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Did Caesars fame rub off on his contemporaries?

• Message 1.Β 

  Posted by Mckay1402 (U5278290) on Monday, 6th December 2010

  Around Julis Caesar there were many people who are still famous and renowned today. These include Pompey, Cicero and Crassus among others. Although these people were undoubtably large characters I am interested to know whether they would have been as famous in their own right had Caesar not existed.
  
  Also what would have led to so many large and talented personalities all being around at the same time? Why are characters such as Scipio Africanus not remembered as well when they certainly had similar levels of talent and fame at the time?
  
  Is it inevitable that the end of any regime will throw up famous names that will remain famous for thousands of years (Trotsky, Lenin Stalin)? Is there another reason for these names being so famous? Did the Romans consider the leaders of this time (not Caesar himself) to be more talented than previously or is it just the way we remember them?

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Mutatis_Mutandis (U8620894) on Tuesday, 7th December 2010

  The main criterion for a Roman to be still personally famous today, is that the literary works of his period (or detailed histories written not much later) must have been preserved through antiquity and the middle ages.
  
  Scipio was lucky enough to employ Polybius. But Caesar had the fortune of being a great writer himself. So was Cicero, even if he had few really new ideas. For generations, they really defined the standard of classical Latin. It ensured them a lasting place in generations of schoolbooks right up to today, although declining as Latin is no longer a popular subject. And because much of Cicero's letters were also preserved, we even have a body of political correspondence rich in gossip. There are few other period for which we are so lucky.
  
  The military subject matter of Caesar's work and the moral philosophy of Cicero were also inoffensive to medieval scribes, who tended to apply Christian filters to anything they preserved. Many other authors were omitted from the record.
  
  

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