OJCL Torch Fall 2022 | Page 6

caesar and illness

President Katelyn cheng

image courtesy of wikimedia commons

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Caesar portrays illness as a weakness that must be pushed through to show strength. He uses illness to benefit himself in battle as well as for political gain. This is shown in how Caesar writes about different men in battle while they are injured or ill, how Caesar uses illness as an excuse, and how he uses medicine to gain the popularity of the people in Rome.

During Caesar’s conquest of Gaul, Caesar was forced to split up his legions and place them into separate winter quarters, due to a food shortage. One legion, led by Quintus Cicero, was placed in the territory of the Nervii. However, Ambiorix, who was in charge of the Eburones, attacked the camp. The legion’s fortifications were already built; however, the Gauls were building ways to get through all of Roman’s fortifications. This left Cicero very unprepared and ultimately led to Cicero and his legion having to work throughout the night to fortify the camp. Caesar explains, “Nulla pars nocturni temporis ad laborem intermittitur; non aegris, non vulneratis facultas quietis datur. Quaecumque ad proximi diei oppugnationem opus sunt noctu comparantur,” (BG 5.40). Everyone works through the night so that weapons and other equipment used in battle can be prepared for the next day’s attack. This work is so important, that everyone is expected to work with no breaks even if they are sick and injured. The leader of this legion, Cicero, has fallen ill. However, he still worked with the rest of the legion throughout the rest of the night to help fortify the camp. “Ipse Cicero, cum tenuissima valetudine esset, ne nocturnum quidem sibi tempus ad quietem relinquebat, ut ultro militum concursu ac vocibus sibi parcere cogeretur” (BG5.40). Even though Cicero is very sick, he still manages to push through to help his cohort. He was even forced to spare himself from the voices and fights of the military spontaneously.

Caesar depicts Q. Cicero as an honorable and valuable commander. As McDermott writes, “Caesar who was loath to praise his higher officers may have written more extensively of Quintus' valor in the siege of his camp to please Marcus, but his account of the action clearly shows that Quintus was

brave and efficient commander” (711). Based on letters that Caesar wrote to Q. Cicero and his brother M. Cicero, it seemed that Caesar favored Quintus as a commander based on the length of the letters he sent. However, this could have been a result of Caesar pleasing Marcus, his older brother because they were in a political alliance at the time. However, McDermott later writes, “It is noteworthy that when Quintus at Aduatuca in 53 did not follow orders and came close to disaster, Caesar attributed the difficulty to the accidents of war and did not derogate Quintus” (711). This illustrates how Caesar thought of Q. Cicero and how he saw him as a more noteworthy commander. Through other sources, Caesar was able to see Q. Cicero was a respectable commander, which is why Caesar may have chosen to write about how he was able to overcome his sickness in battle, as it was a very respectable thing to do at the time.

Caesar once again writes about a highly respected military commander overcoming his illness for the benefit of the military. Caesar writes, “Erat aeger cum praesidio relictus Publius Sextius Baculus, qui primum pilum ad Caesarem duxerat, cuius mentionem superioribus proeliis fecimus,” (BG 6.36). According to Horne, “In the Gallic Wars, Caesar mentions rather less than fifty Roman soldiers by name. Naturally, the names of his legati occur most frequently, though he does not always give the rank,” (2). The fact that Caesar mentions Baculus’s name and rank supports the fact that Caesar thought of Baculus as a respectable centurion. Caesar writes, “Hic diffisus suae atque omnium saluti inermis ex tabernaculo prodit: videt imminere hostes atque in summo esse rem capit arma a proximis militibus atque in