SAT写作人物素材之经典案例：凯撒大帝

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今日份的SAT写作人物素材是凯撒大帝。凯撒大帝的一生非常传奇，他是罗马共和国末期杰出的军事统帅、政治家，并且以其卓越的才能成为了罗马帝国的奠基者。那么让我们一起来看看，他的事迹是如何运用到SAT写作中的呢?

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman generaland statesman and a distinguished

writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation

of theRoman Republic into the Roman Empire.

In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus and Pompey formed a political alliance that was to

dominate Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to amass power through

populist tactics were opposed by the conservative elite within the Roman Senate,

among them Cato the Younger with the frequent support of Cicero. Caesar's

conquest of Gaul, completed by 51 BC, extended Rome's territory to the English

Channel and the Rhine. Caesar became the first Roman general to cross both when

he built a bridge across the Rhine and conducted the first invasion of

Britain.

These achievements granted him unmatched military power and threatened to

eclipse Pompey's standing. The balance of power was further upset by the death

of Crassus in 53 BC. Political realignments in Rome finally led to a standoff

between Caesar and Pompey, the latter having taken up the cause of the Senate.

Ordered by the Senate to stand trial in Rome for various charges, Caesar marched

on Rome with one legion—legio XIII—from Gaul to Italy, crossing the Rubicon in

49 BC. This sparked a civil war from which he emerged as the unrivaled leader of

the Roman world.

After assuming control of government, he began extensive reforms of Roman

society and government. He centralised the bureaucracy of the Republic and was

eventually proclaimed "dictator in perpetuity". A group of senators, led by

Marcus Junius Brutus, assassinated the dictator on the Ides of March (15 March)

44 BC, hoping to restore the constitutional government of the Republic. However,

the result was a series of civil wars, which ultimately led to the establishment

of the permanent Roman Empire by Caesar's adopted heir Octavius (later known as

Augustus). Much of Caesar's life is known from his own accounts of his military

campaigns, and other contemporary sources, mainly the letters and speeches of

Cicero and the historical writings of Sallust. The later biographies of Caesar

by Suetonius and Plutarch are also major sources.

Consulship and military campaigns 领事职位和军事活动

Main articles: Military campaigns of Julius Caesar and First Triumvirate

In 60 BC, Caesar sought election as consul for 59 BC, along with two other

candidates. The election was sordid – even Cato, with his reputation for

incorruptibility, is said to have resorted to bribery in favor of one of

Caesar's opponents. Caesar won, along with conservative Marcus Bibulus.

Bust of Pompey/Caesar was already in Crassus' political debt, but he also

made overtures to Pompey.

Pompey and Crassus had been at odds for a decade, so Caesar tried to

reconcile them. The three of them had enough money and political influence to

control public business. This informal alliance, known as the First Triumvirate

("rule of three men"), was cemented by the marriage of Pompey to Caesar's

daughter Julia. Caesar also married again, this time Calpurnia, who was the

daughter of another powerful senator.

Caesar proposed a law for the redistribution of public lands to the poor, a

proposal supported by Pompey, by force of arms if need be, and by Crassus,

making the triumvirate public. Pompey filled the city with soldiers, a move

which intimidated the triumvirate's opponents. Bibulus attempted to declare the

omens unfavorable and thus void the new law, but was driven from the forum by

Caesar's armed supporters. His bodyguards had their ceremonial axes broken, two

high magistrates accompanying him were wounded, and he had a bucket of excrement

thrown over him. In fear of his life, he retired to his house for the rest of

the year, issuing occasional proclamations of bad omens. These attempts to

obstruct Caesar's legislation proved ineffective. Roman satirists ever after

referred to the year as "the consulship of Julius and Caesar."

When Caesar was first elected, the aristocracy tried to limit his future

power by allotting the woods and pastures of Italy, rather than the governorship

of a province, as his military command duty after his year in office was over.

With the help of political allies, Caesar later overturned this, and was instead

appointed to govern Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy) and Illyricum(southeastern

Europe), with Transalpine Gaul (southern France) later added, giving him command

of four legions. The term of his governorship, and thus his immunity from

prosecution, was set at five years, rather than the usual one. When his

consulship ended, Caesar narrowly avoided prosecution for the irregularities of

his year in office, and quickly left for his province.

