My Fascination with Caesar
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Asterix and Obelix
My fascination with caesar started as a child I when loved reading the "Asterix and Obelix" series of cartoons by Goscinny and Uderzo. I couldn't get enough of them and used to go to the public library after school just to read them. Goscinny and Uderzo painted a picture of the Romans as clumsy and corrupt but demonstrated respect for the figure of Caesar. In one comic ("Asterix and Son") Caeser's child with Cleopatra (Ptolemy Caesar or Caesarion) is babysat by Asterix and Obelix. The comic culminates in a feast (as usual) only this time Caesar joins in.
Great Asterix Comics
 | When Roman Centurion Crismus Bonus finds out about Getafix the druid’s magic potion, he kidnaps the druid to force him to reveal the recipe. So Asterix joins his friend in captivity and together they two plan to whip up a surprise with truly hair-raising effects. Another fantastic Asterix and Obelix adventure! Amazon Price: $6.12 List Price: $10.95 |
About Goscinny and Uderzo
Great Asterix Comics
 | They want to pave paradise and put up a housing development. That's why a multinational team of slave construction workers are clearing the forest just outside the Gaulish town. Will the Gauls be fast enough to stop them and prevent Roman upstarts from moving in? Another great adventure for our indomitable Gauls! Amazon Price: $6.32 List Price: $10.95 |
 | Whoops, it’s happened again: Getaflix has been kidnapped, this time by a raiding band of Goths. So it’s onward and into Germania for Asterix and Getaflix. But in the process of saving their druid, the two Gauls set off a whole series of tribal wars. Asterix and Obelix to the rescue again! Amazon Price: $6.16 List Price: $10.95 |
 | Asterix and Obelix meet a new friend: a Corsican chieftain who had been Caesar's prisoner. Together, the trio returns to Corsica to help foil the evil plans of the corrupt Roman, Praetor Perfidius. Once again our Gallic heroes throw themselves against the might of Ancient Rome and come up trumps! Amazon Price: $6.17 List Price: $10.95 |
Not just cartoons
The Asterix comics fed my interest and I always loved any movies about ancient Rome and even took Latin as a subject in high school. Last year I reinvigorated my fascination with Roman history and Caesar in particular when I was doing some reading about the Roman Republic to try to help my child at school with ancient history. Since then I have been avidly reading and watching everything I can find about Caesar and the Republic. I am lucky as there are so many websites, movies, and publications about the Republic. I have even been re-reading the old Asterix comics that I found in my bookcase!
Why I am fascinated with Caesar
I am fascinated with ancient Rome full stop. But for some reason, I have always wanted to learn more about Caesar. And the more I learn about him the more fascinated I become. One of his chief characteristics was his pragmatism. Coupled with this was his undeniable flair and style. His sheer brilliance and his calculated showmanship demonstrate that his charisma was not just alive in the past but has carried forward for thousands of years. He was someone who captured the hearts and minds of the people and of his soldiers and still captures the hearts and minds of people today. There is so much of drama, intrigue and majesty to his story. Even as a man of his times he was cast from a different mould than other Roman magistrates. His upbringing was atypical and his behaviour was unique. In short, his attraction is timeless and I am certainly caught in his web.
Great Asterix Comics
 | It’s off to the wars for Asterix and Obelix: they’ve enlisted as legionnaires in order to rescue Tragicomix, whom the Romans forcibly conscripted. The two find Tragicomix and succeed in causing the biggest commotion ever on a battlefield. Our indomitable Gauls are off again creating havoc in the Roman world. Amazon Price: $7.34 List Price: $14.95 |
Did you read the "Asterix and Obelix" cartoons as a child?
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Hi Alastar, thanks for your thoughts on this - you are right, Ancient Rome and the world would certainly be different if the Republic had succeeded. It's fun to ponder stuff like that - and as for art and architecture such as the "Villa of the Mysteries", you have reminded me that there are many more ways for me to examine the Republic, other than the literature of the period, I tend to forget about the art.
Cheers MJ
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Alastar Packer Level 8 Commenter 14 months ago
Caesar's book on the Gaulish wars certainly gives us a lot of what we know about that time period. It's also kewl to ponder the "Villa of the Mysteries" in Pompeii painted around his time.Interesting to wonder after what Rome's history(and hence the worlds)if the Republic had been victorious after C's assassination.Liked your Asterix cartoon as we didn't have them where I grew up.