Read it all!-----The Death of the Republic

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Notes from Der Kooler

The Death of the Republic
( If you don't like a parallel history parable, this post isn't for you)
I was inspired by a line from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar to draft this post. It will appear at the end.
I studied the line and the play, several aspects about Shakespeare and the play, pushed me to do some research about the author and the assassination.

Caesar was murdered March 15, 44 BC by a cabal of Roman Senators( perhaps as many as 60 were involved , privy to it, or approved it.) The Senate consisted of two houses, Patricians ( the nobility) and the Plebeians ( commoners). At the time, there were upwards of 600 Senators.
Many Roman authors wrote about the event, the causes, the aftermath, and gave opinions about it.
Shakespeare himself drew heavily upon these writings, and then embellished by adding dialogue in character to the person's, perspectives, and events.
Caesar and Pompey had fought a brief private war a few years before, with control of the Senate's affairs at stake. Caesar portrayed himself as a man of the people and a reformer. Pompey as the protector of tradition.
Caesar won as Pompey was murdered by Cleopatra's brother.
Caesar crossed the Rubicon River with his army in violation of Senate edicts and tradition, and was to declare himself Consul for life.
Shakespeare wrote his dramas as allegories and social lessons for his time. By cloaking them as historical plays, he was able to issue object lessons without invoking too much heat from those in power
Shakespeare knew the death of Caesar would lead to civil war. He died @ 25 years before the English Civil War erupted.
The play itself doesn't catch the entirety or flavor of the event. In all fairness, it was written at a time where almost all nations were ruled by monarchies and the common people were subject to all the power grabs and intrigues as normal and routine.
The Old Roman Republic had been dead for at least a generation prior to Caesar's death. The Slave Revolt had been put down. The old ideal of doing public service for the good of the nation was now a cliche. Nobility based on historic clan was replaced with wealth, power, and political allegiance. Marriage was often about maneuvering. The gods weren't revered but invoked for posturing..
Patricians held office for life. The plebians sought election by winning anyway possible, inorder to gain power and wealth to become a new patrician.
The commoner sold his vote for money or favor. A writer later wrote of them :" all they care about is bread and circuses ( chariot races). Food was subsidized because Rome couldn't grow enough grain. A dole system began to be set up. The Senate spent more than it had. Much spending was done for lobbyists, merchant guilds, and public works. The military usually favored their leaders who paid them and allowed spoils. In essence, they were privatized..
The Roman Republic had devolved into a cesspool, a swamp, a den of vipers.
So the death of Caesar basically boiled down to the Republican elites killing a Populist elite. One group was trying to save the illusion that was the Republic , and one trying to " reform" the system.
The people were against Caesar becoming a dictator, but were outraged by one group engaging in a heretofore unspeakable and untouchable taboo of political gain through assassination.

In the end, those in power, those with money, those with prestige split the country apart by unthinkable acts, by selfish ambition, by self serving self centered crossing of untouchable lines with little or delusional thought, destroying the very system trying to be preserved or corrected.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. 

The use of absolute power destroys absolutely. 

The seeking of absolutism is absolutely devoid of reason.
Caesar's assassins had a multitude of different reasons to kill him. 

Yet in the end, they were totally obsessed with ridding themselves and secondarily the nation of Julius Caesar. 

Many had focused on this obsession for years. 

Their blinders prevented them from seeing the real consequences. 

When an authoritarian group acts unilaterally in the name of the people, by invoking public safety and for the public good, when this group uses public power without public consent, they become no better than the " tyrants" they seek to destroy..
As Anthony says in Act 3, scene 1, lines 299-301
" Cry ' Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men groaning for burial"
Or another way: " put your sword back in its place, for those who draw the sword shall die by it"
Once blood is spilled upon drawing the sword, a course is set, and a reckoning beckoned."