Conquest of Gaul征服高卢

Caesar was still deeply in debt, but there was money to be made as a

governor, whether by extortion or by military adventurism. Caesar had four

legions under his command, two of his provinces bordered on unconquered

territory, and parts of Gaul were known to be unstable. Some of Rome's Gallic

allies had been defeated by their rivals, with the help of a contingent of

Germanic tribes. The Romans feared these tribes were preparing to migrate south,

closer to Italy, and that they had warlike intent. Caesar raised two new legions

and defeated these tribes.

In response to Caesar's earlier activities, the tribes in the north-east

began to arm themselves. Caesar treated this as an aggressive move and, after an

inconclusive engagement against the united tribes, he conquered the tribes

piecemeal. Meanwhile, one of his legions began the conquest of the tribes in the

far north (directly opposite Britain). During the spring of 56 BC, the

Triumvirate held a conference, as Rome was in turmoil and Caesar's political

alliance was coming undone. The meeting renewed the Triumvirate and extended

Caesar's governorship for another five years. The conquest of the north was soon

completed, while a few pockets of resistance remained. Caesar now had a secure

base from which to launch an invasion of Britain.

In 55 BC, Caesar repelled an incursion into Gaul by two Germanic tribes, and

followed it up by building a bridge across the Rhine and making a show of force

in Germanic territory, before returning and dismantling the bridge. Late that

summer, having subdued two other tribes, he crossed into Britain, claiming that

the Britons had aided one of his enemies the previous year possibly the Veneti

of Brittany. His intelligence information was poor, and although he gained a

beachhead on the coast, he could not advance further, and returned to Gaul for

the winter. He returned the following year, better prepared and with a larger

force, and achieved more. He advanced inland, and established a few alliances.

However, poor harvests led to widespread revolt in Gaul, which forced Caesar to

leave Britain for the last time.

While Caesar was in Britain his daughter Julia, Pompey's wife, had died in

childbirth. Caesar tried to re-secure Pompey's support by offering him his

great-niece in marriage, but Pompey declined. In 53 BC Crassus was killed

leading a failed invasion of the east. Rome was on the edge of civil war. Pompey

was appointed sole consul as an emergency measure, and married the daughter of a

political opponent of Caesar. The Triumvirate was dead.

In 52 BC another, larger revolt erupted in Gaul, led by Vercingetorix.

Vercingetorix managed to unite the Gallic tribes and proved an astute commander,

defeating Caesar in several engagements, but Caesar's elaborate siege-works at

the Battle of Alesia finally forced his surrender. Despite scattered outbreaks

of warfare the following year, Gaul was effectively conquered. Plutarch claimed

that the army had fought against three million men during the Gallic Wars, of

whom one million died, and another million were enslaved. The Romans subjugated

300 tribes and destroyed 800 cities. However, in view of the difficulty in

finding accurate counts in the first place, Caesar's propagandistic purposes,

and the common exaggeration of numbers in ancient texts, the stated totals of

enemy combatants are likely to be too high.

Civil war内战

In 50 BC, the Senate, led by Pompey, ordered Caesar to disband his army and

return to Rome because his term as governor had finished. Caesar thought he

would be prosecuted if he entered Rome without the immunity enjoyed by a

magistrate. Pompey accused Caesar of insubordination and treason. In January 49

BC, Caesar crossed the Rubicon river (the frontier boundary of Italy) with only

one legion and ignited civil war. Upon crossing the Rubicon, Caesar, according

to Plutarchand Suetonius, is supposed to have quoted the Athenian playwright

Menander, in Greek, "the die is cast".

Erasmus, however, notes that the more accurate translation of the Greek

imperative mood would be "alea icta esto" let the die be cast. Pompey and much

of the Senate fled to the south, having little confidence in his newly raised

troops. Despite greatly outnumbering Caesar, who only had his Thirteenth Legion

with him, Pompey did not intend to fight. Caesar pursued Pompey, hoping to

capture him before his legions could escape.

Pompey managed to escape before Caesar could capture him. Caesar decided to

head for Spain, while leaving Italy under the control of Mark Antony. Caesar

made an astonishing 27-day route-march to Spain, where he defeated Pompey's

lieutenants. He then returned east, to challenge Pompey in Greece where in July

48 BC atDyrrhachium Caesar barely avoided a catastrophic defeat. He decisively

defeated Pompey at Pharsalus in an exceedingly short engagement later that

year.

In Rome, Caesar was appointed dictator, with Mark Antony as his Master of the

Horse (second in command); Caesar presided over his own election to a second

consulship and then, after eleven days, resigned this dictatorship.[57][58]

Caesar then pursued Pompey to Egypt, where Pompey was soon murdered.

