Louis XIV vs. Julius Caesar

Louis XIV vs. Julius Caesar

There have been many powerful leaders in history. Many of them share certain characteristics. Louis XIV was one of these leaders. He displayed characteristics like ambitious, arrogant, and oppressive. Many characters from the play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar share these characteristics with Louis XIV.

Some of the characters, from the play, that share these characteristics with Louis are Brutus, Caesar, Marullus, and Flavius. All of these characters have said something or acted a certain way to show their similarity with Louis XIV.

Louis XIV was one of France’s most powerful leaders. He was born on September 5, 1638, at Saint Germain-en-Laye. His father, Louis XIII died when Louis was young. He had it better than many other young French rulers did. “His father’s death spared Louis XIV the beatings and abuse usually given to French princes” (Buranelli 23). His mother and Marzarin, the cardinal, raised him. He had tutors who gave him an education. Marzarin taught him everything he would need to know about court ceremony, war, and the craft of kingship. It is obvious that Louis has been brought up very different than other young kings. That is what might account for his unique style of ruling. When Marzarin died in 1661, France was shocked to find out that Louis refused to select a first minister (Michael 73). He wanted to rule alone. He chose Jean Baptiste Colbert as his financial advisor. Louis had many goals. His main one was to weaken the power of the nobles. Louis feared the nobles. He felt they were a threat to his reign. So he did all he could to make sure they would not stand in his way. He also wanted France to achieve economic, political, and cultural brilliance (Buranelli 121). As a king, Louis was very dedicated to his country. He wanted to be ruling France during its glory. He did accomplish his goal. During the high point of his reign, France was the most powerful country in Europe. Louis also gained France some new territory. He was a very extravagant ruler. Louis had a huge palace constructed for him to live in. Many other rulers were jealous of the power and luxury that he had. All of his subjects were very impressed with his rule. His life came to a sudden stop when he died during his sleep in 1715.