Editing Julius Caesar (section)

==Personal life==
===Health and physical appearance===
[[File:Gaius Iulius Caesar (Vatican Museum).jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Chiaramonti Caesar]] bust, a posthumous portrait in marble, 44–30 BC, [[Museo Pio-Clementino]], [[Vatican Museums]]]]

Based on remarks by Plutarch<ref>{{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=17, 45, 60}}; {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=45}}.</ref> ({{circa|46}} – {{circa|120s AD}}), Caesar is sometimes thought to have suffered from [[epilepsy]]. Modern scholarship is sharply divided on the subject, and some scholars believe that he was plagued by malaria, particularly during the Sullan proscriptions of the 80s&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ridley |first=Ronald T. |date=2000 |title=The Dictator's Mistake: Caesar's Escape from Sulla |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4436576 |journal=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=211–29 |jstor=4436576 |issn=0018-2311}} Ridley cites:
* {{cite journal |last=Kanngiesser |first=F |title=Notes on the pathology of the Julian dynasty |year=1912 |journal=Glasgow Medical Journal |volume=77 |pages=428–32 |ref=none }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Cawthorne |first=Terence |date=1958 |title=Julius caesar and the falling sickness |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1288/00005537-195808000-00005 |journal=The Laryngoscope |volume=68 |issue=8 |pages=1442–1450 |doi=10.1288/00005537-195808000-00005|pmid=13576900 |s2cid=34788441 |ref=none | issn=0023-852X}}
* {{Cite book |last=Temkin |first=Owsei |title=The falling sickness: a history of epilepsy from the Greeks to the beginnings of modern neurology |date=1971 |orig-date=1945 |isbn=0-8018-1211-9 |edition=Revised |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |oclc=208839 |page=162 |ref=none }}</ref> Other scholars contend his epileptic seizures were due to a [[neurocysticercosis|parasitic infection in the brain]] by a tapeworm.<ref name="bruschi">{{Cite journal |last=Bruschi |first=Fabrizio |date=2011 |title=Was Julius Caesar's epilepsy due to neurocysticercosis? |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1471492211001139 |journal=Trends in Parasitology |volume=27 |issue=9 |pages=373–74 |doi=10.1016/j.pt.2011.06.001|pmid=21757405 }}</ref><ref name="mclachlan">{{Cite journal |last=McLachlan |first=Richard S |date=2010 |title=Julius Caesar's late onset epilepsy: a case of historic proportions |journal=Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences |volume=37 |issue=5 |pages=557–561 |doi=10.1017/S0317167100010696 |pmid=21059498 |s2cid=24082872 |issn=0317-1671|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Caesar had four documented episodes of what may have been complex partial seizures. He may additionally have had [[absence seizure]]s in his youth. The earliest accounts of these seizures were made by the biographer Suetonius, who was born after Caesar died. The claim of epilepsy is countered among some medical historians by a claim of [[hypoglycemia]], which can cause epileptoid seizures.<ref name="Hughes2004Caesar">{{cite journal |last=Hughes |first=John R |display-authors=etal |title=Dictator perpetuus: Julius Caesar – Did he have seizures? If so, what was the etiology? |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S152550500400160X |journal=Epilepsy & Behavior |volume=5 |issue=5 |pages=756–64 |date=2004 |doi=10.1016/j.yebeh.2004.05.006|pmid=15380131 |s2cid=34640921 }}</ref><ref name="Gomez1995">{{cite journal |last=Gomez |first=J G |display-authors=etal |date=1995 |title=Was Julius Caesar's epilepsy due to a brain tumor? |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7738524 |journal=Journal of the Florida Medical Association |volume=82 |issue=3 |pages=199–201 |issn=0015-4148 |pmid=7738524}}</ref>

