History and whatnot

This post post made me want to reinstall Total War: Rome 2.

Just found out they are releasing a new DLC, which is weird considering it's a little old now. It updates the political system and adds a new campaign covering the Third Century Crisis.

Oh Aurelian, you could have been one of the greats.

I would say he was, just because of what he had to deal with.

Well Brutus was his friend, and we all know what he called Caesar.

Dead.

But seriously, they probably just called him Caesar. But it would have been pronounced like the German word Kaiser at the time.

That is true.

But Gaius was so well known as “Caesar” that he was mainly called by that.

Gaius would have been the name his parents gave him, Julius was the family he was part of (Julia), and Caesar was basically a nickname turned into a surname for another family under the Julia family (the Caesar family), but he became so well known by that name that when he became dictator that was the adopted term to call emperors.



en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_(gens)

A good read to try and figure out Roman names. They are usually hard to wrap your head around. Honestly it really doesn’t make much sense to me, but the basic explanation I provided is the most agreed upon “explanation” of his name.

It’s like how people address Adolf Hitler, as usually just Hitler. I doubt many people would have called him Adolf to his face out of respect/fear and the same would most certainly have been true for Caesar.

As you can see, I'm going to ignore most of your post and puff my chest out and say I already know all of that. Instead, I shall be focusing on the above quoted. Ahem:

THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE, STEEL! YOU SOFT COCK!

'Caesar' became an inherited imperial title after Octavian changed his name to Imperator Caesar. And then when Augustus adopted Tiberius he gave him the name Caesar. And thereafter emperors designated their successor by giving them the name/title 'Caesar'. It wasn't the 'adopted term to call emperors' when Caesar became dictator, you son of a bitch. God, I hate you.



Are you subtlety trying to restore the German Imperial throne? I will support no such treasonous endeavor. I bleed red, white, and blue, which my doctor is very concerned about. The only crowning I will support is of His Imperial Majesty, Donald J. Trump, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Americas.

Now, if you're meaning you and I should go on a German beer tour, then yes, yes we should.

No.

Okay, Steel, okay? We're going to be guests in a foreign country. We don't need to be making a scene and embarrassing America any more than future God-Emperor Donald J. Trump and your inappropriate boners already have.

This beer tour is going to be a public relations disaster.

This video is always a good watch.

Julia's?

Caesar: Dictator and Consul?

Caesar was named dictator for ten years in 45 BCE (I think), but after this he also became consul with Mark Antony. What was the purpose of Caesar serving as consul if he was already dictator?

What in the flying fuck are you talking about? Octavian, i.e., Caesar: Redux, was the one that defeated Antony. OG Caesar and Antony were in the same set.

I'm curious why the position of consul wasn't suspended when there were dictators since a Roman dictator had supreme power. I can understand it during the principate since Augustus was trying to pull the wool over everyone's eyes, but it seems redundant during the republic.

Octavian sort of kickstarted that process as he named himself Imperator Caesar (for personal and political reasons) and they chose to follow it on as succession of the emperors. I think Vitellius was the one who chose not to adopt the Caesar title. There is a few good books I would recommend if you want to study up on this:

SPQR - Mary Beard
Caesar: Life of a Colossus - Adrian Goldsworthy.

My memory is a bit fuzzy on Ancient Rome as I haven’t studied it in about 2 years when I finished my degree on History.

It’s also worth noting that carrying on the Caesar name was perfect for Caesars huge ego, as when you read his writings he always portrayed himself in third person

All my OCD was all like, "Why'd they have so many titles?" Then I started thinking about how I'm going to organize the empire when I eventually get around to reconstituting it. This is what I have so far:

The Roman emperor's title will officially be Augustus Caesar. So it would be Augustus [name] Caesar

The title of the designated heir of the emperor would be Caesar. So: Caesar [name] [name]

When the heir becomes emperor he will take the title 'Augustus', so his name would become Augustus [name] Caesar

I like the idea of the emperor's given name being between Augustus and Caesar as I think it symbolizes the person being clothed in the power of the empire. Although maybe it makes more sense for it to be Augustus Caesar [name].

This way, in my mind, the emperor will always be addressed as 'Augustus' and the heir will always be addressed as 'Caesar'. Then I won't have to think, "Why do you have so many goddamn titles? Fucking pick one."

I'd move the title of 'Consul' to the provinces as the title for the governor of the province. They would rule the province in an administrative/government capacity in the name of Augustus.

The title of 'Proconsul' would be the title for the highest ranking military officer in each province. They would run the military in their respective province in the name of Augustus, and be in charge of their province's, uh, army group with a number of legates under them controlling each legion. I imagine the consul and proconsul would work in tandem to run the province.

The title of 'Imperator' would be used for the highest ranked military officers in the entire Roman army. Like a Joint Chiefs of Staff thing based in Rome serving as Augustus' primary military advisors. A number of proconsuls would report to each imperator, and the imperators would ensure that the military will of Augustus is carried out through the proconsuls.

The Praetorian Guard would be divided into 3 armies: 1 as auxiliary units to regular legions, 1 as the personal army/guard of Augustus, 1 as an army based in Rome resting but is also the special forces branch of the Roman army. Each Praetorian army, or each individual Praetorian soldier would cycle through the 3 missions

I think each rank would have their own color too: -- Augustus' (and family) primary color would be purple, with gold, white, silver, and black accents. Or I imagine whatever goddamn color he wants

-- Consul's primary color would be white, with red and gold accents

-- Procconsul's primary color would be silver, with gold and red accents

-- Imperator's primary color would be gold, with silver and purple accents

-- Praetorion Guard's primary color would be black, with gold, silver, and purple accents

Alright, I think that's enough nerd fantasy for now. Wait...

Would the emperor's title being Augustus Caesar make it more confusing than if his title was just Augustus? Or does Augustus Caesar make sense because the heir is known as Caesar and is elevated to Augustus?

How would you guys organize things?