators," needed to act fast. By all accounts Caesar had plans to leave Rome on March 18 for a military campaign in what is now modern-day Iraq. There he hoped to avenge the losses suffered by Crassus.

Brutus' involvement in the killing packed the most complicated backstory. He had originally sided with Pompey during Rome's earlier civil war, but then had been encouraged to join the government after Caesar's victory. His mother, Servilia, was also one of Caesar's lovers.

Following Caesar's death, a power struggle ensued in Rome, leading to the end of the Roman Republic. A mob of lower- and middle-class Romans gathered at Caesar's funeral, with the angry crowd attacking the homes of Cassius and Brutus.

Caesar quickly became a martyr in the new Roman Empire, and just two years after his death he became the first Roman figure to be deified. The Senate also gave him the title "The Divine Julius."

Playing on the late ruler's popularity, Caesar's great-grandnephew, Gaius Octavian, assembled an army to fight back the military troops defending Cassius and Brutus. His victory over Caesar's assassins allowed Octavian, who would assume the name Augustus, to take power in 27 BC and become the first Roman emperor.   Octavion, the Roman Emperor ruled Rome for the next four decades.

Cleopatra VII Biography

Queen (c. 69 BCE–c. 30 BCE)

Cleopatra – a beauty with brains -  

Well-educated and clever, Cleopatra could speak various languages and served as the dominant ruler in all three of her co-regencies. Her romantic liaisons and military alliances with the Roman leaders Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, as well as her supposed exotic beauty and powers of seduction, earned her an enduring place in history and popular myth.

Cleopatra's family ruled Egypt for more than 100 years before she was born around 69 B.C. The stories and myths surrounding Cleopatra's tragic life inspired a number of books, movies and plays, including Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare. Cleopatra has become one of the most well known ancient Egyptians.

The last ruler of the Macedonian dynasty, Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator was born around 69 B.C. The line of rule was established in 323 B.C., following the death of Alexander the Great and ended with Egypt's annexation by Rome in 30.

The era began when Alexander's general, Ptolemy, took over as ruler of Egypt, becoming King Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt. Over the next three centuries, his descendants would follow in his path. At its height, Ptolemaic Egypt was one of the world's great powers.

Cleopatra's father was King Ptolemy XII. Little is known about Cleopatra's mother, but some speculation presumes she may have been her father's sister, Cleopatra V Tryphaena. Debate also surrounds Cleopatra's ethnicity.

In 51 B.C., Ptolemy XII died, leaving the throne to 18-year-old Cleopatra and her brother, the 10-year-old Ptolemy XIII. It is likely that the two siblings married, as was customary at the time. Over the next few years Egypt struggled to face down a number of issues, from an unhealthy economy to floods to famine.

Political turmoil also shaped this period. Soon after they assumed power, complications arose between Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII. Eventually Cleopatra fled to Syria, where she assembled an army to defeat her rival in order to declare the throne for herself. In 48, she returned to Egypt with her military might and faced her brother at Pelusium, located on the empire's eastern edge.

Life With Caesar

Around this same time, the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey was consuming Rome. Pompey eventually sought refuge in Egypt, but on orders by Ptolemy, was killed.

In pursuit of his rival, Julius Caesar followed Pompey into Egypt, where he met and eventually fell in love with Cleopatra. In Caesar, Cleopatra now had access to enough military muscle to dethrone her brother and solidify her grip on Egypt as sole ruler. Following Caesar's defeat of Ptolemy's forces at the Battle of the Nile, Caesar restored Cleopatra to the throne. Soon after, Ptolemy XIII fled and drowned in the Nile.

In 47 B.C. Cleopatra bore Caesar a son, whom she named Caesarion. However, Caesar never acknowledged the boy was his offspring, and historical debate continues over whether he was indeed his father.

Cleopatra eventually followed Caesar back to Rome, but returned to Egypt in 44 B.C., following his assassination.

Friends, Romans, countrymen….…..

 This was the beginning of famous Julius Caesar’s funeral speech by Caesar’s protege Mark Antony. He continued by saying “I came to bury Caesar and not to praise him”. His rhetoric, the art of speech was so overwhelming the Romans thirsted for the blood of Julius Caesar’s assassins and ensued a Civil War which found Marc Antony at the helm of affairs.  Marc Antony’s speech is considered to be the most diplomatic and inspiring one and it really provoked to punish Caesar’s assassins and even today its impact on the world population is cascading.  The rhetoric is considered to be an art of speech and it overpowers the enemy to bite the dust.

His romantic and political alliance with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra was his ultimate undoing, and centuries later provided inspiration for artists from Shakespeare to Cecil B. DeMille.

Mark Antony

 

 

 

 

 

                                                        

In 41 B.C., Mark Antony, part of the Second Triumvirate that ruled Rome following the murder of Caesar, sent for Cleopatra so that she could answer questions about her allegiance to the empire's fallen leader.

Cleopatra agreed to his request and made a lavish entrance into the city of Tarsus. Captivated by her beauty and stunning personality, Antony plunged into a love affair with Cleopatra that would eventually produce three children, including twins named Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene.

