JULIUS CAESAR
Real Name: Gaius Julius Caesar
Identity/Class: Human;
Roman Empire (circa 100 - 44 BC)
Occupation: Politician, general, writer
Group Membership: First Triumvirate of Rome, Roman Empire
Affiliations: Cleopatra, Captain America (Steve Rogers), Charles Cotta, "Lance Curtiss", Dugan the Dead End Ghost, Gobby Goblin, Homer the Happy Ghost, Killpower (Julius Mullarkey), Melvin the Mixed-Up Ghost, Monstro the Mighty, Motormouth (Harley Davis), Gaius Asinius Pollio I, Zelda the Zany Witch
Enemies: Decimus Junius Brutus, Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius, King Ptolemy, Pharnaces
Known Relatives: Gauis Julius Caesar (father), Aurelia Cotta (mother), Julia "Major", Julia "Minor" (sisters), Cornelia, Pompeia, Calpurnia (wives), Julia (daughter), Caesarion (son), Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (posthumously adopted son), Marcus Junius Brutus, Junia Tertia, Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus (suspected children), unnamed grandson (from Julia and Pompey, dead at several days) (see comments)
Aliases: Imperator, Pontifex Maximus, Consul (all official titles for Gaius Julius)
Base of Operations: Rome, Italy
First Appearance: (Mentioned) Comedy Comics I#10/4 (June, 1942); (seen) Ideal#1/1 (July, 1948)
Powers/Abilities: Caesar was a leader skilled in politics as well as in military strategy. One such skill included a command of persuasive public speech.
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 170 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
History:
(Historical) - Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100
BC - 15 March 44 BC), known by his nomen and cognomen Julius Caesar,
was a Roman politician, military general, and historian who played a
critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman
Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. He is also known as an
author of Latin prose.
In 60 BC, Caesar,
Crassus and Pompey formed the First Triumvirate, a political alliance
that dominated Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to
amass power as Populares were opposed by the Optimates within the Roman
Senate, among them Cato the Younger with the frequent support of
Cicero.
(Motormouth/Killpower#9) - <55 BC> While in the Colosseum in Rome, Julius Caesar enjoyed a gladiatorial fight where the gladiators didn't just fight each other but also with wild tigers and leopards as well. The crowd was shocked when suddenly two time travelers arrived in the midst of the battle, Motormouth and Killpower arrived after meeting the Time Guardian in the Crossroads of Time. Seeing the outlandish characters, Caesar ordered the gladiators to kill them; although the time travelers fought back, they were mindful not to kill them lest history be changed. When Killpower noticed that because of their arrival, one of the tigers had managed to escape the Colosseum and was now running towards Caesar. Motormouth quickly used her powers to stun the animal and save Caesar who then gave them the thumbs up (see comments). With that, the duo departed the Colosseum.
(Historical) - Caesar rose to become one of the most powerful politicians in the Roman Republic through a number of his accomplishments, notably his victories in the Gallic Wars, completed by 51 BC. During this time, Caesar became the first Roman general to cross both the English Channel and the Rhine River, when he built a bridge across the Rhine and crossed the Channel to invade Britain. Caesar's wars extended Rome's territory to Britain and past Gaul. These achievements granted him unmatched military power and threatened to eclipse the standing of Pompey, who had realigned himself with the Senate after the death of Crassus in 53 BC.
(Comedy Comics I#10/5 (fb) - BTS) - Monstro the Mighty, the son of the Olympian god of war, was send to Earth by his father to learn his trade. For many centuries he served an apprenticeship with the ministers of war, first as a Centurion in Caesar's Gallic Wars.
(Homer, the Happy Ghost#19/1) - Caesar accidentally came across a group of strange looking people: Homer the Happy Ghost, Zelda the Zany Witch, Melvin the Mixed-Up Ghost, Dugan the Dead End Ghost and Gobby Goblin unaware they had used a time machine to travel to ancient Rome. But when Dugan accidentally insulted Caesar he ordered his guards to throw the ghostly character to the lions prompting Dugan to fly away. Determined to capture what he thought to be a sorcerer Caesar unleashed the royal hawk who was stopped by Zelda. The gang of time travellers continued their exploration of Rome and took a look at the Colosseum where Caesar and his legion attacked the group who then quickly returned to their own time unaware Caesar followed them into the time machine and was also teleported to modern times.
(Hostess advertisement "The Time Warp!") - Through some quirk in space/time, Caesar and a legion of his Roman Centurions appeared in modern age Central Park. S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury, dispatched Captain America to control this unexpected arrival. As the Captain arrived, he observed Caesar and his men enjoying the delicious Hostess' Twinkies pulled from abandoned picnic baskets. After an amiable exchange, Captain America assured Caesar and his men would be returned to their proper time and place.
