The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History - Karatunov.net

The greatest general of his day, Pompey returned home in 62 bc and celebra
ted a magn i f i cent triu m ph . He gave games and shows and made arra n gements
to provide Rome with its first stone theater, based on the one he had seen
at Mytilene. His popularity and prestige were assured, and he was the most eligible
bachelor in Rome, since he had divorced his wife Mucia by means of a letter
sent to her while he journeyed home. His standing in the Senate, however,
was not so high, and he had made enemies other than Lucullus. When the time
came to ratify all his eastern arrangements and to provide for his veterans, he
was blocked at every turn. As the months went by, bringing no results, he realized
that he needed allies who could forge a path through the political maze. In
60 bc Gaius Julius Caesar returned from Spain, determined to be elected consul
for the following year.
Gaius Julius Caesar (100–44 BC)
G r e at S o l d i e r s a n d B at t l e s 279
Th ere is an unavoi d a ble bias tow a rd Ju l ius Caesar in any account of Rom a n
gen eralship or po l i tical ach i evem en t . O f a ll the gen erals of the Roman worl d ,
Caesar clearly emerges as the most dazzling and energetic, partly because his life
story is better documented than that of any other Roman commander, but also
because he was a brilliant psychologist who knew how to make men follow him,
keep their faith in him, and do what he asked of them. His hallmark was speed,
bordering on rashness and impatience, but where speed was not the answer he
was shrewd enough to find another way. He lost a few battles but never a war,
and though he threatened he did not resort to proscriptions to convert his vision
of Rome to reality.
His career began inauspiciously, unlike the glamorous Pompey, who was a
s o l d i er and com m a n der from his earliest yo ut h . Al t h o u gh he bel on ged to an
a ri s toc ra tic family, Caesar was rel a tively poor, and his father had died yo u n g
wi t h o ut having re ach ed the con su l s h i p. L ack of i m m ed i a te con sular ance s try
need not adversely affect the career of a young aristocrat, but Caesar’s loyalty to
his uncle Gaius Ma riu s , a l beit wi t h o ut active parti c i p a ti on in the infamous
massacres of Marius’s last days, almost ensured his early demise. When he came
to the attention of Sulla, the nineteen-year-old Caesar was asked to divorce his
wife Cornelia in order to marry a lady of Sulla’s choosing, in order to bind the
young man to the Di ct a tor ’s cause, but Caesar ref u s ed and went into hiding,
contracting malaria before he was captured. Sulla was reputed to have remarked
that this young man needed careful watching, since he had many Mariuses in
him, but he left him alone and did not force through a divorce and remarriage,
persuaded to leniency by relatives of Caesar’s mother.
Removing himself from Rome, Caesar obtained his first military post on the
s t a f f of Ma rcus Mi nu c ius Th ermu s , a Su llan gen eral and procon sul of As i a ,