Gaius Julius Caesar (character of Rome)

Rome character


name= Gaius Julius Caesar
class= Patrician
fate= Assassinated in "Kalends of February"
family=Octavia of the Julii (great-niece)
Octavian (great-nephew)
Atia of the Julii (niece)
Caesarion (son)
Julia (daughter)
Calpurnia (wife)
allies= Mark Antony
Lucius Vorenus
Posca
Marcus Junius Brutus (ep 1-3, 7-10)
Marcus Tullius Cicero (ep 7-10)
Servilia (ep 1-5)
enemies= Optimates
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus
Cato the Younger
Scipio
Cassius
Quintus Valerius Pompey
Servilia (ep 6+)
Marcus Junius Brutus (ep 3-6, 12)
Marcus Tullius Cicero (ep 1-6, 12)
appearances=The Stolen Eagle
How Titus Pullo Brought Down the Republic
An Owl in a Thornbush
Stealing from Saturn
The Ram has Touched the Wall
Egeria
Pharsalus
Caesarion
Utica
Triumph
The Spoils
Kalends of February
Passover
portrayed= Ciarán Hinds

Gaius Julius Caesar was a fictional character in the HBO/BBC2 original television series "Rome", played by Irish actor Ciarán Hinds. The basis for this character is the famous historical Roman general and dictator of the same name who seized control of the government in 45 BC and laid the political foundations for the transition from the Roman Republic to the Empire.

Personality

Ambitious and unscrupulous, Caesar bears a strong resemblance to his real life counterpart. His aims and motives are often kept ambiguous to further complicate the plot and test the personal loyalties of the other characters. Like the real Caesar, he advertises himself as a reformer who sides with the Plebians, even though he is himself a Patrician. He is also merciful to his beaten enemies, seeming genuinely distressed by their deaths and relieved at their willingness to make peace where a more unscrupulous individual would have simply killed them. Such thinking however, gets him killed by the very people he forgave.

Character history

At the beginning of the series, Caesar is shown as an energetic, dominating Roman general who is more inclined to take risks than to accept failure. His rivalry with Pompey comes to the forefront following the death of his daughter, Julia, Pompey's fourth wife. This leads the two down the long road to war, eventually ending with Pompey's death and also Caesar's.

Comparisons with the historical Julius Caesar

The character as portrayed in the series is considered historically accurate despite having little physical resemblance to any known representations of the historical Caesar who was balding and blond.

The story starts in 52 BC as Caesar receives news of his daughter Julia's death; historically, Julia died in 54 BC. Additionally, no mention is made in "Rome" to his mother Aurelia, who died months after Julia. There is nothing in the historical sources to suggest that his affair with Servilia Caepionis ended, as is depicted in the series.

Caesarion was likely the son of Cleopatra VII and Caesar; the events of the episode "Caesarion" insinuate that he may actually have been fathered by soldier Titus Pullo. Though Caesar is shown presenting his newborn son to his army at the end of this episode, historically Caesar was already back in Rome by the time Caesarion was born.