(Civil War: Front Line I#2/4 (fb) - BTS) - <50 BC> Caesar shared the Consulate position with two men: Pompey the Great and Marcus Licinius, a millionaire of the day. Despite Caesar's obvious benefit to Rome, his moves were often blocked by a corrupt Roman senate. In 50 BC, he was ordered to disband his legions and return to Rome. To Caesar this was an illegal act: his consulship was perfectly legitimate, and yet he had been forbidden to stand for a second term.
(Civil War: Front Line I#2/4 (fb) - BTS / War Comics#40/2) - <49 BC> And so, on January 10th of the year 49 BC - accused of insubordination and treason - Julius Caesar brought his single legion to the banks of the Rubicon river, a natural border that marked the edge of this territory. Neither he nor the Roman Senate wanted conflict, yet Caesar's hand had been forced, and he was not the kind of man to back down without a fight. Caesar knew that from the moment he crossed the Rubicon he would ignite a civil war.
(Civil War: Front Line I#2/4 (fb) ) - <49 BC> Preparing for the fight that was to come, Caesar shared a drink with Gaius Asinius Pollio I who served under him. When asked what to do, Caesar told him the die had been cast after which Caesar's civil war began. Caesar and his legion won the battle.
(Cloak and Dagger II#8 (fb) - BTS) - <49 BC> During Caesar's civil war he also fought in the Siege and naval Battle of Massilia. In Massilia (now known as Marseilles), Pompey's armies massed against Caesar.
(Historical) - The victory in the war put him in an unrivaled position of power and influence. After assuming control of government, Caesar began a program of social and governmental reforms, including the creation of the Julian calendar. He gave citizenship to many residents of far regions of the Roman Empire. He initiated land reform and support for veterans. He centralized the bureaucracy of the Republic and was eventually proclaimed "dictator for life," giving him additional authority. His populist and authoritarian reforms angered the elites, who began to conspire against him.
(Historical / Ideal I#1/1) - <47 BC> Caesar then became involved with an Egyptian civil war between the child pharaoh and his sister, wife, and co-regent queen, Cleopatra. Perhaps as a result of the Pharaoh's role in Pompey's murder, Caesar sided with Cleopatra. He withstood the Siege of Alexandria and later he defeated the Pharaoh's forces at the Battle of the Nile in 47 BC and installed Cleopatra as ruler. Caesar and Cleopatra celebrated their victory with a triumphal procession on the Nile in the spring of 47 BC. The royal barge was accompanied by 400 additional ships, and Caesar was introduced to the luxurious lifestyle of the Egyptian pharaohs.
(Fantastic Four I#212 (fb) - BTS) - Caesar's involvement with Cleopatra was subtly manipulated by the Sphinx (Anath-Na Mut), a powerful mutant wizard.
(Historical / Ideal I#1/1) - <47 BC> Caesar and Cleopatra were not married. Caesar continued his relationship with Cleopatra throughout his last marriage (in Roman eyes, this did not constitute adultery). Cleopatra visited Rome on more than one occasion, residing in Caesar's villa just outside Rome across the Tiber.
(Battle Front#27/4) - <May, 47 BC> Caesar and his legion fought Pharnaces and the Pontic army at Asia Minor. Despite their tenacity and the advantage of the initial advance, Pharnaces' lines began to break and it was only a matter of time before the entire army was sent into a rout. In an overwhelming Roman victory Caesar took Pharnaces as a slave and sent a simple, but powerful message back to Rome and the Senate: "VENI VIDI VICI", I came, I saw, I conquered.
(Fantastic Four IV#5) - <46 BC> An extraterrestrial who spent its time studying Earth had traveled through time and space to observe Caesar. It watched as Caesar's fifth Legion repelled elephants of war at Thapsus.
(Savage Sword of Conan I#106/2) - <46 BC> Caesar fought during the battle of Thapsus whilst riding an elephant.
(Fantastic Four IV#5 (fb)) - <46 BC> During the battle of Thapsus, Caesar rode a large elephant when it suddenly jumped upon seeing a snake. Sadly Caesar's head hit a rock during his fall causing the man to die. Shocked to see the iconic leader dead, the extraterrestrial was afraid his act of observing caused history to alter wildly. Believing history needed to be played out as it should, the extraterrestrial inhabited Caesar's body and continued his life according to what he'd studied.
(Adventures into Weird Worlds#21/2 - BTS) - While the extraterrestrial would continue to live out Caesar's life as it should, Caesar's spirit ended up in Hell.
