Essay --

Garrett Pyatt Mark Whitters HIST 179 12/12/2013 Position Paper: In Regards to Caesar's Body The topic of my position paper is: What should be done with Gaius Julius Caesar's body? This issue is of great importance and has an assortment of ideas and options of what should be done with Caesar associated with it. For example, my character Marcus Antonius, believed that the body of Caesar should be honored and a temple should be built to his glory. Marcus, along with most of the Caesarians, believed that the service for Julius should be held in public so that all of those who held him dear could witness it. However, there are others who oppose the idea of honoring Caesar in death as they had loathed him in life. The majority of people who disliked Caesar wanted one of two things: His ceremony be held in private where only his family and colleagues can attend along with no temple to honor him, or alternatively, they would have the body cast out into the waters of the Tiber river. Both those who had love for Caesar, and those who had hatred all have reasons to react in the way t hat they did. On one side of the argument you have those who supported Caesar and most all that he did for Rome as its ruler. These people acknowledge Caesar's military victories such as those in Gaul and Britannia where he ousted the barbaric enemies of Rome. They believe that he was a brilliant leader during both times of war, and times of peace. Caesar is also admired by them for his clemency toward his enemies after the conflict with Pompey and the mercy that he generously bestowed upon them. Additionally these people most certainly include the loyal Soldiers of Caesar that followed him without question. All of these Romans believed that Caesar made Rome t... ...ble at this point in time and its senators should think about this when deciding what form of actions that they should take. In the end, I simply think that a proper burial for Caesar after his assassination would be the proper course of action for the senators of Rome to take. This would prevent any potential unrest that could occur from dishonoring Caesar and would also show that Rome will not be brought down in times such as these. Also, the people who dislike Caesar and are against his proper ceremony are already angered by the actions that he has taken in the past. Therefore they wont gain any new hatred for Caesar is already dead. As Caesar once said, â€Å"No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected.† For in times such as these when unanticipated events occur, the best option is to move on and grow from the tragedy in a positive way.