It has become a dire need, conscript fathers, for us to speak about Caesar’s legacy. The Senate must determine how history will remember Caesar, and how his actions shall be defended or denigrated. It is my hope that we can come to an Ultimate and Unanimous resolution to this question.
In the past month, Marcus Lepidus and Gaius Octavianus both attempted to use their connections with Caesar’s Legacy for personal gain. I worry that Marcus Antonius sought to do the same with Caesar’s Acta. If we do not provide the people guidance in this matter, fathers, then we will be allowing other legacy-hunters the use of Caesar’s name to stir dissension among our ranks. We must, as a united group, state firmly and finally how Caesar’s life shall be remembered by all true Romans.
(As I write this, word has been brought to me that Antony too, not having learned from the criminal, the brat and the traitor, claims Caesar’s legacy as his own. In this letter he has contradicted everything read on Wednesday, and shows just how deeply he venerates the Republic and its laws, by seeking to destroy them.)
The question of Caesar’s legacy takes on added weight for me personally, as I prepare to teach young Marcus Ptolemy about his father. What actions of Caesar’s shall he be taught to emulate, and which to avoid? For, as in every man’s life, some of Caesar’s actions can be judged right and appropriate, while other actions must be censored as destructive and harmful.
Lepidus, Octavianus, Dolabella and M. Antonius were heirs to Caesar’s legacy, as am I and the rest of the Senate who has remained loyal to the Republic. Consider whose actions have been judged traitorous to the State, and whose actions have helped preserve it. That both the legacy of saving, and that of threatening the Republic have come from one man indicate that contradictions existed within Caesar’s life. We, Conscript Fathers, must disparage those actions which we have prosecuted in others, and praise those actions which we extol when found in ourselves. Likewise we must prosecute those actions of Caesar’s which lead to the treason of Lepidus, Octavianus, Dolabella and Antonius, and yet commend those actions of his which lead to the expansion of Roman power and prestige.
How does civil war advance Roman might, when Roman seizes Roman property, and Roman slaughters Roman life? How can ANY MAN who chooses to march on Rome argue that he holds the Republic foremost in his heart? How can any true Roman seek the death of another Roman, simply for his own profit? Likewise, how can any True Roman allow an enemy of Rome to live, when the State will be more secure with that man’s death? Such were Caesar’s actions when he left Gaul, under the advice of Antony, and it is such a legacy that Antony follows now. We cannot praise the actions of a man who disparages the authority and power of the Senate, trusting rather in his own deceptions and lies.
We can only commend those actions of Caesar, or indeed of any Roman, that increase Rome’s majesty without loss of honor, property, or life of another Roman. No majesty is gained when a Roman suffers involuntary harm; Roman honor only increases when ALL Romans are able to profit from the actions taken. Unfortunately, recent men have sought profit for themselves at the expense of their fellow Roman. Under such conditions, it is necessary for the safety of the greatest number to be protected from the machinations of thieves and murderers. The Senate cannot approve any action that does not hold the Republic’s safety at it’s core.
This same guideline must govern our actions concerning Caesar’s Acta. If we fully deny the power of Caesar’s Acta, then we will also invalidate the right of many of our own members to hold the magistracies which allow them to guide the Republic toward safety and prosperity. Such an action invites chaos, as the senate must question by what right anyone may hold power. If, on the other hand, we recognize that Caesar’s Acta should be fully enacted, all our actions since the last Ides must be questioned. What if the Acta speak positively of M.Lepidus, C. Octavianus, or P. Dolabella? What if the Acta recommend that M. Antonius be invested with additional honors beyond those of the Consulship, whose powers he has manipulated to be advantageous to himself? The Republic has suffered too much during the time between the Acta’s dictation and the current day. Caesar could not have spoken thoughtfully of the situations which we have faced since his death. The Acta speak of a Republic that Caesar envisioned, not the one which exists.
The Senate must be allowed to judge the Acta not as a single set of suggestions, but as individual actum from a man with an incomplete understanding of Rome’s current political situation. We must be given the power to oversee which Actum will increase the glory of our State, which will incur harm, and which no longer have any bearing.
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