Most of us here at the eCool Compound have been trying to keep our OCD tendencies far, far from Twitter.  It’s not really so hard for us to imagine a complete breakdown of our social and professional lives, as we succumb to the temptation of monitoring every single Twitter posted by our dearly beloveds.

Our resolve held firm…until today…when one of us awoke to the news that even Julius Caesar is twittering.  If you want a piece of that action O friends, Romans, and countrymen, just click here.

Thanks to Quid Plura for letting us know about Caesar’s latest publicity stunt.

For archaeologists and museum professionals, the last decade will probably be known as the “cultural property period,” a time in which the ethics of buying, selling, and even owning antiquities has been called into question.

For many institutions, including those who have scrupulously followed international law in the acquisition of antiquities,  heightened awareness about cultural property protocol has led to a greater transparency –  some museums and universities, the best solution to such problems is to provide the general public with access to their rich collection.  Here at the eCool Compound, we consider this to be a very good thing indeed.

And so, we were both excited and impressed when we discovered Macquarie University’s Coins of Julius Caesar website.   Artfully crafted by the Australian Centre for Ancient Numismatic Studies, the site showcases part of an impressive collection of ancient coins acquired by Dr W. L. and Mrs J. Gale and bequeathed to the university.

This is not just your everyday catalog, however, with lists of facts in such a manner so as to be only accessible to classics geeks.  Instead, the scholars at Macquarie have gotten a bit creative and designed a beautiful website that will teach almost anyone about the life of Julius Caesar.

Because coins were political tools in the late Roman Republic, and because Caesar and those around him artfully made use of the Empire’s loose change as a way of promoting their ambitions and interests, much of Caesar’s biography can be traced through a study of coins.

We leave it to you to click on over and take a look at this interesting site.  The images of the coins are beautiful (if you’ve never looked closely at Roman coins, this is the place to do it) and the site’s clear design makes it easy to follow Caesar’s life from his early career to his assassination and beyond.

In Rome, where past and present happily co-exist, the ancient world is never far away.

The month of March, for example, brings visions of Mars, the studly god of war and the mythological “father” of Romulus and Remus, for whom the first month of the Roman year, Martius, was named.

But March also brings thoughts of the all-powerful Julius Caesar who mistakenly paid no heed to the omens that foretold his death. As a result, Caesar was assassinated15th of March in 44 BC as he entered a meeting of the Roman Senate. His death was orchestrated by a conspiracy of Senators who feared his increasing power and thought him a threat to the Roman Republic.

Julius Caesar’s assassins claimed he was a tyrant. Yet, since his death some 2051 years ago, innumerable writers and thinkers have debated the motives that compelled him to assume control of the Roman Empire. Was Caesar a noble man or was he an ambitious one? Did he aspire to restore the Republic or did he secretly aspire to be a king? The question remains unresolved and Caesar remains a pivotal figure in the history of the Western world.

On this Saturday, March 15, the anniversary of Julius Caesar’s death, we at the eCool Compound invite you to remember the Ides and to this end we offer 15 suggestions as to how you might Caesar the Day!

I. THROW A TOGA PARTY!
What better way to get into the spirit of the Ides than to spend an evening amongst friends, Romans, and countrymen?

Togas might be hard to keep on, but in certain situations that difficulty may prove advantageous. Don’t forget to buy enough ‘nectar of the gods’ and honeyed wine for everyone.

II. BRING FLOWERS TO CAESAR’S TEMPLE (see photo above)

Bad news! Shakespeare got it wrong! Caesar wasn’t killed on the Capitoline Hill (as the play suggests) or in the Forum (as many people believe). Rather, his assassination took place in the Portico of Pompey, near today’s Largo Argentina.