(Adventures into Weird Worlds#21/2) - In "Hell", Hitler bargained with a contemptuous devil to be allowed to escape his punishment and was given the chance to find someone who would vouch for his worthiness. Deciding not to try his luck among the living, Hitler instead traveled through "Hell" in search of a character reference; thinking that past would-be world conquerors might help him, he approached Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Napoleon, but all were disgusted by his career and refused. Hitler finally decided to seek the support of "Joe," an ally of his who had died a few months ago, only to learn that Joe was now none other than the taunting devil who offered him the doomed deal in the first place.
(Tales to Astonish I#31/2) - The artist "Lance Curtiss", who received an extraterrestrial pencil which could bring anything he drew to life used its power to bring Cleopatra, Julius Caesar and Davy Crockett back to life; however, the effects of the pencil were eventually undone.
Comments: Adapted by unidentified creators.
Who's who? Caesar vs Cotta
So what you might've learned in school isn't necessarily what happened in the Marvel Universe. While the real life Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March, the one on Earth-616 died during the war at Thapsus, falling of an elephant. The extraterrestrial who took over Caesar's body would continue to live out Caesar's life as chronicled. On the Ides of March (15 March), 44 BC, "Caesar" was then assassinated by a group of rebellious senators led by Gaius Cassius Longinus, Marcus Junius Brutus and Decimus Junius Brutus, who stabbed him to death. "Caesar" survived and escaped the city of Rome thanks to the time traveling Human Torch, the Thing, Franklin and Valeria Richards after which he went to live in modern times as Charles Cotta though still inhabiting Caesar's body. It's interesting to note that the extraterrestrial chose to call himself Cotta named of course after Aurelia Cotta, Caesar's mother.
The Fantastic Four IV#5's retcon however proves somewhat problematic when it comes to his appearance in Adventures into Weird Worlds#21/2 (1953) where Caesar is seen in Hell with a knife stuck in his back. So while he notes one knife in his back is enough the one stabbed was Cotta, who's still very much alive in the modern era. The one in Hell must be Caesar, but it doesn't jibe well with the way his life ended at Marvel.
The retcon also means that some of the earlier published stories where Caesar appears would now be Cotta: Caesar's death as shown in Ideal#1/1 (July, 1948), Incredible Hulk II#210 (April, 1977) and Cable II#96 (October, 2001) but also his run in with Doctor Strange and Clea in Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme#33 (September, 1991). Adventures Into Weird Worlds#3/2 (March, 1952) transported to the 30th century by Kara the Martian. These appearances will be chronicled in Charles Cotta's profile.
Hostess ad
In 2005, Kyle Smith had written an Appendix profile on the Caesar who appeared in the Hostess ad. His original entry has been included here. Although Kyle himself wasn't so sure about Caesar's true identity: "I believe that Caesar and his Centurions were Space Phantoms sent in some heretofore-unrevealed plot of Immortus. To back this up, Caesar and his men did refer to the people in the park as "creatures". Plus, I bet that if these guys were the real time-traveling deal they would be droppin' turd piles out from under their man-dresses due to shock! Of course if Caesar had a literal legion of men (3,000 to 6,000 foot soldiers plus cavalrymen) at his disposal, he wouldn't have much to fear from a park filled with modern-day picnickers.
Caesar's Hostess appearance "The Time Warp!" appeared in August 1978 editions of Marvel comic books for example Defenders I#62. The Hostess ad characters have since become canon as you might've seen Icemaster in the pages of the Thunderbolts and the X-Men or the Printout Man in the New Avengers Most Wanted Files and Fing Fang Four Return.
However, concerning
this specific Caesar, the Captain America Index noted it thusly: While
thwarting villainy with baked confectionary might seem to suggest these
ads are unlikely to be part of regular Marvel (Earth-616) continuity,
several antagonists created for the ads reappeared in 616 stories,
raising the possibility that events similar to the ones depicted,
presumably minus the tasty Hostess cake element, could have taken place
in 616. So this means Captain America and Caesar might have met but not
included the Hostess cakes aspect.
It's also worth mentioning that: The Roman leader is
only identified as Caesar in the strip; the Captain America Index
confirms for the first time exactly which Roman emperor he is.
Having said that with the information taken from Fantastic Four IV#5 (2013) a case could be made the Hostess ad one could be Cotta using his time traveling equipment. Arguments could be made for either.
Family
Julia Caesaris Filia was Caesar's daughter with Cornelia and lived from 76 BC till 54 BC. She would've been his real daughter.
Caesarion (Ptolemy XV Philopator Philometor Caesar) was Caesar's son with Cleopatra and lived from 23 June, 47 BC till 23 August, 30 BC.
Also known as Ptolemy, this Caesar was the last Pharaoh of Egypt. Born
in 47 BC, he would've been Caesar's real son not the offspring of the
extraterrestrial who took over his body a year later.
