That Napoleon Bonaparte reportedly read the literary works of Julius Caesar extensively, speaks volumes of the latter's influence on posterity centuries later. Author, Adrian Goldsworthy, in his highly acclaimed historical and biographical work entitled Caesar: Life of a Colossus advises us of this fact among others. Julius Caesar was born in the year 100 B.C. to a noble and aristocratic family which was well-connected in the Republic of Rome. He was intelligent and keenly perceptive about his social status. In addition, he had the additional benefit of pursuing a soundly tutored, logically focused, philosophical education, which would prepare him for the fast-track career of his choosing either as a civic-minded office holder or a uniformed military leader. Among his earlier achievements, he was appointed to the position of high priest. Go figure!
Later, he began to search for his true calling in life, practicing law as an advocate. He defended well-established, high-profile clients. But what most catapulted his career was serving in the capacity of a conquering military general. You might say that he had shown great potential for advancement in his chosen career path. He was given numerous military commands and led legions upon legions of Roman soldiers over the years. He was proven victorious, time and time again. Mostly on foreign soil, he won ever greater wealth, power, and accolades. You can easily see how possessing this type of information about a singular member of their own peer group might impress the likes of Napoleon, Churchill, Patton, and a great many other decorated officers of modern times. It certainly affected those of Julius Caesar's. Plus the fact that he went to great lengths in documenting practically every battle of every campaign he had ever fought with detailed precision, no doubt enhanced his fame and fortune. To say that Julius Caesar followed in the footsteps of Alexander the Great would be an understatement. This says a lot about the character of the man.
Besides documenting the life and exemplary deeds of Julius Caesar in his meteoric rise to become the most powerful man in Rome, if not in the entire civilized world in the last century B.C., the author delved deeply into what made the Roman leader "tick." Clearly, he was a product of his exclusive environment, the aristocratically-led Roman Republic, for which he proudly stood.
In consequence, the author dug even deeper into the concepts involving the profound and far-reaching vastness of Roman government itself. He focused in on the opportunities which it afforded "certain qualified individuals," due to their birth-right, their strong abilities, the competitive nature of their training, and just plain luck, being in the right place at the right time. He revealed how the complex system was organized, how its hierarchy functioned, how its laws were enacted and by whom, and how the system continued to change and evolve over the decades as a result of an ingrained "survival instinct" which kicks in during times of danger or great peril.
The reader soon realizes that once these "certain qualified individuals" have learned to climb the social ladder of success, they begin to rise like carbonated bubbles floating to the surface within the sweet, syrupy liquid that is government to even greater, more lucrative, powerful, and prominent positions. The process of advancement is analogous to working in the mail-room of a large corporation today, in order to get one's foot in the door, as they say, transferring to sales representative, becoming a marketing associate, then operations director, CEO, vice-president, and ultimately, president, "the big Kahuna." The bottom line is he had to keep those greedy stockholders satisfied with large profits and good returns on investment. They quickly learned the competitive nature of the business in a vicious dog attack dog world. In the last century B.C., instead of simply firing the average individual applicant and giving him the opportunity to find a new job, the powers that be would exile him into oblivion, or simply execute him on the spot. Thus, there is a subtle difference between the Roman Republic as it was, and the much improved democratic laissez faire free-enterprise system of today.
The author went on to suggest that Julius Caesar's career may have been hampered by his unpredictable fits of epilepsy, but it might just as well have been his fits of rage. He had a terrible temper. The question of his virility was brought into play. Some inquired, "Was he a lover or a fighter?" Many experts believe that he was both. I think, he fought to protect his investment, and he made love for the same reason. I also believe that life in Rome might have been much improved had some of the Romans turned their swords into scissors.
As it was, a decent pair of center-pivot scissors would not be invented for another hundred and fifty years or so, from the time Julius Caesar was in the prime of his life. The modern version of the center-pivoting scissors was supposedly invented in Rome sometime around the end of the first century A.D. So, it was never easy to cut through all the bureaucratic red tape.
