Historical story

Juliusz Caesar:seducer, playboy and bisexual [18+]

Roman politician, leader, dictator and gravedigger of the Roman Republic. That's what history remembered him in the first place. In his time, Julius Caesar was famous not only for his military talents ...

This then young and handsome aristocrat began his military career in Asia Minor, at the court of King Bithynia Nikomedes IV, allied with Rome. Soon rumors spread that he had established a relationship with a Black Sea ruler that was not only incongruous for the Roman, but could embarrass even the Greeks, accustomed to the idealistic vision of pederasty ...

Apparently Caesar was officially led, surrounded by courtiers, to the king's chamber, where he lay down on a golden bed in a purple robe. Suetonius writes that both gentlemen actually lived in concubinage, which exposed Caesar to "grave and eternal shame" and "a general laughing stock". Later they joked:"Caesar enslaved Gaul, and Nicomedes Caesar."

The Black Sea ruler was called a "filthy gable" who had a "stable" or a "Bityan brothel". Julius, on the other hand, was described by his enemies as:"a misfortune competing with the queen", "king's bed mattress" or even "the Bithynian queen".

When he thought of the dictatorial power over Rome, he was reminded that "before he was fond of a king, now he was in kingship." When he recalled in the Senate the merits of Nicomedes (who incidentally bequeathed his state to the Roman Republic), Cicero interrupted him with the words:"Please give up enumerating these merits, because it is well known what he gave you, and especially - what you gave him."

Of all Caesar's women, history mostly remembered Cleopatra. The Roman dictator, however, did not shy away from the fair sex, even seducing married women of his "comrades-in-arms". Pictured is a painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme "Cleopatra and Caesar" (1866).

It is surprising, however, that despite so many accusations, Caesar's political opponents did not directly accuse him of contaminating Roman blood, which, if such denunciations were taken seriously, would have to end his career. This can be explained in two ways:either there was no hard evidence of Caesar's affair with Nicomedes, or the Romans treated the similar madness of youth with indulgence.

Despite this famous pederastic adventure - real or not - the Roman leader definitely made himself more of a seducer. He reportedly "passed" the wives of both of his comrades from the first triumvirate :Marcus Crassus and Gnaeus Pompey. Again, without any legal or political consequences! Or is it just rumors? And the Roman legionnaires sang only for frolics:"Citizens, keep your wives, let's go bald"?

This article was written during the author's work on the book "Ages of shamelessness. Sex and erotica in antiquity ”(CiekawostkiHistoryczne.pl 2018).

Historians are convinced that the chief for years was the lover of Serwilla, wife of Mark Junius Brutus the Elder and mother of one of Caesar's later killers - Mark Junius Brutus the Younger (it is possible that junior he was the son of Julius). Perhaps Caesar also had an affair with Servilla's daughter. In addition, he had a total of three wives, and in recent years he lived with the famous ruler of Egypt Cleopatra VII, with whom he had a male heir .

"Caesar's wife must be free from even a shadow of suspicion" - it is funny that history remembers precisely this phrase from this notorious adulterer. He used it as an argument to divorce his second wife, Pompeii. It was due to an affair in his own home. During the celebration of the feast in honor of the Good Goddess ( Bona Dea ) in 62 BCE there were ceremonies at Caesar's, intended only for women.

Caesar's last wife, the third in turn, supposedly sensed that her husband would be attacked. Unlike Pompeii, his former wife, Caesar must have had affection for her. Knowing that she was sterile, he wanted to change Roman law so as to allow polygamy. The illustration "The Assassination of Caesar" by Vincenz Camuccini (1805).

Juliusz's mother caught there a young man dressed in women's rags - the patrician Clodius (brother of the scandalous Klodia). There were suspicions that he was planning a meeting with Pompeii. However, he was not convicted of adultery or of sacrilege. Probably Caesar himself did not want to aggravate the conflict with the influential family of Clodius. On the other hand, he divorced Pompeii immediately, because she did not live up to his expectations, which he expressed in his famous sentence about his wife's fidelity ...

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The text was created during the author's work on his latest book. " Ages of shame. Sex and erotica in antiquity ” .