But it was a stain that proved difficult to wash out and he would be reminded of it throughout his prematurely ended life. Suetonius tells us that this was the only stain on Caesar’s masculinity. His return to Bithynia just a few days after leaving to “collect a debt” further fanned the flames.
#Gaius julius caesar children series#
As a young man he spent a considerable amount of time at the court of King Nicomedes of Bithynia, fuelling a series of rumors about an affair in which Caesar was the submissive party. Nicknamed the “bald adulterer,” Julius Caesar fit the Roman political stereotype perfectly by sleeping his way to power. Julius Caesar’s Scandalous Sex Lifeīetter known to history as the penetrated than the penetrator, sexually speaking Caesar was both. We begin our series with the most famous Roman of all: Gaius Julius Caesar. But by adding historical context and comparing his anecdotes with those of other writers, we can at least get a feeling for the sexual attitudes of the authors if not for sexual acts of his subjects. Mosaic from Pompeii’s Brothal (the Lupanar)Ī lot of what he wrote might be fanciful and fictitious. Lurid and scandalous, his biographies read like the Roman equivalent of a modern gossip magazine. If you’ve never heard of him (which few, to be fair, have), do make time to check him out.
In this article – and the forthcoming series – we’ll be turning to “The Lives of the Twelve Caesars” by the first century AD court biographer Suetonius. (In the literature of the time, the two are often indistinguishable).īut how much of what we think we know is true? Since many powerful Roman politicians made a whole host of enemies, and it is from these rivals that we know about the history, this is why the emperors have come down to us as templates for erotic degeneracy and sadistic cruelty. Macho and militaristic, elite Roman culture revolved as much around a man’s ability to demonstrate his sexual prowess as it did around political point-scoring against rivals by accusing rivals them of a lack thereof. On January 16, 27 BCE the Senate gave him the new titles of Augustus and Princeps, effectively marking the end of the Roman Republic and the begining of the Roman Empire.Ancient Roman attitudes towards sex were nothing if not direct.įor example, it is from the Roman term for the sheath of one’s sword that we have our word “vagina!” Augustus Caesar worked to turn Roman public opinion against Antony, and after he obtained a copy of Antony's will that promised substantial lands to his children with Cleopatra, was able to convince the Roman Senate to revoke Antony's powers and declare war.Īfter the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra and the end of the civil war, Augustus Caeser worked to covertly consolidate power. Although Antony was married to Augustus' sister, he lived openly in Alexandria with Cleopatra. Togther they hunted down the assassinators of Julius Caesar and also oversaw the outlawing of 300 Roman senators.Īfter the Triumvirate's term expired in 33 BCE, Augustus Caesar and Mark Antony began to turn on each other. After the assassination of Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar formed the Second Triumvirate along with Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (later known as Augustus Caesar) was the great-nephew and adopted son and heir of Julius Caesar.
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