Many people seem to have a favorable opinion of him, for supposedly defending the Roman republic during its collapse, but seeing his history and actions he did everything to defend the interests of the Roman elite to the detriment of the Roman population, and abused the system against their enemies when it was convenient and was a landowner famous for building the buildings in a horrible shape. Still, it has a reputation for having defenders to this day.
From parenti’s book about Julius Caesar he sounds like his time’s version of the bourgeois idealogue so I don’t like him.
yeah, IIRC he was a landlord and slave owner whose claims are still taken at face value by bourgeois historians
That’s what bothers me, they take his allegations as truth, without doubting their veracity.
It’s not the veracity that has to be taken into account but rather the context. There are very little competing accounts from his time because historically persistent writing was a huge privilege back then.
that’s the fundamental problem with bourgeois history, it doesn’t reflect the working class perspective even when it’s been recorded (which was much less common back then for obvious reasons)
Studying him, this is the impression you get of him.
cool guy i like his jester hat but i think his a bit weird talking to the night mother alone and all that, but i think we can have a great friendship since i know he would never betray me.
Literally I was thinking to myself “was Cicero a Roman court jester that made it to Senator” for like half a second before I realized how dumb I was lol
Lol, Skyrim memes go brrrrrrrr…
I’m with Engels on this one.
other stuff about him
Cicero abhorred revolutionaries as mentally unwell and deranged.
Here his spinelessness displays proudly, as he argues for a mixed [political] economy: something that takes the best from all three forms of governance; kingship, aristocracy, and democracy.
He’s been the ruling class’s guy from his first oration to millennia beyond his death. He bore nothing but contempt for the masses and sought whatever opportunities he could that would make his pathetic life more comfortable at their expense.
Peoples’ histories will eventually relegate him to the prestigious honor of having been the creator of one of the world’s first gender neutral restrooms. 🪦🚻
quotes from The Assassination of Julius Caesar by Michael Parenti
Funnily enough, he was also an archetypical liberal, being homo novus in Roman establishment, he ceaslessly bootlicked guys who really despised him, but opposed those that respected him. His death was fitting when he insulted the wrong guy and none of his “esteemed colleagues” lifted a finger to defend him.
I was listening to people reviewing the first season of HBO’s Rome, and what stuck with me is they pointed out that post-2016, the Pompey/Anti-Caesar faction seems like the most out of touch geriatric Democrats. Even if they are in the abstract on the right side, they are so dedicated to the status quo and can’t seem to understand that things have moved on, and people don’t believe in the forms or institutions anymore. So they are stuck defending institutions from the right and complaining about how Trump/Caesar is not following the norms.
I didn’t vote for him.
Cool guy, I met him in Miami once. No complaints here.
People hear “Roman Republic” and get all starry eyed. You’re right that he was defending a corrupt and incompetent regime that did nothing for the people of Rome and only existed to allow ever greater debauchery by their ruling elite. But because they used the magical “republic” word people assume it is automatically great. Same way the US state and it’s biggest champions have legions of defenders today.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
