Julius Caesar, consummate Alpha Male

The greatest man who ever lived was Julius Caesar.

These are the words of Alexander Hamilton to Thomas Jefferson, after Jefferson had said that Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, and John Locke were the greatest men who had ever lived. I have to admit, I am in agreement with Hamilton. For the manosphere, constantly searching for the meaning of manliness and masculinity in the modern world, a view towards the past often provides excellent examples of great men. And there is no better example in history than Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.). The man is truly the epitome of everything a man should be: the Alpha Male par excellence, powerful and dominate, a maker of history rather than a passive onlooker, a man of great intellectual vigor, and a master seducer of women. There were few like him in the course of history. In fact, there may never have been anyone quite like Caesar in all of history.

The man did it all. He achieved greatness in many realms of life, both militarily, politically and intellectually. For instance, he conquered all of what is today modern France, adding a previously hostile territory to the Roman world. Subduing the ancient Gauls was no small feat. It took Caesar seven years of warfare at a cost of perhaps a million Gallic dead and great risk to himself and his armies. It was probably the second greatest military achievement of the ancient world after Alexander the Great’s conquest of the world from Greece to India. Further, Caesar conquered his Roman foes in civil warfare, including the formerly alpha military leader called Pompey the Great. He moved all over the Roman world in these wars, winning battles in such divers areas as Britain, Germany, Spain, North Africa and Egypt. “He doth bestride the narrow world like a colossus,” as Shakespeare says. And like all true Alpha Males, he commanded the loyalty and admiration of other men. His soldiers loved him and followed him wherever he went. Most men will follow a great leader when given the chance.

He was also a master politician, although he did miscalculate how much his enemies hated him and the result was his assassination in 44 BC. But his rise to power was a remarkable one, displaying great political skill and craft. Although of noble heritage, his family at birth resembled more the bankrupt nobility of Victorian England than anything wealthy or powerful. Yet he rose from these dire circumstances through the contentious world of Roman politics and by the end of his life was the sole ruler of the Roman Empire, single handedly setting the stage for the transformation from Rome as a Republic to Rome as an Empire. No small feat.

He was also a great writer. His Commentaries on his conquest of Gaul, known as the Bellum Gallicum, or Gallic Wars, as well as his commentaries on the Roman Civil Wars, are masterpieces of understated history. In his time he was known as a great orator, second only to the greatest of orator of them all, his contemporary Cicero. His Latin is a model of purity and restrained grace. He also showed great interest in grammar, engineering, art, architecture and other intellectual pursuits. He even wrote and appreciated poetry. In this respect General George Patton is perhaps is the most similar equivalent in the modern world.

To study the man’s life is to see someone who was utterly audacious in his actions, actions which, if they failed, would most likely have resulted in his death or complete political ruin. Each step of his rise to power was fraught with death and danger. If he lost any battle, death would have been the expected and respectable outcome. His political opponents always desired to completely destroy him, which they ultimately did through his assassination. This was the price great men often had to face past times: greatness was often won at the price of risking your life. What a far cry today from the internet warriors who wage their little wars from the safety of their air conditions cubicles in sterile office buildings. It is always easy to post a picture of a metallic arrow head on a blog header when you never really are going to be the recipient of such a weapon. For Caesar, facing such weapons at any time was a fact of life.

Finally, and what is also important for this blog, is that he was a master seducer and conqueror of women. Like all great men of action, he bedded countless women. The restless virility that drives a man to amass power, or conquer strange lands, is the same that drives a man to conquer as many women as possible. And the women loved him. Charming, education, attractive, strong and powerful, with a noble lineage, he knew how to work all those qualities to bed countless Roman, and barbarian, babes. Add his military and political conquests, and any woman was his for the taking. In many ways he was the consummate PUA of his time.

Countless volumes have been written on this most fascinating figure, so I will end here. But I challenge anyone to find a man who was more Alpha than Caesar. Even finding someone who was his equal is quite a challenge.

The leader of the Gauls, Vercingetorix, surrendering to Caesar in 52 B.C.

Nota Bene: And just to emphasis Caesar’s historical dominance, even those reading this right now are indebted to him. His dominance is reaching you at this moment. You might ask how? Well, let me explain.

It is highly unlikely that another man could have pulled off such a remarkable feat as his conquest of Gaul and that region may have never come under Roman rule and influence. Eventually, over the course of subsequent centuries, the Celtic speaking population of Gaul was transformed into a Latin speaking population. That Latin eventually evolved into French, which the Normans brought to England after the conquest of 1066. Many of those French words heavily influenced the Anglo-Saxon language, helping to transform Old English into Modern English. Since about 75% of English vocabulary is derived from Latin, either through French or from direct borrowing from Latin, this is no small fact.

So the very language we speak is in some way, through the circuitous route of history, indebted to the massive ambition of one man, Julius Caesar, to achieve personal and political glory through the conquest of an entire region of Europe.

The true Alpha Male makes things happen.