Caesar’s funeral was a public one. His body was carried to the Forum on an ivory couch and set upon on the Rostra or speaker’s platform in a gilded shrine modeled after the Temple of Venus he had recently built in Rome. Mark Antony delivered his famous speech and so moved the crowd that they took over the funeral. Instead of removing Caesar’s body out of the Forum for cremation as originally planned, it was burned in this most important public space. Two years later, Caesar was made a god and an altar and temple were erected on the site where his body had been cremated.

Each year on 15 March, Romans visit the ruins of the Temple of Divine Caesar in the Forum, leaving flowers in Caesar’s honor.

III. READ SHAKESPEARE’S JULIUS CAESAR
(or re-read it)

“Not that I lov’d Caesar less, but that I lov’d Rome more”

So says Brutus when he explains his decision to join the conspiracy against Caesar.

IV. HIP HOP WITH MARC ANTONY

Find the Bard a little old fashioned?

His Royal Hipness, Lord Buckley, recast Marc Antony’s Funeral Oration, transforming Shakespeare’s “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears” into “Hipsters, flipsters and finger-poppin’ daddies: knock me your lobes.” You won’t want to miss Buckley’s brilliant adaptation of Antony’s famous speech.
Read more about Lord Buckley here and read all of Marc Antony’s Funeral Oration by going to this page and using the pull down menu to select the funeral oration.

V. GET APPOINTED DICTATOR

In late February of 44 BC, Caesar was made dictator for life, an appointment that spurred Brutus, Cassius and others to start plotting his death.

Caesar denied his autocracy – even refusing the crown of kingship when it was offered to him three times – but he did take the time to advertise his position by minting a coin that read “Caesar Dictator.”

The moral of the story: when appointed dictator, be careful!

VI. READ CAESAR’S MAIL

Thornton Wilder’s The Ides of March, first published in 1948, is a brilliant epistolary novel set in Julius Caesar’s Rome. Wilder called it “a fantasia on certain events and persons of the last days of the Roman republic.” Through vividly imagined letters and documents, Wilder brings to life a dramatic period of world history and one of history’s most magnetic, elusive personalities.

In this inventive narrative, the Caesar of history becomes Caesar the human being. Wilder also resurrects the controversial figures surrounding Caesar — Cleopatra, Catullus, Cicero, and others. All Rome comes crowding through these pages — the Rome of villas and slums, beautiful women and brawling youths, spies and assassins.

Buy Thornton Wilder’s Ides of March

VII. INVITE CAESAR INTO YOUR LIVING ROOM

HBO’s ROME series lets you watch Julius Caesar in wide-screen high-definition format. The dictator has never looked so good! Season One (now available on DVD) chronicles Caesar’s rise to power in Rome.

No spoilers here…we won’t tell you what happens to him on March 15, 44 BC. You’ll have to watch to find out.

Buy HBO’s ROME on DVD

VIII. ORDER CAESAR SALAD!

OK, Ok, it wasn’t named for Julius Caesar. But ordering a Caesar salad is a festive way to celebrate Caesar nonetheless.

Wow your friends with this fact: Caesar salad was invented in Tijuana in 1924 by Caesar Cardini, an Italian restaurateur and chef. It’s been croutons for everyone ever since!

IX. WATCH MARLON BRANDO PLAY MARC ANTONY

In Joseph Mankiewicz’s film version of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (1953), Marlon Brando plays the opportunistic Marc Antony and delivers the famous funeral speech with pure conviction.

James Mason plays the honorable Brutus, while John Gielgud is positively serpentine as the lean, hungry Cassius. Louis Calhern is an intelligent but sinister Caesar.

Buy Mankiewicz’s Julius Caesar

X. COME, SEE, CONQUER!

Pay homage to Julius Caesar by adopting his slogan “Veni Vidi Vici” – the phrase he so famously coined in 47 BC.

The now-famous expression was the only message Caesar sent back to the Roman Senate after his victory over Pharnaces II of Pontus in the Battle of Zela. His terse remark – translated as “I came, I saw, I conquered,” – simultaneously proclaimed the totality of his victory and served to remind the senate of his military prowess.

