List of things named after Julius Caesar

Caesar as portrayed by the Tusculum portrait

Gaius Julius Caesar (12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general, statesman, and author who played a key role in the collapse of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. He was a member of the First Triumvirate, an informal political alliance with Crassus and Pompey.[1][2] Known for his military campaigns, including campaigns in Gaul, Caesar significantly expanded the Roman territory. In 49 BC, Caesar initiated a civil war by crossing the Rubicon river, and defying the Roman Senate's authority.[3][4] Following decisive victories, including the Battle of Pharsalus in the civil war, Caesar assumed the title of dictator perpetuo ("dictator for life") at the start of 44 BC.[5][6] His administrative reforms included the introduction of the Julian calendar, which aligned the Roman calendar with the solar year. Caesar's concentration of power led to his assassination on the Ides of March, 44 BC, by a group of senators.[7][8] Following his death, he was deified by the Roman Senate, and the Temple of Caesar was built in the Roman Forum in his honor by his adoptive heir, Augustus.

Caesar's name and legacy have been preserved in numerous ways throughout history and cultures. Cities such as Casares and Cáceres trace their names back to him, as do geographical features like the Julian Alps. Astronomical entities, including a comet and a lunar crater, bear his name. Monuments like the Basilica Julia, commissioned by him, and Caesar's Tower are named in his memory. His influence extends to titles of kingship like "Tsar", "Kaiser" and "Caesar" and political concepts such as Caesarism and Caesaropapism. Several works of plays, operas, and films are named after him, including Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar and Chapman's Caesar and Pompey. Many operas, like Giulio Cesare in Egitto by Handel and Die Ermordung Cäsars by Klebe, are dedicated to him.

Geographic locations

• Cáceres — A city and municipality in Spain. Though no consensus has been reached regarding the etymology of Cáceres, it is believed to have evolved from the name of the colony Norba Caesarina [es], which received the cognomen Caesarina in memory of Julius Caesar.[9]
• Casares — A town and municipality in Spain. According to legend, Caesar founded the town after curing his skin condition by bathing in the thermal baths of La Hedionda.[10][11]
• Friuli-Venezia Giulia — An autonomous region in Italy. The name Friuli originates from the Latin term Forum Julii ('Julius's forum'), a Roman-era commercial hub that corresponds to the modern city of Cividale.[12]
• Forum Julli (modern name: Fréjus) — A French commune located at the mouth of the Argens valley, which was founded or expanded by Julius Caesar around 49 BC as a market and provisioning center.[13][14]
• Julian Alps — A mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretch from north-eastern Italy to Slovenia, named after Caesar perhaps due to a road built by Julius Caesar and completed by Augustus.[15][16]

Time-keeping

• Julian calendar — The calendar introduced by Caesar in 45 BC was named in his honor. It reformed the Roman calendar to align more closely with the solar year.[17]
• Julian year (symbol: a or a_j) — An astronomical unit of measurement of time defined as exactly 365.25 days of 86,400 seconds each. The length of the Julian year is the average length of the year in the Julian calendar.[18]
• July — The seventh month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, originally known as Quintilis (Latin for 'five'), the month was renamed to July by the Roman Senate in honor of Caesar in 44 BC, as it was the month of his birth.[19]

Buildings and monuments

View of Forum of Caesar at Rome

• Basilica Julia — A building in the Roman Forum which was named after Caesar, who initiated its construction in 54 BC. The basilica was designed to serve as a public building for legal and commercial proceedings.[20][21]
• Caesareum of Alexandria — A temple in Alexandria, Egypt, believed to have been built by Cleopatra VII in honor of Caesar.[22][a]
• Caesar's Rhine bridges — The first two bridges on record to cross the Rhine river, built by Caesar and his legionaries during the Gallic War in 55 and 53 BC.[24]
• Caesar's tower — Located in Coventry Castle, it is believed to be named after Caesar. William Shakespeare alludes to the tradition that Caesar built the Tower of London in his play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar.[25]
• Curia Julia — The third senate house in the Roman Forum, it was named after Caesar, who initiated its construction in 44 BC. Completed by Augustus in 29 BC, it replaced the earlier Curia Hostilia.[26]
• Forum of Caesar (Latin: Forum Iulium) — It was named after Caesar in 54 BC, who initiated its construction to celebrate his military triumphs and provide a space for public affairs.[27][28]
• Temple of Divus Julius — Built in the Roman Forum by Augustus in 29 BC, it was dedicated to Caesar following his posthumous deification by the Roman Senate in 42 BC.[29][30]

Ships

• Italian battleship Giulio Cesare — A Conte di Cavour-class dreadnought battleship of the Regia Marina. She served from 1914 to 1955, including roles in both World Wars and later as a Soviet training ship.[31]
• HMS Caesar (1896) — A Majestic-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. She served from 1898 to 1921, including roles in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and as a depot ship during World War I.[32]
• HMS Caesar (1793) — An 80-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, designed by Edward Hunt and launched on 1793 at Plymouth.[33]
• HMS Caesar (R07) — A C-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War, commissioned in 1944 and named after Caesar.[33]
• USS Caesar — A collier for the United States Navy. She was built in England in 1896 and scrapped in Japan in 1935. In the US Navy, she served in various wars including the Spanish–American War, Philippine–American War and World War I.[34]

