Marcus Tullius Cicero

Cicero was a man of very lacking political power yet built himself up to eventually become praetor at the earliest age possible. Both his humble ancestry and role in politics in Rome made him the most interesting to me. Cicero masterfully handled the Catiline conspiracy leading to praise as father of the country. More interesting is how this inflated his ego and led him to write poetry as Matyszak comments is glad it did not survive. Both humble yet human Cicero stands out from the over told story of Caesar making him more interesting upon reading about him.

The character that was most interesting to me was Julius Caesar. going into this class I knew little about him and after learning of his savagery and political attempts and failures Im more drawn to him than any of the others. The moment that sealed the deal for me was his ruthlessness when conquering territory, he would sack cities that had already surrendered for all there plunder. on top of this he was very goal driven and when politics had failed him he turned to military to rule and didn't care who he screwed over.

Caesar the show stealer

The character I thought to be the most interesting was Julius Caesar.  In many ways, Julius Caesar was the ideal tragic hero.  His rough start into the world of Roman society, his many military triumphs, his status as a hero of the Roman plebeians, his relationship with Cleopatra and his fatal move towards becoming a dictator, have made Julius Caesar an enduring character in history,  politics and art.  His many successes and his many mistakes have made the name Julius Caesar immortal in history and in the arts.  As an aspiring history major,  I find Julius Caesar to be the most interesting character due to the cultural and historical impact he made with his life and death.                  

Mark Antony

Mark Antony stood out to me as an interesting character from the reading we did because of his loyalty to the individuals that he created relationships with. Being as powerful of a man as he was, it was out of character for a man of that status to express such loyalty in a system that rewarded selfishness. He expressed this through his veto of the movement against Caesar, and his suicide on the behalf of Cleopatra, believing that she had  been killed.

Mark Antony

Mark Antony although smart and cunning when it came to battle strategies and commanding troops did not care much for being a governor or morals. The careless way he throws money away and spends his day trying to enjoy the bachelor life. What I find most interesting about Mark Antony is how different and more powerful he could have been had he upheld morals and obeyed laws. He could have been a very powerful, successful man.

The Most Interesting Character

I thought that Marcus Tullius Cicero was the most interesting character in the Matyszak chapters because even though he came from humble beginnings, he didn't let the great Roman families get to him, he even became Consul in 63 BC. Cicero was also witty, as shown in the first paragraph of his section, and smart, even though his narcissism could get in the way.

I think that the most interesting character in the Matyszak chapters is Julius Caesar. The reason I consider him the most interesting is because the man himself was many things. He was a General, a politician, a man of the people, a tyrant, and a scholar and because of these attributes he was able to achieve a tremendous amount of success, wealth, fame, and fortune that very few Romans could ever hope to match.