Everything2
Near Matches
Ignore Exact
Full Text
Everything2

Julius Caesar's illness

created by Jabber

(person) by 54b (1.2 mon) (print)   ?   (I like it!) 1 C! Fri Mar 14 2003 at 16:57:45

Julius Caesar was a man of obvious intelligence, able to move incredible numbers of troops with lightning speed against incredible odds. But he did have a few downfalls;
  • Arrogance - Though this could be called a fault, many of his military victories would not have been won without a certain amount of unforgiving arrogance.
  • A strange illness often labeled as epilepsy Though Caesar's own journal never makes mention of his illness, he does hint to it. He might say, "Caesar was forced to take leave.." or the such, to cover up the fact that he was incapacitated. Many historians and servants that recorded events, however, record strange fits of migraine headaches and loss of consciousness or seizure.

    Plutarch of Chaeronea trans. by Robin Seagar.
              "Caesar was not present personally at the action:
     he began to suffer from an attack of his usual illness 
    just as he was drawing up his troops and ordering them to 
    their positions, and, being aware at once that the illness 
    was coming on, and finding that he was already losing the 
    use of his faculties, he was carried, before they entirely 
    left him, to a tower nearby, where he rested while the 
    battle was going on."
    
        and
    
              "For he was a slightly built man, had a soft and 
    white skin, suffered from headaches and was subject to 
    epileptic fits. (His first epileptic attack took place, it 
    is said, in Cordoba.) Yet so far from making his poor 
    health an excuse for living an easy life, he used warfare 
    as a tonic for his health. By long hard journeys, simple 
    diet, sleeping night after night in the open, and rough 
    living he fought off his illness and made his body strong 
    enough to resist all attacks."

    Epilepsy - 'Epilepsy is characterized by seizures of any type that occur on a chronic, recurrent basis and have no known cause. In addition to seizures, there may be other symptoms or signs, such as headache, changes in mood or energy level, dizziness, fainting, confusion, and memory loss.'

    As CloudStrife mentioned in his writeup: The Death of Julius Caesar, a man theorized Caesar had himself killed on the basis that he was aged and suffering from incontinence. Epilepsy causes memory loss, seizure, headaches, all with unknown cause. This could be the basis for that theory, although I believe that Caesar was such a truly ambitious, power-hungry individual that he would rather gladly rule as a shell than die as a soldier.


    *www.livius.org


  • printable version
    chaos

    The Death Of Julius Caesar Julius Caesar soldier No less a man
    Augustus Caesar epilepsy
    Y'know, if you log in, you can write something here, or contact authors directly on the site. Create a New User if you don't already have an account.
      Epicenter
    Login
    Password

    password reminder
    register

    Everything2 Help

    Cool Staff Picks
    Things you could have written:
    Things to consider when choosing a Martial Art
    Jane's Fighting Nodes
    Critique of Pure Reason
    Cryptic Crossword Clue Types
    The Three Men I Admired Most: Manhattan, 9/11/01
    Soul Train
    The Lord's Prayer
    Electoral College
    Marketing plans for fish scented deodorant
    London's calling, and it's calling you gay
    Kahlil Gibran
    Klein bottle
    E2 lyrics noding standard
    New Writeups
    beatrice
    You've been slowly taking me over for nearly a year, do you know that?(idea)
    Berek
    YouTube(thing)
    shaogo
    How to Pretend to Have a Job(idea)
    hapax
    Les Provinciales(review)
    zoeb
    The Scene(review)
    aneurin
    Telephone Numbers for drama purposes(idea)
    Alnilamski
    Cosmicopolis(fiction)
    eien_meru
    measure(idea)
    Dreamvirus
    pussy willow(thing)
    czeano
    Three "T"s(idea)
    UncleM
    Vantage Point 2: Fractal Thread Count(idea)
    LostPsion
    First Fiction: Night(fiction)
    Lysander Peregrine
    How to Pretend to Have a Job(idea)
    antigravpussy
    Our music, in place of breadcrumbs, is there to help us find our way back home(idea)
    t3h_poker
    She tastes like gingerbread, too.(fiction)
    E2 is a by-product of the existence of The Everything Development Company