W.E.A. IN PALMERSTON NORTH.

Shannon News, 28 April 1925, Page 4

W.E.A. IN PALMERSTON NORTH.

The seventh W.E.A. University Extension lecture of this year's series was given at Rawlins' Tea Rooms on Tuesday last, Mr J. Garter -presiding over a good attendance of students and visitors. The subject on this occasion was Julius Caesar. Mr. A. Ernest Mander, the lecturer, began by quickly reviewing developments in the Roman Empire during the century that followed the death of Cato and the destruction of Carth-

age B C 146. Stress was laid upon the' fact that this great and growing Empire—with its wide diversity of conditions, races, languages, customs and traditions—was still subject to the Senate of the city of Rome. This Senate, said the lecturer, was a purely local purely parochial body dn constitution, in interests, in outlook. It understood nothing of conditions in the different provinces; and really it cared nothing about them—so 16ng as the tribute was forthcoming. Empire—Old Style and New. So far, the Roman Empire was just

like any other Empire of the past, By the "Empire" was meant simply a number of subject-countries, and subject-peoples, which had been conquered by the people who "owned the Empire. The whole Empire was absolutely subject to the conquerors and was regarded merely as a tribute gettting concern. All the ancient Empires of the Middle East had been of this nature; and the Roman Empire up to the time

of Caesar was- of -the same nature. It was only under the Caesars that a new sort of Empire—something more like the modern British Empireevolved. This (Mr. Mander added) is a most important point to recognise. A new kind of Empire is coming into existence. To-day, New Zealand or Canada canont be said to "belong" to England—at any rate, politically. It no more "belongs" to England than England "belongs" to Canada or New Zealand. We all belong to one another. So, in the Roman Empire under the Caesars: the province of Spain no more "belonged" to the city of Rome than the city of Rome belonged to the province of Spain. Rome then was merely the capital—just as London is the capital of the modern British Empire. But every province and every city (including the city of Rome) then "belonged" only to the

Empire as a whole. This was the state of affairs after Julius Caesar, under his successors. And it is this change which makes Julius Caesar so significant a figure in Roman history. Julius Oaesar.

Caius Julius Caesar was born in B.C. 100. He was a member of one of the old aristocratic families, but a family which had liberal (Democratic) political traditions. Caesar first appears in history as a successful lawyer and a rising Democratic politician. Though by no means a popular mob-orator, he has a gift for terse, telling speech; and he succeeds in getting elected to variqus offices of State. At the age of 32 he passes into the Senate; and afterwards he enjoys a term of office as Governor of Spain, and then a term as Consul in Rome.

So far (said Mr. Mander) there is nothing remarkable in Caesar's career. He has shown himself merely as an ordinary successful politician. He has had to borrow heavily to finance his elections; and he is burdened with debt. Of course, he is not popular with his own class: as Leader of the Democratic Party he is naturally disliked by the wealthy and aristocratic families of Rome, And that's the first of the three chapters in the story of his career. He is now over 42; and he is to die at 55. Almost four-fifths of his life are gone.

Temperament and Character. Julius Caesar is a tall man, probably black-hairefd (.though at 42 he - is nearly bald). He has a big nose, prominent cheek-bones, sunken cheeks, a sallow complexion, and dark, piercing eyes. Some people in Rome make fun of him because he is rather vain and too fastidious in the matter of his personal appearance. There is reason to believe that he is more or less epileptic. Caesar is full of nervous energy—■ the sort of man who must be doing' something! Then —when he is working like a Trojan, using up all his amazing vitality in his task—then he is happy, serene and good-natured. Like most people of this dynamic nervous temperament, he's at his best when he's at his busiest! But, when there is nothing to put him on his mettle, to provide an outlet for his nervous energy—then he is apt to be irritable and moody, to lose his self-confidence and self-possesison, to become a mere "bundle of nerves.*" So there are two Caesars. There's the highly-strung "nervy," hesitating, moody Caesar, when he is "at a loose end," as we say. And there's the self-possessed and self-confident Caesar—the, man of sure touch, swift decision, tremendous energy—when his whole being is concentrated upon some great task of planning or achievement. The Lesions, "Mr. Mander then traced the growth of a new factor in the life of the Roman Empire—the legions. Gradually the legions had become divorced from the Senate and people of Rome. They now constituted a regular, professional standing army, largely composed of ' men who had been born in the camp of the legion, bred to the legion, spent their whole lives as soldiers of the legion. Many of these soldiers were only half-Roman blood; for while their fathers had been Roman soldiers, their mothers had been women of the country in which the legion was stationed. Many of the Roman troops dn the distant provinces, born, bred and living their lives in the legion, had never, even seen the city of Rome,/ Their whole loyalty was focussed then, not upon the Senate and people of the far-away city of Rome, but upon the legion itself and its own commander. Rome itself had practlcaly lost all "hold" upon its army. But the army, spread over the Em-

pire was far more in touch with conditions in various provinces, and far more representative of the Empire as a whole—probably far more fitted to govern the Empire—than was the local Senate of the city of Rome. A clash between.the army'and the Senate became inevitable. Caesar in Gaul.

