Julius Caesar Tyrant Analysis

Fidel Castro dominated Cuba with an iron fist and lack of mercy, but pushed for the removal of their corrupt government administration. Saddam Hussein turned an entire nation into a war- like state and killed thousands of people, but when he was in the hospital, he would save the crust from his bread to feed the birds. Joseph Stalin ruled Russia and had as many deaths on his hands as Hitler, but he wrote romantic poetry. All three of these leaders have two things in common: they were all brutal dictators that everyone knew about and they all had a soft side to them that nobody knew about. One could say that Julius Caesar and Bill Clinton could fall into the same grouping as the three tyrants mentioned above. Because of these real world and

In the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare, Act I, scene ii, lines 135- 150, Cassius emphasizes Caesar tyranny by stating “Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus, and we petty men walk under his huge legs and peep about to find ourselves dishonorable graves.” To get to be the dictator that Caesar was, he had to start from the ground up. At a young age, Caesar decided that to become a “somebody” in politics, he had to buy his way in. Caesar conducted bribes, gladiator shows, banquets, contests, and games to gain popularity in the political world. He also married into fame; his first wife being Cornelia Cinna minor, whose father was a politician and a political ally to Caesar’s family. When he became a general in an army, Caesar began to demolish several different tribes of people and take their land to create provinces for Rome. He invaded Germany and Britain, as well. After those triumphs, Caesar went back to Rome and took it over by force. He and his army defeated the last remaining member of the First Triumvirate, Pompey, and drove him away to Egypt, where he was assassinated. This is briefly mentioned in Act I, scene i, lines 32- 35 by Marullus, a follower of Pompey: “Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home? What tributaries follow him

In Act III, scene ii, lines 87- 99, Antony, Caesar’s beloved friend, effectively displays some of Caesar’s good deeds by stating: “He was my friend, faithful and just to me; but Brutus says he was ambitious...He hath brought many captives home to Rome, whose ransoms did the general coffers fill...When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept...You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?” While a part of the First Triumvirate, Caesar made some wonderful reforms that helped improve the life of those living in Rome. He limited the grain welfare program to only those who needed it. With this change, people in real poverty got what they needed, resource wise, because all of it was going to them and not to others who could get it on their own. He made a law that limited the number of slaves that an estate could have to allow more opportunities for the poor to work; if those in poverty were slaves, they couldn’t work and make money for their family. He even reduced taxes and collections and made governors strictly responsible for their people’s money to prevent their government from losing the public’s money. Ceasar also helped Rome with his battle achievements. He gave the land he won in battle to soldiers and landless peasants to help establish more Roman colonies and ended the civil war that