Julius Caesar

I highly suggest the HBO mini series "Rome". Available on Netflix (DVD only). In fact I recommend it for anyone going to Rome, it will give you a historical perspective while there and is highly entertaining and well done. I was trying to explain to my wife who Octavia was while we were standing in front of the ruins of her home. Since we got back she has been watching the whole series.

My favorite little Julius tidbit was a quote from England. One local, thinking the Roman commitment to hygene was a little overdone, asked Julius why he bathed once a day. His response, "Because I don't have time to bath twice a day."

I can completely symphathise with you John. I'm a huge ancient history buff and Julius Caesar is probably the guy I find the most fascinating. I too have a whole wall of books about him and Rome when he was there. I'm drawn to Rome every year trying to search out the spots I read about the rest of the year. The assasination spot and cremation spot are easy to find. It's not completely agreed on but most likely he was assasinated in the area called Largo di Torre Argentina/ Area Sacra. It's a cat sanctuary now but you can get a great view of it from the sidewalk. There's just not a lot of physical evidence of the man, at least to me. It might be that so much has been written about him as well as all of his own writings of battles, you would think there would be more. If you aren't a member already, look into joining the American Institute of Archaeology if you like that kind of stuff. There's a great magazine of all the new things they uncover and lists of lectures in your area. You can volunteer to work on dig sites all over the world. I did hear a rumor that they may have found a villa he owned outside of Rome on the other side of the Tiber. It's where Cleopatra stayed when he was assasinated. I'm not sure it's public yet but maybe someone else here nows.
I also loved the Rome series, even though the purists knocked it for it's inaccuracies. Too bad the set burned down as I was going to make a special trip to see it when they opened it to the public. Good luck in your quest. I hope you get some good replies.

Hi Leslie. Very cool, thanks so much for all the great info. I'll definitely look into it. I've seen the Rome series 2 times and the more I read about Julius the more I think the Rome series got it right. Sure, they took liberties on the relational side of things but as far as the culture, sights and sounds of Rome, I found it to be pretty accurate. I'm just finishing Christian Meier's biography 'Caesar' and have ordered a slew of other ones including Suetonius' classic The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. I also listened to a course on Ancient Rome through Itunes U and found it pretty good. The more I read about Julius, the less I see him as a tyrant in the traditional sense...that being said, I wouldn't have wanted to have him as an enemy. Anyways, I'm headed to Rome in March and my lovely wife has given me a day to lead us through everything 'Julius'. Keep the tips coming!

Check out iTunes U for lectures (free) from major universities about ancient Rome and maybe Julius C. Just "attended" several hours on Hannibal, presented by a Stanford prof, and it was great

I really liked Caesar A Novel by Colleen McCullough too. It's historical fiction, but it's very well done. I own Caesar A Biography, I just haven't started it yet. Hope it was good! The Civil War by Caesar is his best one to me. His writings never place me in Rome like Suetonius can, but you do get an idea of the genius he was (whether you like him or not). My husband indulges my 'historical stalking' every time I drag him to Rome and he's now an ancient Rome fan too. If your wife is a reader, get her a copy of The Memiors of Cleopatra by Margaret George. It's another historical fiction piece but I loved it. I was skeptical as I wasn't into fiction too much until I came across this gem. I don't know if you have been to Rome before, but if this is your first time, get ready for an amazing time. If you go all the time, the amazement never fades. For me there are two experiences I never miss: 1) Being on the Palatine as the sun begins to set and 2) Visiting the Capitoline after dark just for the view of the Forum all lit up. Try and make at least one of those. Enjoy it and please report back anything you discover!

Hey thanks for the advice on Stanford's Hannibal from ItunesU. Loving it. Also working my way through Rubicon and Suetonius's 12 Caesars.

Indeed. The iTunesU lectures are excellent. Hard the believe that it's all free. When you read Caesar's account of the battle of Alesia you may have imagined what his fortifications looked like. I ran across this photo of a re-creation http://www.google.com/m/search?site=images&source=mog&hl=en&gl=us&q=battle%20alesia%20fortifications&sa=N#i=0

Your original questions re Julius Caesar were: "I would love directions to the following: Birthplace Assasination spot (Pomepey's Theatre)
Cremation spot (Forum) Villa where he lived (Palatine hill?) Relics/statues/busts" Although there've been lots of posts on this thread, I don't think we've actually answered very many of your questions. Here are answers to two of them: Location of cremation spot: Last time I was there this was easy to find, it's on the southern side of Tempio delo Divo Giulio (Temple of Julius Caesar), when I was there under the metal roof. Most guidebooks mark the location, as does Rick's Rome book. It's just northeast of the Temple of Vesta. Location of assassination: You can't go to the exact spot, as there's not much left of the building in which the assassination occurred, which was the Curia di Pompeo, located generally in the area of the Campo dei Fiori.

One of the more interesting posts!