Sublime

Kleopatra had been cruelly tortured and put to death by his mother Olympias.

(for virtue and ambition, unfortunately, seldom lodge together),

PLATO and Aristotle were the most influential of all philosophers, ancient, medieval, or modern; and of the two, it was Plato who had the greater effect upon subsequent ages. I say this for two reasons: first, that Aristotle himself is an outcome of Plato; second, that Christian theology and philosophy, at any rate until the thirteenth century, was

Riches have become the only object of men's desires, because wealth gives power. The man of noble race marries the daughter of the rich plebeian, and “marriage confounds the races.”

Pompey the Great

To put it another way, Gaius may have been assassinated because he was a monster, but it is equally possible that he was made into a monster because he was assassinated.

If I had gained anything, or if my exhortations had been paid, there would have been some sense in my doing so; but now, as you will perceive, not even the impudence of my accusers dares to say that I have ever exacted or sought pay of any one; of that they have no witness. And I have a sufficient witness to the truth of what I say—my poverty.

He made the same point when he took (or, technically, was given) ‘the power of a tribune’ for life. He was linking himself to the tradition of popular politicians, going back at least to the Gracchi, who stood up for the rights and welfare of the Roman in the street.

Le jugement sobre, mais motivé, de l'historien Cassius Dion 5 est l'un des plus exacts qui aient été portés sur lui : « Il n'eut pas la chance qu'il aurait méritée... mais il se trouva confronté pendant tout son règne à une multitude de malheurs. C'est la raison pour laquelle je l'admire plus que tout autre, car dans ces difficultés extraordinaires