A line from [[Julius Caesar (play)|Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar'']] has sometimes been taken to mean that he was deaf in one ear: "Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf."<ref>William Shakespeare, ''Julius Caesar'' I.ii.209.</ref> No classical source mentions hearing impairment in connection with Caesar. The playwright may have been making metaphorical use of a passage in Plutarch that does not refer to deafness at all, but rather to a gesture Alexander of Macedon customarily made. By covering his ear, Alexander indicated that he had turned his attention from an accusation in order to hear the defence.{{sfn|Paterson|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=gzOXLGbIIYwC&q=julius+caesar+deaf&pg=PT150 130]}}

Francesco M. Galassi and Hutan Ashrafian suggest that Caesar's behavioural manifestations{{snd}}headaches, vertigo, falls (possibly caused by muscle weakness due to nerve damage), sensory deficit, giddiness and insensibility{{snd}}and syncopal episodes were the results of cerebrovascular episodes, not epilepsy. Pliny the Elder reports in his ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' that Caesar's father and forefather died without apparent cause while putting on their shoes.<ref>Pliny, ''Natural History'',  [http://attalus.org/translate/pliny_hn7c.html#181 vii.181]</ref> These events can be more readily associated with cardiovascular complications from a stroke episode or lethal heart attack. Caesar possibly had a genetic predisposition for cardiovascular disease.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Galassi |first1=Francesco M. |last2=Ashrafian |first2=Hutan |date=2015 |title=Has the diagnosis of a stroke been overlooked in the symptoms of Julius Caesar? |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25820216 |journal=Neurological Sciences |volume=36 |issue=8 |pages=1521–22 |doi=10.1007/s10072-015-2191-4 |issn=1590-3478 |pmid=25820216|s2cid=11730078 }}</ref>

[[Suetonius]] ({{circa|69}} – {{circa|122 AD}}) describes Caesar as "tall of stature with a fair complexion, shapely limbs, a somewhat full face, and keen black eyes".<ref>{{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=45}}. ''excelsa statura, colore candido, teretibus membris, ore paulo pleniore, nigris vegetisque oculis''.</ref> He adds that the [[Hair loss|balding]] Caesar was sensitive to teasing on the subject, and therefore had a [[Comb over|combover]]. Suetonius reports that Caesar was thus especially pleased to be granted the honour of wearing a wreath at all times.<ref>{{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=45}} ''"Circa corporis... laureae coronae perpetuo gestandae."''</ref>

===Name and family===

====The name Gaius Julius Caesar====
{{main|Gaius Julius Caesar (name)}}
Using the [[Latin alphabet]] of the period, which lacked the letters ''J'' and ''U'', Caesar's name would be rendered GAIVS IVLIVS CAESAR; the form CAIVS is also attested, using the older Roman representation of ''G'' by ''C''. The standard abbreviation was C.&nbsp;IVLIVS CÆSAR, reflecting the older spelling. (The letterform ''Æ'' is a [[ligature (typography)|ligature]] of the letters ''A'' and ''E'', and is often used in Latin [[inscription]]s to save space.){{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

In Classical Latin, it was [[Latin spelling and pronunciation|pronounced]] {{IPA|la-x-classic|ˈɡaːi.ʊs ˈjuːliʊs ˈkae̯sar|}}. In the days of the late Roman Republic, many historical writings were done in Greek, a language most educated Romans studied. Young wealthy Roman boys were often taught by Greek slaves and sometimes sent to Athens for advanced training, as was Caesar's principal assassin, [[Marcus Junius Brutus|Brutus]]. In [[Ancient Greek|Greek]], during Caesar's time, his family name was written {{lang|grc|Καίσαρ}} (''Kaísar''), reflecting its contemporary pronunciation. Thus, his name is pronounced in a similar way to the pronunciation of the German ''[[Kaiser]]'' {{IPA|de|ˈkaɪzɐ|}} or Dutch ''[[Emperor|keizer]]'' {{IPA|nl|ˈkɛizər|}}.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

