Caesar III: The Ides of March

Caesar III: The Ides of March (Alesia, the Rubicon, Pharsalus and a queen in a bedding sack. Caesar wins everything there is to win. One last day remains: the Ides of March.) — lesson 3 of the course: 7 parts, about 30 min of reading.

The third episode on Julius Caesar leads from the siege of Alesia in 52 BC through the crossing of the Rubicon, the civil war with Pompey and his stay in Alexandria with Cleopatra, to the calendar reform and the assassination on the Ides of March, 44 BC. Seven chapters, four films, decisions to make and a preview of the next episode, on Octavian, Antony and Cleopatra.

Films

• Alesia: The Gallic Chieftain at Caesar’s Feet — In the autumn of 52 BC, the Gallic relief force scatters at Alesia. Vercingetorix rides out to the Roman camp and lays down his arms before Caesar.
• Night at the Rubicon — January 49 BC: Caesar leaves Ravenna by night and reaches the Rubicon.
• Pharsalus: The Tenth Legion — August 9, 48 BC: the battle of Pharsalus: Pompey’s cavalry against Caesar’s hidden fourth line.
• The Ides of March: The Last Walk — March 15, 44 BC: Caesar’s last walk to the hall of assembly. The film ends before anything happens.

Articles

• Two Walls — Caesar III: The Ides of March — Twenty-three blows. That is how many times the dagger will strike a man who never lost a war.
• The Dice — Caesar III: The Ides of March — Meanwhile in Rome, the bond that held the world together snaps. In 54 BC Julia dies, Caesar’s daughter and Pompey’s wife, in childbirth in her husband’s house.
• A Stamp of the Foot — Caesar III: The Ides of March — Pompey once boasted in the Senate that when war broke out he need only stamp his foot and Italy would fill with armies. Now he stamps, and no one comes.
• The Bedding Sack — Caesar III: The Ides of March — Alexandria, 48 BC. Caesar enters the city with a handful of men, because the rest of the army is still at sea.
• The Fifteen-Month Year — Caesar III: The Ides of March — From Alexandria Caesar marches east, where Pharnaces is crushing Roman forces. He arrives, wins, and writes three words to a friend in Rome.
• Are You Asleep, Brutus? — Caesar III: The Ides of March — Honors pile up like an avalanche. In February 44 BC the Senate makes Caesar dictator for life.
• Twenty-Three — Caesar III: The Ides of March — He went. At the door waits Decimus Brutus, the same man who is to be the second heir in the will.