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The debts of Julius Caesar
by Eric Oppen
 Author
says: what if it came out after Crassus' disaster where he lost his
legions and his life that he had been urged to go to Parthia by Caesar, as a
way for Caesar to get rid of him? muses Eric Oppen. Please note that the
opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the
author(s).
In 53 B.C.:
the reputation of Gaius Julius Cæsar was destroyed by
revelations of huge debtedness to the late Publius Licinius Crassus,
strongly indicating that his Roman Legions had been dispatched to Parthia
simply to avoid payment.
Rome was humiliated by defeat at the Battle of Carrhae, made even worse by
the fact that the Parthians had captured several Legionary Eagles. Plutarch
recorded that the Parthians found the Roman prisoner of war that resembled
Crassus the most, dressed him as a woman and paraded him through Parthia for
all to see.
Author
says Caesar owed Crassus some incredibly high debts, and had no real way
to repay them (this was before he conquered Gaul; he did eventually repay
Crassus' heirs with some of the loot from Gaul). If Caesar was seen as a
treacherous scoundrel who'd deliberately encouraged an inexperienced
commander into a situation where he lost several legions, would he have been
able to do anything in Rome? To view guest historian's comments on this post
please visit the
Today in Alternate History web site.
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Other Stories by
Eric Oppen |
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Bio - well, there's not a lot to tell---I'm a lifelong Iowan for my
sins, a St. Olaf College graduate with a degree in East Asian Studies,
including Chinese language-concentration, which has helped me gain no
employment whatsoever. I've worked as a security guard, freelance
writer, computer technician, and landlord, among other things. I'm a
big Harry Potter fan (no prizes for guessing where my House loyalties
are) and a fan of fantasy and SF in general.
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Eric Oppen, Guest Historian of Today
in Alternate History, a Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In
History That Never Occurred Today. Follow us on
Facebook, Myspace and
Twitter.
Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit
differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items
explore that possibility. Possibilities such as America becoming a Marxist
superpower, aliens influencing human history in the 18th century and Teddy
Roosevelt winning his 3rd term as president abound in this interesting
fictional blog.
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