Theme Of Destruction In Julius Caesar

Destruction in Rome’s Dominance
“At the time, Caesar had just completed a ruthless grab for doctoral power by executing hundreds of rival nobles and defeating armies led by his rival Gnaeus Pompey, also executed” (Matthews 69). Although Julius Caesar is known for being the ruler of one of the most refined and robust empires known to man, the reality is quite different. Rome was an empire that was stricken with the disease that cursed many great domains—power. Power was the basis Rome’s mightiest indiscretions. Plagued by hypocritical religious views, inhumane actions, and corrupt government practices, Rome faced an inevitable decline.
Although Rome’s government was rooted in religion, traditions were broken, as well as the hypocritical

judgement of neighboring societies. Diminished by many Roman practices, morals that should have been kept true were not abided by. Roman society was split into two worshipping groups—Christians and those who practiced polytheism. Surprisingly, the Christians were the ones who took part in acts that went directly against the Bible. During their rituals, many Christians practiced incest and cannibalism, as well as homosexuality in their daily lives (“Moral Principles”). Extramarital affairs were often had by both husbands and wives, making the institution of marriage rooted in lies. Against the basic belief of only worshipping one god, rulers were seen as divine beings and worshipped as such. The opinion “Their chief had kept inviolate the Christian churches” is had by some, but the views of the church were violated on many occasions (Dill 313).
Romans hypocritically judged other groups of people for wrongdoings when they, themselves, were among the worst.

Looked down upon by the Romans for public nudity, the Greeks were subject to profuse ridicule. Along with the Greeks, Christians from neighboring societies were blamed for terrible acts such as fires and destruction of properties. Roman Christians saw no problem in accusing their fellow Christians of anything they did not want to take responsibility for or they did not agree with. The refusal of Christians and civilians from conquered nations to praise rulers caused many minute revolutions and even massacres. These indiscriminate killings were only occurring as a result of the rulers’ tarnished false pride; however, these pointless acts were only a portion of the atrocities of Rome (“Moral Principles”).
As Rome gained power and territories, they lost their humanity. Notorious for having an ample supply of prisoners of war, Rome was home to an interesting business of selling civilians. Prisoners of war were sold as slaves and as gladiators who were forced to fight to the death in front of all citizens. The selling of these mostly innocent people became a successful market of commerce known as the Lanista (Matthew 46). All regard for human value was forgotten when Rome took part in the marketing of

people.
While life in Rome was great for Romans on the home front, territories that were conquered by Rome experienced a life of despair during the invasions. The civilians were starved and taken from their homes while Romans gained wealth from what they had taken from the irreproachable citizens. This was conveyed in the quote “There were men so poor they starved in the midst of plenty and men so rich even they could not count their wealth” (Matthews 8). Described by Samuel Dill, “The invasions were terrible in their inevitable slaughter and rapine” (Dill 323). Ruthless executions and the uprooting of people from their lives and estates for the sake of expansion was especially prevalent and viewed as necessary. As stated, “Her power was founded on force and won by bloody conquests, which caused far greater misery over vast spaces of the world than inflicted by the Gothic inroads” (Dill 314). Determined to be the greatest, Rome was willing to use any means necessary to do so. Shattering all mercy, the yearning to be dominant left Romans callous.
Obscenities were not limited to just the military actions—lies told by politicians were also a major part of Roman life. In Roman government, citizens were not represented but were bamboozled and indirectly forced into wars amongst themselves due to the corrupt government practices. Politicians were among the most dishonest people of Rome, and did nothing to represent the citizens. The Roman Empire has been referred to as a “period of political convulsion” (Dill 451). Bribed by politicians, citizens would be given special contracts securing their vote for specific candidates (Matthews 13); however, these contracts were not always signed willingly. After the falsely elected officials took office, they used their rank to further their own wealth instead of attempting to further the wealth of the people. Overtaxation of the poor and the overspending of the rich eventually tarnished Rome’s economy (Andrews).
The unwillingness of the politicians to work with the citizens, rich and poor, led to the development of smaller governments, which had more cons than pros.

To avoid being taxed, many Romans would attempt to create their own fiefdoms with sometimes separate laws. A fiefdom is a plot of land in which servants lived and were presided over by noblemen. Although they protected the noblemen that owned the land, the servants also worked as farmers. The rulers of these fiefdoms did not always get along with one another, and eventually, these disputes led to the distrust in small governments as well as Rome’s central government. Arising due to the constant clashing and abundance of tiny kingdoms, civil wars in Rome were habitual. Rome’s economy and civil relationships would have been significantly more successful if politicians had adequately done their jobs instead of being inconsiderate in their civic

deeds.
Rome was a great empire, but with its greatness came gore and greed. As they expanded, their religious values and conduct lessened. Along with lost morals, Rome became an empire of despicable human marketing and treated their prisoners as animals for game. Politicians were neither virtuous nor accountable. Contributing almost directly to its momentous downfall, Rome’s indecencies afflicted what could have been the greatest empire in recorded history. Ergo, even the most patriotic Romans could not deny the empire was not what it had been during its prime (Dill 342). Nonetheless, fault is held by the Romans themselves.