Additionally only his suspected daughter Junia Tertia with Servilia born ca. 60 BC would be the offspring of the extraterrestrial, albeit still genetically Caesar's daughter since the extraterrestrial was animating the real Caesar's body.
Marada the She-Wolf is the daughter of a Caesar-but not the Caesar, Gaius Julius Caesar, since she refers to his book on the Wicker Man, the Celts, and Ashrandriar. Since she lived after the word "Caesar" came to denote a title for a ruler (similar to how "Kull" became a title for the rulers of Valusia), that means she lived some time after the death of Gaius Julius Caesar.
Other comments
Caesar's appearance in Ideal#1 (July, 1948) was the historical account of Queen Cleopatra VII Philopater of Egypt (69-30 BC) and Roman general Marcus Antonius (81-30 BC); possibly based on the plays Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare (1607) and/or All for Love by John Dryden (1678).
Regarding Caesar giving the thumbs up in Motormouth#9: while there definitely was a signal using the thumbs (Pollice verso), there's a lot of debate amongst historians as to what the gesture actually was, and it might not be historically accurate that thumbs up was the one signaling to spare the opponent.
In Doom 2099#16 (April, 1994) on Earth-928, 2099 A.D. Caesar was one of the creations of the Virtual Unreality who tried to convince Doom to accept his role as Emperor of the World.
In Fantastic Four: True Story#3 (November, 2008) Reed Richards was dressed as Caesar on the cover. In the issue itself Caesar was seen fighting alongside Othello in a universe ruled by fiction itself when the Fantastic Four were opposed by Nightmare.
Thanks to Mike Castle for pointing out his appearance in Battle Front#27/4 and War Comics#40/2.
Profile by MarvellousLuke
made possible with invaluable help provided by Loki, Markus Raymond and Proto-Man
CLARIFICATIONS:
Caesar has no known connections to
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Asinius was a Roman politician and part of the military. Asinius was part of Caesar's 13th Legion when they crossed the Rubicon, igniting Caesar's civil war. Right before the battle, Caesar and Asinius had a drink at which point he told Asinius the die was already cast. --Civil War: Front Line I#2/4 |
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images: (without ads)
Ideal#1, p14, pan2 (main image)
Motormouth#9, p21, pan6 (meeting Killpower and Motormouth)
Hostess advertisement "The Time Warp!", pan5 (Hostess ad)
Fantastic Four IV#5, p10, pan5-6 (real death)
Adventures into Weird Worlds#21, p9, pan5 (meeting Hitler in Hell)
Civil War: Front Line I#2, p31, pan1 (Gaius Asinius Pollio I)
Appearances:
Comedy Comics I#10/5 (June, 1942) - creative team unrevealed
Ideal#1/1 (July, 1948) - creative team unrevealed
Adventures into Weird Worlds#21/2 (August, 1953) - Sam Kweskin (artist)
Battle Front#27/4 (January, 1955) - creative team unrevealed
War Comics#40/2 (March, 1956) - unidentified writer
Homer, the Happy Ghost#19 (May, 1958) - Stan Lee (writer), Dan DeCarlo (pencils)
Tales to Astonish I#31 (May, 1962) - Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (penciler), Dick Ayers (inker)
Incredible Hulk II#210 (April, 1977) - Len Wein (writer/editor), Sal Buscema (pencils), Ernie Chan (inks)
Hostess advertisement "The Time Warp" (August, 1978) - Joe Sinnott (inks, presumably)
Fantastic Four I#212 (November, 1979) - Marv Wolfman (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Marv Wolfman, Jim Shooter (editors)
Savage Sword of Conan I#106/2 (November, 1984) - Roy Thomas (writer), Gene Day (pencils, inks)
Cloak and Dagger II#8 (September, 1986) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Mike Mignola (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Carl Potts (editor)
Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme#33 (September, 1991) - Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas (writers), Chris Marrinan (penciler), Mark McKenna (inker), Mike Rockwitz (editor)
Motormouth/Killpower#9 (February, 1993) - John Freeman, Graham Marks (writers), David Taylor (pencils, inks), John Freeman, Jacqui Papp (editors)
Cable II#96 (October, 2001) - Robert Weinberg (writer), Michael Ryan (pencils), Harry Candelario (inks)
Civil War: Front Line I#2/4 (August, 2006) - Paul Jenkins (writer), Ramon Bachs (pencils), John Lucas (inks), Cory Sedlmeier, Tom Brevoort (editors)
Fantastic Four IV#5 (May, 2013) - Matt Fraction (writer), Mark Bagley (pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Jake Thomas, Tom Brevoort (editors)
First Posted: 05/06/03 (Hostess ad profile on Caesar by Kyle Smith)
Last Updated: 03/19/2019
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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