Caesar then became involved with an Egyptian civil war between the child

pharaoh and his sister, wife, and co-regent queen,Cleopatra. Perhaps as a result

of the pharaoh's role in Pompey's murder, Caesar sided with Cleopatra; he is

reported to have wept at the sight of Pompey's head, which was offered to him by

the pharaoh as a gift. In any event, Caesar withstood theSiege of Alexandria and

later he defeated the pharaoh's forces at the Battle of the Nile in 47 BC and

installed Cleopatra as ruler. Caesar and Cleopatra celebrated their victory with

a triumphal procession on the Nile in the spring of 47 BC. The royal barge was

accompanied by 400 additional ships, and Caesar was introduced to the luxurious

lifestyle of the Egyptian pharaohs.

Caesar and Cleopatra never married, as Roman law recognized marriages only

between two Roman citizens. Caesar continued his relationship with Cleopatra

throughout his last marriage, which lasted fourteen years – in Roman eyes, this

did not constitute adultery – and may have fathered a son called Caesarion.

Cleopatra visited Rome on more than one occasion, residing in Caesar's villa

just outside Rome across the Tiber.

Late in 48 BC, Caesar was again appointed Dictator, with a term of one year.

After spending the first months of 47 BC in Egypt, Caesar went to the Middle

East, where he annihilated the king of Pontus; his victory was so swift and

complete that he mocked Pompey's previous victories over such poor enemies. On

his way to Pontus, Caesar visited from May 27 to 29, 47 BC, (May 25-27.) Tarsus,

where he met enthusiastic support, but where, according to Cicero, Cassius was

planning to kill him at this point. Thence, he proceeded to Africa to deal with

the remnants of Pompey's senatorial supporters. He quickly gained a significant

victory in 46 BC over Cato, who then committed suicide.

After this victory, he was appointed Dictator for ten years. Nevertheless,

Pompey's sons escaped to Spain; Caesar gave chase and defeated the last remnants

of opposition in the Battle of Munda in March 45 BC. During this time, Caesar

was elected to his third and fourth terms as consul in 46 BC and 45 BC (this

last time without a colleague).

Dictatorship独裁统治

When Caesar returned to Rome, the Senate granted him triumphs for his

victories, ostensibly over Gaul, Egypt, Pharnaces and Juba, rather than over his

Roman opponents. Not everything went Caesar's way. When Arsinoe IV, Egypt's

former queen, was paraded in chains, the spectators admired her dignified

bearing and were moved to pity. Triumphal games were held, with beast-hunts

involving 400 lions, and gladiator contests. A naval battle was held on a

flooded basin at theField of Mars. At the Circus Maximus, two armies of war

captives, each of 2,000 people, 200 horse and 20 elephants, fought to the death.

Again, some bystanders complained, this time at Caesar's wasteful extravagance.

A riot broke out, and only stopped when Caesar had two rioters sacrificed by the

priests on the Field of Mars.

After the triumph, Caesar set forth to passing an unprecedented legislative

agenda. He ordered a census be taken, which forced a reduction in the grain

dole, and that jurors could only come from the Senate or the equestrian ranks.

He passed a sumptuary law that restricted the purchase of certain luxuries.

After this, he passed a law that rewarded families for having many children, to

speed up the repopulation of Italy. Then he outlawed professional guilds, except

those of ancient foundation, since many of these were subversive political

clubs. He then passed a term limit law applicable to governors. He passed a debt

restructuring law, which ultimately eliminated about a fourth of all debts

owed.

The Forum of Caesar, with its Temple of Venus Genetrix, was then built, among

many other public works. Caesar also tightly regulated the purchase of

state-subsidised grain and reduced the number of recipients to a fixed number,

all of whom were entered into a special register.From 47 to 44 BC he made plans

for the distribution of land to about 15,000 of his veterans.

The most important change, however, was his reform of the calendar. The

calendar at the time was regulated by the movement of the moon, and this had

resulted in a great deal of disorder. Caesar replaced this calendar with the

Egyptian calendar, which was regulated by the sun. He set the length of the year

to 365.25 days by adding an intercalary/leap day at the end of February every

fourth year.

To bring the calendar into alignment with the seasons, he decreed that three

extra months be inserted into 46 BC (the ordinary intercalary month at the end

of February, and two extra months after November). Thus, the Julian calendar

opened on 1 January 45 BC. This calendar is almost identical to the current

Western calendar.