In [[Vulgar Latin]], the original [[diphthong]] {{IPA|[ae̯]}} first began to be pronounced as a simple long vowel {{IPAblink|ɛː}}. Then, the [[Stop consonant|plosive]] {{IPAslink|k}} before [[front vowel]]s began, due to [[Palatalization (sound change)|palatalization]], to be pronounced as an [[affricate]], hence renderings like {{IPA|it|ˈtʃɛːzar|}} in [[Italian language|Italian]] and {{IPA|de|ˈtseːzaʁ|}} in [[German language|German]] [[Latin regional pronunciation|regional pronunciations of Latin]], as well as the title of [[Tsar]]. With the evolution of the [[Romance languages]], the affricate {{IPAblink|ts}} became a [[Fricative consonant|fricative]] {{IPAblink|s}} (thus, {{IPA|[ˈseːsar]}} and the like) in many regional pronunciations, including the French one, from which the modern English pronunciation is derived.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

Caesar's [[cognomen]] itself became a [[Caesar (title)|title]]; it was promulgated by the [[Bible]], which contains the famous verse "[[Render unto Caesar]] the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's". The title became, from the late first millennium, ''[[Kaiser]]'' in [[German language|German]] and (through [[Old Church Slavic]] ''cěsarĭ'') [[Tsar]] or Czar in the [[Slavic languages]]. The last Tsar in nominal power was [[Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha|Simeon II of Bulgaria]], whose reign ended in 1946, but is still alive in 2023. This means that for approximately two thousand years, there was at least one head of state bearing his name. As a term for the highest ruler, the word Caesar constitutes one of the earliest, best attested and most widespread Latin loanwords in the Germanic languages, being found in the [[Text corpus|text corpora]] of [[Old High German]] (''keisar''), [[Old Saxon]] (''kēsur''), [[Old English]] (''cāsere''), [[Old Norse]] (''keisari''), [[Old Dutch]] (''keisere'') and (through [[Koine Greek|Greek]]) [[Gothic language|Gothic]] (''kaisar'').<ref>M. Philippa, F. Debrabandere, A. Quak, T. Schoonheim en N. van der Sijs (2003–2009) Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands, Amsterdam</ref>

====Posterity====
{{main|Julio-Claudian family tree}}
{{wide image|Roman families 4 Nov 08.png|1000px|Julio-Claudian family tree}}
;Wives{{anchor|Wives}}
* First marriage to [[Cornelia (wife of Caesar)|Cornelia]], from 84&nbsp;BC until her death in 69 BC
* Second marriage to [[Pompeia (wife of Julius Caesar)|Pompeia]], from 67&nbsp;BC until he divorced her around 61&nbsp;BC over the [[Publius Clodius Pulcher#Bona Dea scandal|Bona Dea scandal]]
* Third marriage to [[Calpurnia (wife of Caesar)|Calpurnia]], from 59&nbsp;BC until Caesar's death

[[File:Denderah3 Cleopatra Cesarion.jpg|thumb|Reliefs of [[Cleopatra]] and her son by Julius Caesar, [[Caesarion]], at the [[Dendera Temple complex|Temple of Dendera]]]]
[[File:Roman Wall painting from the House of Giuseppe II, Pompeii, 1st century AD, death of Sophonisba, but more likely Cleopatra VII of Egypt consuming poison.jpg|thumb|[[Roman art|Roman painting]] from the House of Giuseppe II, [[Pompeii]], early 1st century AD, most likely depicting [[Cleopatra VII]], wearing her royal [[diadem]], [[Death of Cleopatra|consuming poison in an act of suicide]], while her son [[Caesarion]], also wearing a royal diadem, stands behind her<ref>{{cite book |last=Roller |first=Duane W |author-link=Duane W. Roller |title=Cleopatra: a biography |year=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-536553-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/cleopatrabiograp00roll_0/ |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cleopatrabiograp00roll_0/page/178 178–79]}}</ref>]]

;Children
* [[Julia (daughter of Julius Caesar)|Julia]], by Cornelia, born in 83 or 82 BC
* [[Caesarion]], by [[Cleopatra VII]], born 47 BC, and killed at age 17 by Caesar's adopted son Octavianus.
* ''Posthumously adopted'': [[Augustus|Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus]], his great-nephew by blood (grandson of [[Julia Minor (sister of Caesar)|Julia, his sister]]), who later became Emperor Augustus.

