Caesar as Storyteller

Caesar as Storyteller

Julius Caesar as Storyteller? Well, yes. We remember Caesar as many things: general, tyrant, reformer of the calendar and, yes, author.  But how often do we give him credit for his virtuosity in spinning yarns?

See Also: “Caesar as Teacher”

Let’s start with his Commentaries on the War in Gaul. From the title, it sounds like it might be nothing more than a dry recitation of marches and battles. And indeed, that’s all that the genre of military commentary required in Caesar’s day.  Caesar, however, was reaching for something more.  He was aiming to capture the imagination of his readers.  He knew that we all love stories, especially stories about people. We want characters we can identify with, heroes to admire, and villains to despise.  Caesar gives us all of the above.

Heroes

We meet a couple of classic heroes in Book V, chapter 44. Two centurions, Pullo and Vorenus, are bucking for promotion (primis ordinibus appropinquarent).  They are serving together in northern Gaul in a legion commanded by Quintus Cicero, brother of the famous orator Marcus Cicero.  

When their camp is attacked by the Nervii the two centurions charge outside the ramparts, seeking to out-do each other in acts of valor.  In the process, each saves the other’s life. As Caesar puts it,  Alter alteri inimicus auxilio salutique esset, “each rival [inimicus, literally, personal enemy] was the help and salvation to the other.” They return to the camp in triumph, together.

I read an article many years ago that recommended this passage as an ideal introduction to Caesar for adolescent students. It’s easy to see why.  This brief story is the prototype of all those “buddy” movies in which the two soldiers, or cops, or cowboys, or whoever, engage in a bitter rivalry, but nurture a deep respect and even affection for each other under the surface.

Enter the Villain

Caesar also gives us plenty of bad guys to despise.  One of the best known of Caesar’s villains is the very first character we encounter.  In the second chapter of the first book we encounter a prominent Helvetian nobleman named Orgetorix.  Caesar tells us that Orgetorix, influenced my a desire for kingship (regni cupiditate inductus) forms a conspiracy with other nobles (coniurationem noblitatis fecit). His plan is to persuade the Helvetians to leave their home in the Alps and migrate, ostensibly to the Atlantic coast. Once the Hevetians are on the move, he and his fellow conspirators will redirect and use them as an army of conquest.   

Orgetorix himself comes to a bad end, and rather quickly, once his people find out what he’s up to.  His conspiracy, however, sets a chain of events in motion. The end result is that in a few short years somebody has indeed gained the ruling power over all Gaul.  Not Orgetorix, as it turns out, nor any other Gaulish chieftain. As it happens, the new master of Gaul is none other than our author, Gaius Julius Caesar.

Ulterior Motives

Now, I don’t doubt Caesar took pride in his ability to tell a ripping good story.  And yet, I won’t be the first to suggest that he’s putting his narrative skill to a more practical end.  His lively accounts of the conquest of Gaul served his political ambitions by keeping his name current back in Rome. The more dramatic the narrative, the more it built up his following. Regni cupiditate inductus indeed! It also gave him the opportunity to make a case for himself, given that his political enemies were eager to prosecute him when he returned at the end of his governorship.

My point here is that we who are teachers can and should make good use of the dramatic aspects of Caesar’s Commentaries.  In fact, we have a drama inside a drama. First, there is the inherent drama of Caesar’s narrative. In addition to that, we can look at the role it plays in the larger drama of his struggle for power and the final collapse of the Roman Republic.

Honey around the cup

Now, I’m always happy to share a good story with my students.  Nonetheless, like Caesar, I’m looking to get more out of it.  Like Lucretius’ honey around the cup that sweetens bitter medicine (De Rerum Natura IV 12-13) Caesar’s skill as a storyteller puts our students in a place where they can better appreciate some of the linguistic lessons he can teach.  That will be the topic of my next article, “Caesar as Teacher.”

Featured image top of page: Vercingetorix throws down his arms at the feet of Julius Caesar, painting by Lionel Royer in 1899. Musée Crozatier, Le Puy-en-Velay, France. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons {{PD-US}}