Shortly before his assassination, he passed a few more reforms. He

established a police force, appointed officials to carry out his land reforms,

and ordered the rebuilding of Carthage and Corinth. He also extended Latin

rights throughout the Roman world, and then abolished the tax system and

reverted to the earlier version that allowed cities to collect tribute however

they wanted, rather than needing Roman intermediaries. His assassination

prevented further and larger schemes, which included the construction of an

unprecedented temple to Mars, a huge theater, and a library on the scale of the

Library of Alexandria.

He also wanted to convert Ostia to a major port, and cut a canal through the

Isthmus of Corinth. Militarily, he wanted to conquer the Dacians, Parthians, and

avenge the loss at Carrhae. Thus, he instituted a massive mobilization. Shortly

before his assassination, the Senate named him censor for life and Father of the

Fatherland, and the month of Quintilis was renamed July in his honor.

He was granted further honors, which were later used to justify his

assassination as a would-be divine monarch; coins were issued bearing his image

and his statue was placed next to those of the kings. He was granted a golden

chair in the Senate, was allowed to wear triumphal dress whenever he chose, and

was offered a form of semi-official or popular cult, with Mark Antony as his

high priest.

Political reforms政治改革

The history of Caesar's political appointments is complex and uncertain.

Caesar held both the dictatorship and the tribunate, but alternated between

theconsulship and the Proconsulship. His powers within the state seem to have

rested upon these magistracies. He was first appointed dictator in 49 BC

possibly to preside over elections, but resigned his dictatorship within eleven

days. In 48 BC, he was re-appointed dictator, only this time for an indefinite

period, and in 46 BC, he was appointed dictator for ten years.

In February 44 BC, one month before his assassination, he was appointed

dictator for life. Under Caesar, a significant amount of authority was vested in

his lieutenants, mostly because Caesar was frequently out of Italy. In October

45 BC, Caesar resigned his position as sole consul, and facilitated the election

of two successors for the remainder of the year which theoretically restored the

ordinary consulship, since the constitution did not recognize a single consul

without a colleague.

In 48 BC, Caesar was given permanent tribunician powers, which made his

person sacrosanct and allowed him to veto the Senate, although on at least one

occasion, tribunes did attempt to obstruct him. The offending tribunes in this

case were brought before the Senate and divested of their office. This was not

the first time that Caesar had violated a tribune's sacrosanctity. After he had

first marched on Rome in 49 BC, he forcibly opened the treasury although a

tribune had the seal placed on it. After the impeachment of the two obstructive

tribunes, Caesar, perhaps unsurprisingly, faced no further opposition from other

members of the Tribunician College.

Denarius (42 BC) issued by Cassius Longinusand Lentulus Spinther, depicting

the crowned head of Liberty and on the reverse a sacrificial jug and lituus,

from the military mint in Smyrna.

In 46 BC, Caesar gave himself the title of "Prefect of the Morals", which was

an office that was new only in name, as its powers were identical to those of

the censors. Thus, he could hold censorial powers, while technically not

subjecting himself to the same checks that the ordinary censors were subject to,

and he used these powers to fill the Senate with his own partisans. He also set

the precedent, which his imperial successors followed, of requiring the Senate

to bestow various titles and honors upon him. He was, for example, given the

title of "Father of the Fatherland" and "imperator".

Coins bore his likeness, and he was given the right to speak first during

senate meetings. Caesar then increased the number of magistrates who were

elected each year, which created a large pool of experienced magistrates, and

allowed Caesar to reward his supporters.

Caesar even took steps to transform Italy into a province, and to link more

tightly the other provinces of the empire into a single cohesive unit. This

addressed the underlying problem that had caused the Social War decades earlier,

where individuals outside Rome and Italy were not considered "Roman", and thus

were not given full citizenship rights. This process, of fusing the entire Roman

Empire into a single unit, rather than maintaining it as a network of unequal

principalities, would ultimately be completed by Caesar's successor, the emperor

Augustus.

When Caesar returned to Rome in 47 BC, the ranks of the Senate had been

severely depleted, and so he used his censorial powers to appoint many new

senators, which eventually raised the Senate's membership to 900. All the

appointments were of his own partisans, which robbed the senatorial aristocracy

of its prestige, and made the Senate increasingly subservient to him. To

minimize the risk that another general might attempt to challenge him, Caesar

passed a law that subjected governors to term limits.

Near the end of his life, Caesar began to prepare for a war against the

Parthian Empire. Since his absence from Rome might limit his ability to install

his own consuls, he passed a law which allowed him to appoint all magistrates in

43 BC, and all consuls and tribunes in 42 BC. This, in effect, transformed the

magistrates from being representatives of the people to being representatives of

the dictator.

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