XI. CROSS THE RUBICON!

Rubicon is the ancient Latin name for a small river in northern Italy, near Ravenna. For the ancient Romans, the Rubicon was the border between the Italian peninsula and Cisalpine Gaule.

The river is notable as Roman law forbade any general from crossing with a standing army. When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 BC to make his way to Rome, he broke that law and effectively started the civil war that would catapult him to power.

XII. TURN YOUR CALENDAR TO JULY

The Roman Senate named the month of July for Julius Caesar. It was their way of honoring him after he reformatted the calendar, which had become a chaotic embarrassment. Bad calculations had caused the months to drift wildly across the seasons – January, for example, began in autumn.

The Julian calendar came into effect in 45 BC. It was created in consultation with Alexandrian astronomers, and had a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 month, with a leap year added to February every four years. Hence, the Julian year was on average 365.25 days long.

XIII. GET A HAIRCUT WITH FRINGE!

Tired of the same old look?

Surprise your friends with a fringe! Any reputable hairstylist can help you get the Caesar look. It’ll be great for the toga party.

XIV. ASK THIS QUESTION: “ET TU BRUTE!”

Do you find yourself siding with Caesar rather than against him? Proclaim your loyalties with Caesarian products from the Institute of Design + Culture in Rome’s City Shop, including a shirt that features Caesar’s (supposed) last words, “Et tu Brute.” The 23 gory stab wounds on the shirt are a real selling point too!

By the way, Caesar probably never said, “Et tu Brute.” But what does that matter?

But Et tu Brute Products at the iDC City Shop

XV. PAY A VISIT TO CAESAR’S PALACE! (see photo below)

“Let the dice fly high!” is what Caesar exclaimed when he dared to cross the Rubicon in 49 BC (at least according to some scholars). What he meant was “let the big gamble begin.” Little did he know that so many enthusiastic dice rollers would join him in Las Vegas two milennia later!

Tomorrow’s the day! On this eve of the Ides, you might feel the need to reassure your friends that you’ve no intention of playing the Brutus. Let them know that “Et tu” is not for you by sending them this missive from someecards, a company that specializes in side-splitting and unsentimental sentiments.

Despite any rumors you may have heard, Julius Caesar did not invent Caesar’s Salad, rather the classic dish came about as the result of Prohibition.

In 1924, the celebrities of Hollywood ventured south of the border for relief from the “dry” heat of L.A.  One night, when a group of the fab and famous descended on Caesar’s Hotel and Restaurant in Tijuana, chef Caesar Cardini was forced to throw together an impromptu meal. In a moment of inspiration (his cupboards were almost bare) he simply threw everything in the kitchen into a bowl – eggs, romaine lettuce, garlic, Worscestershire sauce, lemon juice, and olive oil. Anchovies, already an ingrdient in Worcestershire sauce, were later added to the recipe, according to Ruth Reichl, editor of Gourmet magazine.

In an NPR interview, Reichl advises that when making the true Caesar’s Salad, one must do two things: first, you must leave the Romaine lettuce leaves whole so that they may be eaten with your hands (this being the way the first Caesar’s Salads were eaten). Second, the dressing should not be whisked together, rather the eggs should be broken on top of the lettuce and then Parmesan cheese should be grated over the top.

The original recipe follows. It has been authenticated by Rosa Cardini, daughter of the salad’s inventor

CAESAR’S SALAD

1/2 cup day-old bread, cubed
3/4 cup garlic oil, divided use
2 small heads romaine lettuce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 eggs*, coddled (boiled in the shell for 1 minute)
Juice of 2 medium lemons
8-10 drops of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. To prepare the garlic oil, place 4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled and quartered, in a good quality (e.g. Extra Virgin) olive oil and let it stand at room temperature several hours or even up to 5 days.

