> I find these Shakespeare speeches interesting, because his version of Mark Antony's speech is probably the greatest written speech ever, though still not likely as great as Antony's actual speech.
what is known about the actual speech that makes you conclude this? not doubting just curious
it's mainly my own conjecture. I'm not sure if Mark Antony had delivered Shakespeare's speech at the funeral that it would have had the effect that Mark's did. Like, the speech literally changed the course of history forever. It led to the second triumvirate, which led to Augustus' reign, the Empire, etc. It's probably the most impactful speech of all time. I'm assuming based off that that it was a banger.
The actual speech is not known. It is however important to note that Roman historians gave greater importance to telling an enticing and morally sound story than to exact accuracy. It was common practice for the historians to create speeches ex nihilo to illustrate a significant historical event, because Roman prominent figures were *expected* to be good orators, so it would have been unconceivable that their speech could have been meh.
Well I feel it’s important to stress out that Shakespeare is to Roman history what *The Matrix* is to AI science, because it might not have been completely clear from reading the article. :-)
Not really. The gens Julia was already a prominent family of Alba Longa, the “mother”-city of Rome, and they were incorporated into Roman aristocracy when Alba Longa was destroyed. The oldest known member of the family to become consul did so at the very beginning of the 5th century BCE, so more than 450 years before the rise to power of Cesar. Clearly not a family of underdogs…
"That Sam was getting all the attention."
Solid pun, and all you need.
That was brilliant....
Thank you!
> I find these Shakespeare speeches interesting, because his version of Mark Antony's speech is probably the greatest written speech ever, though still not likely as great as Antony's actual speech.
what is known about the actual speech that makes you conclude this? not doubting just curious
it's mainly my own conjecture. I'm not sure if Mark Antony had delivered Shakespeare's speech at the funeral that it would have had the effect that Mark's did. Like, the speech literally changed the course of history forever. It led to the second triumvirate, which led to Augustus' reign, the Empire, etc. It's probably the most impactful speech of all time. I'm assuming based off that that it was a banger.
The actual speech is not known. It is however important to note that Roman historians gave greater importance to telling an enticing and morally sound story than to exact accuracy. It was common practice for the historians to create speeches ex nihilo to illustrate a significant historical event, because Roman prominent figures were *expected* to be good orators, so it would have been unconceivable that their speech could have been meh.
well, of course, there were no court stenographers in Ancient Rome. At a certain point, it had to be created afterwards
Well I feel it’s important to stress out that Shakespeare is to Roman history what *The Matrix* is to AI science, because it might not have been completely clear from reading the article. :-)
The gens Julia upstarts? Lol. Massive lol.
is this not accurate? relative to the other patrician families, what I read is that the Julians were at the bottom of the totem pole
Not really. The gens Julia was already a prominent family of Alba Longa, the “mother”-city of Rome, and they were incorporated into Roman aristocracy when Alba Longa was destroyed. The oldest known member of the family to become consul did so at the very beginning of the 5th century BCE, so more than 450 years before the rise to power of Cesar. Clearly not a family of underdogs…