What could not be emphasized enough in the book, however, in my opinion, is the quintessential fact that there are greater forces at work on earth than Julius Caesar was able to conquer with his army, utilizing all of the military might of Rome. Such forces are peace, hope, and faith. He invaded the lands and scaled the walls of kings and queens. But, eventually he must have come to realize during some lucid moment in his life that the power of love is insurmountable. It is commonly believed that the authorities in Rome may have wanted to crown Julius Caesar as the king of kings, but such grandeur pales in comparison to the glory of God. Being largely self-centered, a mere mortal made man, he was never really able to break through to the other side spiritually in his lifetime, even if he did have royal blood flowing through his veins. He was never able to conquer the unconquerable, that which is divinely and devoutly religious. In the end, he must have had to learn a bitter lesson, "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence."
R. Royce said, "As if property values around here weren't already low enough, we have drug dealers moving in and setting up shop."
"Isn't that why you bought the place?" asked Cornelius Korn, his long-time friend and business associate. "Buy low and sell high, on the assumption that property values would ultimately rise."
"Very funny. The big red brick building with its majestic marble columns was supposed to be a ground-floor opportunity for much needed improvement and community development," said Royce.
"Revitalization, is the term they often use," claimed Korn. "To bring back the beauty, grace, and charm of the old historical district downtown."
"We could convince the dealers to move their illicit business elsewhere," said Royce.
"Do you have a plan?" asked Korn.
"We could interdict their shipments," said Royce. "Disrupt their supply chain and open up their communications."
"We'll need active surveillance to track their personnel and run interference," added Korn.
"You'll have to involve detectives and lawyers to pull the plug on the key players," said Royce.
"You have to hit them where they live," said Korn. "Chicago, most likely."
"Can you make a few phone calls and get the ball rolling?" asked Royce.
"We can be fully operational within two weeks," said Korn. "Then, we'll wait and see what happens."
First they snared the lookouts. They got them off the streets and into "boot camp." One rolled over on the local dealer. One took out the bag man. The dealer gave up his supplier. The bag man snitched on his immediate supervisor.
The supplier revealed his source. The product dried up and went away. The boss took the fall and swallowed his losses. He had a crooked lawyer, but went to the penitentiary anyway. The lawyer cried to the heavyweight, his boss's boss.
R. Royce convinced the shark to take his business elsewhere. Then, to let the heavyweight know that there would be no hard feelings, he told him to "have a nice day, but go away."
The heavyweight was driving west on Murphy Boulevard the next morning about 10 o'clock when for some inexplicable reason his vehicle veered off course, careened across two lanes of opposing traffic, and collided with the solid concrete base of a large, shiny, stainless-steel traffic control box located in the grassy lawn area in close proximity to, but just south of the roadway, situated at the next intersection. Before the police, ambulance, and fire-truck could arrive, Korn had extracted the dazed, bruised, and disheveled, but not seriously injured heavyweight from his vehicle and began transporting him to the airport. He put him on the next flight bound for O'hare.
Two weeks later, Korn sold their investment property at a healthy profit to a real estate developer with vision. The buyer was relocating to the area and expanding his corporate headquarters. He said he wanted to broaden his tax base.
"That's what I'm talking about," exclaimed Royce, when Korn showed him the proceeds of a substantial wire transfer going into his personal bank account.
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It is common for those who flourish under any system to feel that the failure of others is deserved.Highlighted by 260 Kindle readers- His great knack was to recover from setbacks, admit, at least to himself, that he had been wrong, and then adapt to the new situation and somehow win in the long run.Highlighted by 248 Kindle readers
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Top reviews from other countries
Jose Garcia
Como el título del libro, es colosal.
Reviewed in Mexico 🇲🇽 on July 2, 2020
Jorge Velazquez Pagola
Caesar's return to life
Reviewed in Mexico 🇲🇽 on July 24, 2020Michele Gruosso
Informative, clear, but interesting analysis of Caesar's life and the chaotic historical background
Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on August 10, 2018