2. To prepare croutons, pre-heat oven to 225 degrees. Toss bread cubes with 1/4 cup garlic oil and spread on a pan or baking sheet. Toss frequently and bake until golden brown, about 2 hours.

3. Wash, dry and crisp (in the refrigerator) the leaves of the romaine lettuce. Originally, Caesar left the lettuce leaves whole, and the salad was eaten with the fingers, but later he tore the outer leaves into 2-inch lengths, leaving only the small inner leaves whole, and the salad was eaten with a fork.

4. Place lettuce in a large bowl and toss with remaining 1/2 cup of garlic oil. Add salt and pepper, again tossing gently. Break the coddled eggs* over the lettuce, add lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce and toss two or three times. Add croutons and cheese. Toss lightly once more.

Serves 4.

PLEASE NOTE
*Over the past few years, the threat of salmonella in barely cooked or coddled eggs has prompted many cooks to use pasteurized eggs or egg substitute or skip the egg entirely and use a heaping tablespoonful of mayonnaise to simulate the consistency of the coddled egg.

If you haven’t already started thinking about your Ides of March outfit, we’d recommend that you get busy. It’s the one day a year when you can get your Caesar on! If a toga’s not your look, then we recommend taking a spin through the Institute of Design + Culture’s City Shop. Any of the Rome designs they offer would be a good way to honor Caesar, but we find their Caesar gear to be ideal for the special day.

Some despise Caesar for his ambition, while others praise him for his devotion to Rome. No matter what we think of Caesar, he looms large in our imaginations. Was he “the nobles man / That evr lived in the tide of times” as Marc Antony describes him in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar? Or was he an ambitious tyrant on the verge of destroying the Roman Republic as Brutus believed? Did he wear a white toga or a black toga?

One of the more interesting ways to understand the historical figure of Julius Caesar is to look at how he has been representing in the popular media – from Shakespeare to HBO.

Written probably in 1599, Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, is fundamental to many people’s knowledge of Caesar. Shakespeare based his depiction on a biography written by the ancient historian Plutarch. In funeral speeches given by Brutus and Marc Antony, Shakespeare contrasts the image of Caesar as tyrant with the image of Caesar as the noble savior of his country.

Twelve films about the life of Caesar have been made since 1914. One of the most successful brings Shakespeare’s play to the silver screen – it was directed by Joseph Mankiewicz in 1953 and it stays quite close to the Shakespearean text. It stars James Mason as Brutus, Louis Calhern as Caesar, and the young Marlon Brando as Antony. All provide powerful performances.

Since 1938, there have been eleven television productions that illustrate the life of Julius Caesar. Certainly the most ambitious and the most scenographic is HBO’s ROME, which premiered in fall of 2005.

Filmed at Cinecitta Studios in Rome, where an enormous set of the Roman Forum was created, the series depicts the final year of Caesar’s life. The show’s makers take a cue from Shakespeare as they illustrate the duality of Caesar’s character, presenting him as noble one moment and despicable the next.

Though these media accounts are “fictional,” they are also powerful. They give shape to our images of ancient Rome and its most provocative ruler. And, importantly, such mulitmedia representations of Julius Caesar’s life provoke us to marvel at the complexities of political power in ancient Rome and to compare it to our own complicated world.

On March 15, 44 BC, Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times as he entered a meeting of the Roman Senate despite having received a warning to “beware the Ides of March.” As the Ides are drawing near, we at the eCool Compound are going to spend the next few days paying homage to Julius Caesar. Thus, today we kick things off by setting the stage for his violent death.

If you could time travel and make your way back to 44 BC, what would you see? What did Caesar see in his final days as he strolled through Rome, unaware that 60 senators were plotting to take his life?

To answer these questions and to learn a bit about Rome, past and present, we recommend an insightful slideshow about Caesar’s Rome that was created by The Institute of Design + Culture in Rome.

Click here to revisit the Year 44 BC

Click here to learn what else The Institute of Design + Culture in Rome has on offer.