Caesar, in Name Only
This is a paper written for CLA378: Late Antiquity
In 58 BCE, Julius Caesar was appointed to three provinces in Gaul for a five year governorship, and spent the next eight years absorbing Gaul into the Roman fold. Caesar’s second engagement of the year 58 BCE had Caesar taking on a group that crossed the Rhine, finally defeating them decisively after aggressively marching into battle near the city of Strasbourg. Four hundred years later, the junior emperor Julian is sent to control the Rhine frontier, where his second engagement had him taking on a group that crossed the Rhine, finally defeating them decisively after aggressively marching into battle near the city of Strasbourg.
There exist comprehensive contemporary accounts for both campaigns. Caesar himself wrote detailed annals of his time in Gaul. Julian’s campaigns are chronicled very favourably by Ammianus Marcellinus, who was not present, but he was serving in the military contemporaneously in the east. Caesar is a well known military figure, even in late antiquity, his legacy cannot be denied, as Julian’s title is Caesar’s name. Because of the similarities between these two figures, Ammianus’ familiarity with Caesar’s history and the Roman tradition of referencing ancient figures, Ammianus should have referenced Caesar in his writings about Julian. It comes as a surprise, then, that he does not, and this demonstrates that Caesar’s legacy is not strictly positive by late antiquity.