The lecturer then dealt with thQ trouble betwen the Senate and Pompey, the General who had been extending the Empire over Syria and Palestine. Out of this developed a military committee of the three Gen* era ls—Crassus, Pompey and Caesar—to keep the Senate in its place. For the next eight years Caesar was Miliitary Governor of Gaul; and during this period he added the whole of modern France and Belgium to the Roman Empire They were eight years of warfare and civil organisation ! —of hard thinking, hard fighting, hard

organising work. In the course of these eight years in Gaul, Caesar built up perhaps the best, most highly-disciplined, most loval and devoted army that ever followed the Standards, the Eagles, 01 Rome.

Time after time fresh risings occurred; but at length the whole of this rich territory, this: -already semicivilised people, was brought into subjection. Moreover, the fierce Teutonic tribes had been forced back and held beyond the frontier, the Rhine. In B.C. 55 Caesar made a brief and unimportant raid on the south-east coast of Britain. The result of all this was that Gau* became the most peacful, the most productive and the most prosperous province in the Roman Empire. New cities -jrew up; roads were constructed; law and order came to reign at last.

Crossing the Rubicon. Meanwhile —partly because of his victories and the glory they reflected on Rome; partly because of the booty which he took care to send back for the Roman people—Caesar became the idol of the multitude in the Imperial city. But the Senate and the aristocracy hated him —and feared him —more than ever. Caesar was frankly hostile to the Senate, regarding it as hopelessly unfit to rule the Roman world. Things were steadily working up to a climax. In desperation the Senate effected a reconciliation with PompSy, and entrusted him with an army to mtkt the inevitable coming of Caesar. Then, thus prepared, the Roman Senate issued a cjhalenge to Fate. ' Caesar was curtly recalled to Rome. He was to leave his army in Gaul, and come alone to make submission to the Senate. The gauntlet was thrown down.

Caesar hesita.ted no longer. He came —but he came with his invincible legions behind him. They marched swiftly down into Italy and crosset the Rubicon —that small stream which was the boundary, and to cross which meant war! ■*• War and Victory.

Mr. Mander gave a brief outline of the civil war that followed. In the end the Senatorial armies were vanquished everywhere, and various risings in the provinces were at last suppressed. But, from beginning to end, the Civil War continued for nearly five years; and it was only then, when the last revolt was over, that Caesar was free to set himself in earnest to the tasks of imperial organisation and domestic reform.

First, he assumed (by popular election) all the chief offices in the State, becoming 1 , in fact, King and Emperor —thougrh he would not defy the popular prejudice to. the extent of taking the title. Caesar's Reforms, The Governors of the provinces were then made his representatives,, his agents, appointed by and answerable to Caesar. They became public servants, and were no longer what they had really been hitherto —simply "contractors" who had undertaken to squeeze a certain amount of tribute out of the provinces for the benefit of Rome, on the understanding- that any excess they might obtain would be their own "profit" on the transaction. The assessment and collection of taxes and tribute throughout the Empire was now, for the first time, put on a proper basis. The Senate was reconstructed and greatly enlarged; but it became a merely advisory body. An epochmaking departure from the whole tradition of "Empire" was effected, when Caesar nominated certain representatives from the provinces of Spain and Gaul to sit in the Roman Senate. Further, Caesar managed to get rid of part of the good-for-nothing rabble in Rome by striking half the names off the lists of the "dole." His scheme for getting free labour "back to the land" was a failure; but the hundred thousand loafers who were struck off the list for the dole were absorbed in public works. Other reforms were the introduction of a bankruptcy law, and the reform of the calendar. All this Avas achieved while the Civil War was still in progress (while the g-reater part of Caesar's attention still had to be devoted to his -campaigns), and during the few crowded months that followed.

"Honourable Men." All Caesar's old opponents —all who had fought against him during the Civil War —were granted a free pardon. Caesar even set up a statue of his old opponent, Pompey, in the place of honour in the Senate House. And then one day, while Caesar was at the Senate, he was suddenly set upon by a bunch of Senators, his old enemies, and murdered. As treacherous and foul a crime, (said Mr. Mander) as any you may find in the pages of history! Caesar's assassins, remember, were Senators, men of the old aristocratic and Senatorial Party—men who had been in arms against him —men who had been vanquished by him in the 'open struggle—men who had had their lives spared, their liberty and property restored to them, through the great clemency of Caesar. The fact that they were alive at all, enjoying their j freedom, holding their property, even resuming their places in the Senate all this was duo entirely to the fact

that Caesar had been "big" enough to forgive his vanquished enemies and,, when they submitted, to "bury the hatchet." These were the "honourable men* who, defeated in open warfare, thus treacherously conspired to murder Caesar. No doubt some, of them were inspired by the "highest- motives!" All through history we find men making the most, ghastly mistakes and committing the blackest and foulest crimes with the "highest motives." Anyhow, most of the conspirators were clearly actuated by personal envy and spite. From every point of view, the assassination of Caesar was a tragic blunder. Caesar might be killed. But the conditions that had produced Caesar, had made him necessary—these conditions remained unaltered. So, after more fighting and more useless bloodshed, another Caesar (though not onetenth as able a man) started afresh a succession of Emperors who were to rule the Roman world for over 400 years Caesar was dead; but CaoKirisiu could not be killed. Caesar was dead: but Caesarism was, nevertheless, triumphant!