Julius Caesar
In this weeks module we looked at the leadership of Julius Cassar (100-44BCE). Caesar was both a military general and a statesman, a very good politician at that. In those regards we took a look into Caesar’s leadership style. A man of war and conquer, and one who aspired to Alexander the Great, Caesar had very specific tools he used in war and particularity in message control. He wrote detailed accounts of his battles and triumphs over the Gauls and Pompey in Bellum Gallicum. And Bellum Civile respectively. These Commentarii were to be read by the senate and were written by Caesar in the third-person tense. This is significant because it gives the appearance that these accounts are unbiased, but considering its intended audience and because it was written by Caesar himself, they were by default a type of impression management. Impression management is how a leader considers how he is perceived by others, and his intentions to control this impression. These Commentarii serve as the most complete account of these battles and present a challenge to the accurate reconstruction of the history of these battles. However, what these Commentarii do provide us with, and what was the focus of this week’s module is Caesar’s use of military viewpoints to describe his triumphs.
Military warfare has two main schools of thought as we learned in class this week. One expressed by Antoine-Henri Jomini (1779-1869) and the other by Carl von Clausewitz. Jomini describes war in his book "The Art of War" as diagrammatic and almost game-like. He lists the 5 principles of wars
- Statesmanship in War - this although not specifically a part of the fighting, precedes all wars. Wars are reason either for rights, land, or profit and any other number of reasons. The men who engage in the statesmanship are vital in the acceleration or the prevention of wars.
- Stratergy - Involves the outlay of the "theater" of the battle. What is the geography of the battlefield? How will the men advance based on the features of the land and where will they position themselves. Strategy involves getting leverage over your opponent before and during battle.
- Grand Tactics - "is the art of making good combinations preliminary to battles, as well as during their progress." It seeks to place force onto opponents in the most pressing and advantageous position .
- Logistics - Is described by the author as a general science and the most essential part of any war. A good commander must be concerned with every facet of the war: weapons and supplies of food and its transport, payment to soldiers and every general branch of details in war.
- Engineering
- Minor tactics
Tuesday 9:40-11am Classroom
In class on Tuesday we talked about CLEMENTIA - Caesar was know as a person who had the quality of mercy and forgiveness. He may or may not have actively cultivated this quality in an active way but this was generally know of him. We discussed Ethnos - a group of people living in a place. Caesar was engaged in Ethnography. He wrote about the different peoples that constituted the area of Gaul, modern day France. He describes the Aquitani, Seine and the Belgae peoples and what rivers and topographical features of the land are present and separate each other. He also describes that the Belgae are the most fierce of the Gauls in that they live in a colder region and are constantly at war with the Germans, and are far removed from culture and civilization. In this description of the Belgae, Caesar reinforces the thought that too much or too little of culture weakens rather than strengthens a people. The perception of the Romans at that time was that societies such as the Egyptians with their plentiful art, poetry, and culture bred citizens that were weaker and effeminate. The culture was described as hyper-civilized. On the other hand peoples in uncivilized societies which were removed from this type of art, language and culture were seen as barbaric and uncultured.
Modern day African American comedians use this distinction between what they consider hyper-civilized and under-civilized cultures within America. Kevin Hart in his new stand up "Now What?" says that private school is "messing his kids up" by teaching them the word flops to refer to slippers. When Kevin grew up going to public school he would never have the word flops in his vocabulary and pokes fun at his son. He also makes a parody of his own culture growing up being beaten by his parents in a barbaric way, showing their contrasting uncivilized nature.
"Soft countries breed soft men" - This what was Caesar and Kevin Hart both meant. The balance of this is what was desired by both. The middle ground was seen to be cultured enough and masculine enough. In my own culture, Dreadlocks are effeminate when they are twisted. Bob Marley's son Damian Marley said, "You cant go to Zion and wear jerry curls [twisted locks] cant tell the boys from the girls." In Rasta culture, the language for twisted locks alone define it as a feminine practice. It is called manicured locks or salon locks, referring to the practice of how women would go to the salon to have their hair done.
But I became aware of how hard it is to differentiate between Jominian and Clausewitzian type of leadership when I was asked to describe myself as one or the other. To know the difference, on cannot merely identify one or the other as psychological or diagrammatic. For in such a game as chess, where pieces are moved correctly, it utilizes both approaches to warfare described by the aforementioned authors. A good move against a good opponent can be viewed as both defensive and offensive. These great tactical (diagrammatic) moves can place opponents into mental dilemmas and over time can discourage them (psychological).
Thursday 9:40-11am classroom
Caesar was describes by Alexandrian historian Appian as, "a man who chanced most favorably in all things." Caesar was also described as possessing CELERITAS (speed) and FELICITAS (luckiness). Yet in his battles, he never described himself as such. His battle with Pompey at Pharsalus, Caesar records the geographical terrain and tactics used. He Describes the rousing of his men to battle by the war veteran Gaius Crastinus and the experience of his soldiers in battle and willingness of them to follow his instructions even when tired and weary and the psychological effects this had on the Pompeans. Pompy and his army was defeated and Pompey himself was delivered over to Caesar. in true Clausewitz fashiod Caesar declared to his army before the battle that he never wished to squander the blood of his soldiers, possibly having the effect of letting them know that this war was not in vain or for selfish purposes. He also describes in Jomini fashion that his men, when charging into battle against the Pompeian army, stopped halfway when they observed that Pompey' soldiers were not advancing. The soldiers once regaining their stamina and at the command at Caesar, charged once more and discharged their javelins. this shows the game-like strategy to Caesars plan.
Caesar modeled himself after Alexander the Great, another figure we looked at in this module. Here we see what kind of leader Caesar was
- Megalopsychia - Large spiritedness. Someone who wants high honors and are worthy of them.
- Keunnotes - Someone who wants high honors but are not worthy of them.
- Micropsychia - Someone who doesn't want high honors but is worthy of them (small souled/spirited)