Just like Caesar before him, Antony was embroiled in a battle over Rome's control. His rival was Caesar's own great-nephew, Gaius Octavius, also known as Octavian (who became the future Emperor Caesar Augustus). Gaius Octavius, along with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, rounded out the Second Triumvirate. Antony, who presided over Rome's eastern areas, detested Gaius Octavius and saw in Cleopatra the chance for financial and military support to secure his own rule over the empire.

Cleopatra had her own motivations, as well. In exchange for her help, she sought the return of Egypt's eastern empire, which included large areas of Lebanon and Syria.

In the year 34 B.C., Antony returned with Cleopatra to Alexandria with a triumphant flair. Crowds swarmed to the Gymnasium to catch a glimpse of the couple seated on golden thrones that were elevated on silver platforms. Beside them sat their children.

Antony antagonized his rival by declaring Caesarion as Caesar’s real son and legal heir, rather than Octavian, whom the revered Roman leader had adopted. Octavian, however, fought back, declaring he’d seized Antony’s will, and told the Roman people that Antony had turned over Roman possessions to Cleopatra and that there were plans to make Alexandria the Roman capital.

In the year 31 B.C., Cleopatra and Antony combined armies to try to defeat Octavian in a raging sea battle at Actium, on Greece’s west coast. The clash, however, proved to be a costly defeat for the Egyptians, forcing Antony and Cleopatra to flee back to Egypt.

Antony soon returned to the battlefield, where he was falsely informed that Cleopatra had died. Upon hearing the news, the despondent Roman leader committed suicide by stabbing himself.

Cleopatra followed her lover’s demise by ending her life as well by allowing bitten by a venomous  Egyptian cobra in her bath tub. She died on August 12, 30 B.C. The two were buried together, as they had wished, and Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire.

Her story resonates, too, because of what she represented in such a male-dominated society. In an era when Egypt was roiled by internal and external battles, Cleopatra held the country together and proved to be as powerful a leader as any of her male counterparts.

 

Marc Anthony the King of Pop

You sang to me..

While discussing the historical fame Roman Ruler Mark Antony, it rushes to my mind’s screen the figure of King of Pop Marc Anthony, the Grammy nominated Singer whose song “you sang to me” influenced me to a great extent.  The music was scintillating and it drove me to the steps of the ultimate paradise the  heaven itself.

I remember singing this song passionately at a Karaoke joint, a diary page from my real life.  The lyrics were so meaningful and the song lightened up my heart and ended with thundering ovation from my team. 

This song originally sung by the King of Pop Marc Anthony and was nominated for Grammy Awards for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. 

The song lyrics goes like  -

Oh...
I just wanted you to comfort me
When I called you late last night you see
I was fallin' into love
Yes, I was crashin' into love
Oh of all the words you sang to me
About life, the truth and being free, yeah
You sang to me, oh how you sang to me

Girl, I live off how you make me feel
So I question all this being real
'cause I'm not afraid to love
For the first time I'm not afraid of love

Oh, this day seems made for you and me
And you showed me what life needs to be
Yeah, you sang to me, oh you sang to me

All the while you were in front of me I never realized
I just can't believe I didn't see it in your eyes
I didn't see it, I can't believe it
Oh but I feel it
When you sing to me
How I long to hear you sing beneath the clear blue skies
And I promise you this time i'll see it in your eyes
I didn't see it, I can't believe it
Oh but I feel it
When you sing to me

Just to think you live inside of me
I had no idea how this could be
Now I'm crazy for your love
Can't believe I'm crazy for your love
The words you said you sang to me
And you showed me where I wanna be
Yeah you sang to me, oh you sang to me

All the while you were in front of me I never realized
I just can't believe I didn't see it in your eyes
I didn't see it, I can't believe it
Oh but I feel it
When you sing to me
How I long to hear you sing beneath the clear blue skies
And I promise you this time i'll see it in your eyes
I didn't see it, I can't believe it
Oh but I feel it
When you sing to me

All the while you were in front of me I never realized
I just can't believe I didn't see it in your eyes
I didn't see it, I can't believe it
Oh but I feel it
When you sing to me
How I long to hear you sing beneath the clear blue skies
And I promise you this time i'll see it in your eyes
I didn't see it, I can't believe it
Oh but I feel it
When you sing to me

All the while you were in front of me I never realized
I just can't believe I didn't see it in your eyes
I didn't see it, I can't believe it
Oh but I feel it
When you sing to me
How I long to hear you sing beneath the clear blue skies
And I promise you this time i'll see it in your eyes
I didn't see it, I can't believe it
Oh but I feel it

The song is available in You Tube…You can access the song surfing …. “you sang to me”  by Marc Anthony.  I can assure you that it is worth listening to.

The Great Dictator Emperor Julius Caesar, whose destiny of assassination on the Ides of March,  Roman Ruler Marc Antony whose rhetoric at the coffin of Caesar resulted in a crowd puller leading to a Civil War in Rome and punishment of Caesar’s assassins and the beautiful celestial nymph, an alluring beauty with brains Cleopatra VII  who cohabited both the men,  jointly the trio would have been the actual triumvirate to rule the extended Roman Empire.

This Blog finds the trio Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra ushering in their love nest in eternal bliss and greater spirits…!!