Julius Caesar Vs. Abraham Lincoln

Many people have heard of the name Julius Caesar, but not many know the story behind the name. A man more famously known is Abraham Lincoln, who played a vital role like Julius Caesar. Both Julius Caesar and Abraham Lincoln have played significant roles during their lifetime, mainly in politics and as public speakers. There are many comparisons between the two political leaders, with only a few contrasts. For example, them both being assassinated is one major comparison between the two.

There are many more comparisons for the two though.

One of the comparisons between Julius Caesar and Abraham Lincoln is that they were both assassinated, rather than a natural death. Julius Caesar was assassinated by a fellow politician who has been found to be Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus (Wasson, 2015). Originally, these two had sided with Caesar’s political rival, Pompey, and Caesar’s few loves had been Brutus’ mother, which didn’t help the situation all too well. For Abraham Lincoln, he had been assassinated by an actor and a Confederate sympathizer, known as John Wilkes Booth, at the Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C (ushistory.org, 2018). It was an unfortunate timely death for the both of them, but both of their names will be put down in history as some of the best political figures of their times.

Another comparison between the two is that they both had become rulers of their countries. For Abraham Lincoln, he became president in the November 1860 election. During his time in office, he signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 as well as the Gettysburg Address, both attempting to abolish slavery throughout the United States (Friedel & Hugh, 2006). Julius Caesar’s story of become the ruler of his country is a little different. For him, he was made to be dictator for life over the Roman Empire, but he was assassinated only a month after his dictatorship had begun.

Julius Caesar and Abraham Lincoln also share the comparison of helping in wars. During Julius Caesar’s era, there was the military campaigns of Julius Caesar, which came to be known as the Gallic War, beginning in 58 B.C. to 51 B.C. Caesar was also involved in his own civil war, the Caesar’s Civil War, beginning in 50 B.C. to 45 B.C. In 49 B.C, Julius had been sent to Gaul and to forfeit his powers to the enemies of war. In the end, Julius decided to cross the river, starting a Civil War. He eventually pushes his former ally and greatest enemy, Pompey, out of Italy and into Greece, eventually into Spain, but Julius didn’t stop there. He continued to pursue after Pompey across the Adriatic and defeats him in the Battle of Pharsalus in Greece (Britannica, 2018). Abraham Lincoln was directly involved in the ending of slavery during the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865 He also served as a volunteer during the Black Hawk War, from April to May in 1832. During his time serving in the Black Hawk War, he had saved the life of a Potawatomi Indian, which were considered a neutral tribe during the war, but when one had stumbled upon Lincoln’s camp with other soldiers, the soldiers immediately assumed that he was a spy, but Lincoln stood up for the Indian. Later on in the year, Lincoln officially became a spy for the U.S. Government, delivering messages in bottles and scouting out different areas where war was being taken place. Only a month later, Lincoln was discharged as a spy and began to come up with ways to win the next presidential election (Marie, 2015).

Although Julius Caesar and Abraham Lincoln are from two totally different eras of time, they still have a lot in common. Each have been involved with war, becoming leaders, and eventually being assassinated. Both have made a profound impact on the people around them and are sure to impact more lives in the future, as well. Julius, for example, became the example for future leaders of Rome like Napoleon (Scholz, 2016). Abraham Lincoln has achieved many accomplishments himself while also becoming a main contributor to many things, such as he was one of the first to sign the Homestead Act, established the United States Department of Agriculture, and, most famously, signed the Emancipation Proclamation, leading to the abolishment of slavery in the United States (Anirudh, 2014). Is easy to say that both Caesar and Lincoln held a high status in life and still do to this day.

References

1. Wasson, Donald (2015) Murder of Julius Caesar https://www.ancient.eu/article/803/the-murder-of-julius-caesar/ushistory.org (2018)
2. The Assassination of the President http://www.ushistory.org/us/34f.asp
3. Friedel, Frank, Hugh, Sidey (2006) Abraham Lincoln became the United States’ 16th President in 1861, issuing the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy in 1863. https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/abraham-lincoln/
4. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (2018) Gallic Wars https://www.britannica.com/event/Gallic-Wars
5. Redonet, Fernando (2017) How Julius Caesar Started a Big War by Crossing a Stream https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2017/03-04/julius-caesar-crossing-rubicon-rome/
6. Marie, Ann (2015) Abraham Lincoln in the Black Hawk War https://www.annmarieackermann.com/abraham-lincoln-in-the-black-hawk-war/
7. Scholz, Philipp (2016) What did Julius Caesar Contribute to the Roman Empire? https://www.quora.com/What-did-Julius-Caesar-contribute-to-the-Roman-Empire
8. Anirudh (2014) 10 Major Accomplishments of Abraham Lincoln https://learnodo-newtonic.com/abraham-lincoln-accomplishments

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