Celestial bodies

• 18458 Caesar — A minor planet discovered by Freimut Börngen at Karl Schwarzschild Observatory in 1995.[35][36]
• Caesar's Comet — A cometary outbust seen in July 44 BC, following Caesar's assassination. The Romans believed it symbolized his ascension to divinity, and it was subsequently referred to as "Caesar's Comet" to honor his deification.[37][38]
• Julius Caesar — A 85-kilometre-wide (53 mi) lunar crater located to the west of Mare Tranquillitatis, and directly southeast of the crater Manilius on the Mare Vaporum.[19]

Paintings

The Death of Caesar, an 1867 painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme

• The Death of Caesar — An 1867 painting by the French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme that depicts the moment after the assassination of Julius Caesar, when the conspirators are walking away from Caesar's dead body at the Theatre of Pompey, on the Ides of March (March 15), 44 BC.[39]
• The death of Caesar — A painting by Flemish artist Victor Honoré Janssens between 1658 and 1736 which depicts Caesar's assassination.[40]
• The Death of Julius Caesar — An 1806 painting by Italian Neoclassical painter Vincenzo Camuccini depicting Caesar's assassination.[41]

Operas and films

• Die Ermordung Cäsars (The Murder of Caesar) — A one-act opera by German composer Giselher Klebe, who wrote the libretto based on August Wilhelm Schlegel's translation of Shakespeare's play.[42]
• Giulio Cesare in Egitto — A dramma per musica (opera seria) in three acts composed by German–British Baroque composer George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music in 1724, whose plot is loosely based on historical events during the Roman Civil War of 49–45 BC.[43][44]
• Julius Caesar — A 1950 film adaptation of Shakespeare's play, directed by David Bradley [45]
• Julius Caesar — A 1953 American film adaptation of Shakespeare's play, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz [45][46]
• Julius Caesar — A 1970 film adaptation of Shakespeare's play, directed by Stuart Burge.[45]
• Julius Caesar Against the Pirates — A 1962 Italian adventure film written and directed by Sergio Grieco, which is loosely based on actual events from the early life of Julius Caesar.
• La morte di Cesare (The Death of Caesar) — A three-act opera seria by Italian composer Francesco Bianchi with a libretto by Gaetano Sertor, inspired by Shakespeare's play.[47]
• Young Caesar — An 1970 opera written by American composer Lou Harrison, depicting the younger years of Julius Caesar [48]

In popular culture

Edwin Austin Abbey — Within the Tent of Brutus, Enter the Ghost of Caesar, Julius Caesar, Act IV, Scene III

• Life of Caesar — A biography of Julius Caesar written in Ancient Greek in the beginning of the 2nd century AD by the Greek moralist Plutarch, as part of his Parallel Lives.[49]
• The Tragedy of Julius Caesar — A historical play and tragedy, written by William Shakespeare, which centers around the assassination of Julius Caesar.
• Caesar and Cleopatra — An 1898 play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw that depicts a fictionalized account of the relationship between Julius Caesar and Cleopatra.[50][51]
• Caesar and Pompey — A Jacobean era stage play, a classical tragedy written by English dramatist George Chapman.[52]
• Julius Caesar — A 1979 episode of BBC Television Shakespeare, a series of British television adaptations of Shakespeare's plays.[53][54]
• Julius Caesar — A 2002 miniseries directed by Uli Edel, which portrays key events from his life and rise to power.
• Caesar — A modern-dress adaptation of Shakespeare's play, directed by Orson Welles and produced by the Mercury Theatre.[55][56]
• Chiaramonti Caesar — A marble statue of Caesar, located in the Chiaramonti Museum, part of the Vatican Museums.[57][58]
• Julius Caesar — A marble statue of Caesar, created by the Italian sculptor Andrea Ferrucci in the early 16th century.[59]

Others

Caesarsboom in Lo, Belgium

• Amanita caesarea — The common name is derived from the title Caesar (originally a family name) of the Roman emperors.[60]
• Caesarism — In political science, it refers to an authoritarian and populist ideology modeled after Caesar's autocratic rule as Rome's dictator from 49 to 44 BC.[61][62]
• Caesarean section — Though popularly believed to be named after Julius Caesar, the term derives from Latin caedere, meaning "to cut". The procedure has no historical link to Caesar's birth.[63][64]
• Caesaropapism — The term is composed of two parts: Caesar, derived from the cognomen of Caesar, and Papism.[65]
• Caesar cipher (or Caeser shift) — One of the simplest and most widely known encryption techniques. It is named after Caesar, who, according to Suetonius, used it with a shift of three (A becoming D when encrypting, and D becoming A when decrypting) to protect messages of military significance.[66][67]
• Caesar — A title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of the Caesar.[68]
  • Kaiser, Tsar — Titles for emperors in Germany and Russia, respectively, directly derived from the Roman emperors' title.[69][70]
• Caesarsboom — An individual tree, believed to be over 2000 years old, located in Lo, Belgium. According to local legend, Caesar stopped there during his 55 BC military campaign en route to Britannia.[33][71]

See also

• Cultural depictions of Julius Caesar

Notes

1. It is believed to have been initially constructed by Cleopatra VII, in honor of Julius Caesar, but later repurposed by Augustus, possibly to honor himself.[23]

References

Citations

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Sources

• Seidelmann, P. Kenneth (1992). Explanatory supplement to the Astronomical almanac (2nd ed.). University Science Books. ISBN 9780935702682.
• Claridge, Amanda (1998). Rome: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press (published 2010). ISBN 9780199546831.
• Greenidge, A.H.J (1901). Roman Public Life. New York; London: Macmillan Publishers.
• Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 9780711012226.
• The World Encyclopedia (2001). The World Encyclopedia. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-521818-3.

External links

• Media related to things named after Julius Caesar at Wikimedia Commons