; Suspected children
Some ancient sources refer to the possibility of the tyrannicide, [[Marcus Junius Brutus]], being one of Julius Caesar's illegitimate children.<ref>Eg {{harvnb|Plut. ''Brut.''|loc=5.2}}</ref> Caesar, at the time Brutus was born, was 15. Most ancient historians were sceptical of this and "on the whole, scholars have rejected the possibility that Brutus was the love-child of Servilia and Caesar on the grounds of chronology".<ref>{{harvnb|Tempest|2017|p=102}}, noting the "almost universally accepted" treatment rejecting Caesar's parentage at {{cite wikisource |last=Fluß |first=Max |wslink=RE:Servilius 101 |title=Servilius 101 |encyclopedia=Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft |year=1923 |volume=II A,2 |publisher=Butcher |location=Stuttgart |wslanguage=de |at=cols. 1817–21}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Syme|first=Ronald|date=1960|title=Bastards in the Roman Aristocracy|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/985248|journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society|volume=104|issue=3 |issn=0003-049X |page=326 |jstor=985248|quote=Chronology is against Caesar's paternity.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Syme|first=Ronald|date=1980|title=No Son for Caesar?|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4435732|journal=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte|volume=29|issue=4|page=426|jstor=4435732|issn=0018-2311 |quote=Caesar is excluded by plain fact}}.</ref>

;Grandchildren
Grandchild from [[Julia (daughter of Julius Caesar)|Julia]] and [[Pompey]], dead at several days, unnamed.<ref name="Jimenez2000">{{harvnb|Jiménez|2000|p=55}}.</ref>

;Lovers
* [[Cleopatra]], mother of [[Caesarion]]
* [[Servilia (mother of Brutus)|Servilia]], mother of Brutus
* [[Eunoë (wife of Bogudes)|Eunoë]], queen of [[Mauretania]] and wife of [[Bogud]]es

===Rumors of passive homosexuality===
Roman society viewed the passive role during [[Sexuality in ancient Rome|sexual activity]], regardless of gender, to be a sign of submission or inferiority. Indeed, Suetonius says that in Caesar's Gallic triumph, his soldiers sang that, "Caesar may have conquered the Gauls, but Nicomedes conquered Caesar."<ref name="Suet.1.49">{{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=49}}.</ref> According to Cicero, [[Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus|Bibulus]], [[Gaius Memmius (praetor 58 BC)|Gaius Memmius]], and others – mainly Caesar's enemies – he had an affair with [[Nicomedes IV of Bithynia]] early in his career. The stories were repeated, referring to Caesar as the "[[Queen of Bithynia]]", by some Roman politicians as a way to humiliate him. Caesar himself denied the accusations repeatedly throughout his lifetime, and according to [[Cassius Dio]], even under oath on one occasion.<ref name="Suet.1.2">{{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=49}}; {{harvnb|Dio|loc=43.20}}.</ref> This form of slander was popular during this time in the Roman Republic to demean and discredit political opponents.

[[Catullus]] wrote a poem suggesting that Caesar and his engineer [[Mamurra]] were lovers,<ref>[[Catullus]], ''Carmina'' [http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/029x.html 29] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420062543/http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/029x.html |date=20 April 2008}}, [http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/057x.html 57] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080304045130/http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/057x.html |date=4 March 2008}}</ref> but later apologised.{{sfn|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=73}}

[[Mark Antony]] charged that Octavian had earned his adoption by Caesar through sexual favours. Suetonius described Antony's accusation of an affair with Octavian as political [[slander]]. Octavian eventually became the first Roman Emperor as Augustus.<ref name="Suet.2.68">{{harvnb|Suet. ''Aug.''|loc=68, 71}}.</ref>