Talk - Michael Parenti - The Assassination of Julius Caesar

[Menetho1]

An amazing speech, Parenti is always informative.

[GiulianoTaverna89]

This lecture misses a key point of the republican military system, the main reason for the reforms of Marius and Gracchus was the latifundi, the roman army of the republic was self armed, soldiers needed land to support their military equipment which was quite expensive. This problem was solved by having the state arm the soldiers and providing them with land on retirement. It was one of the few avenues for social advancement in the empire.

[123kikiliki123]

I had a class of Latin, and some "friend" said that Caesar become an alfa and omega, and I swear I wanted to punch him in the face, he also said that he was evil an blah, blah ,blah, and the teacher agreed with him!!!

I was pissed, and I have no idea why I didnt say anything.....

[emotionalinvalid]

History repeats itself. Today America is as corrupt as the Roman empire of which Parenti communicates in this talk. Sad, we have not progressed. We are back in the times of Caesar and the corrupt Cicero and his ilk

[johnbranflake]

@emotionalinvalid Cicero was not very corrupt by roman standards, he was known for his honest dealing as a quaestor in sicily. So much so that the people there begged him and he eventually did, prosecute the governor for corruption.

[ComradeAH1994]

@Slavestorms

i agree with some of what you said, but global warming is not a "bogeyman" if it was the ruling class would at least pretend to do something about it. It's the oil companies controlling the politicians who are the real enemy, not the scientists warning us about global warming and how to stop it.

[pipenissen]

Quite amazing closing speech there. It really helps me think clearer. All the propaganda and bombardment of information from mainstream media, makes it hard for me to think, but this is a thought-waker as we call it here. :)

[SOLISDEUS]

Michael Parenti is absolutely correct in providing a prelude to the late Republic amidst the background of class conflict. That was very much the world young Julius Caesar found himself thrust as a relative of the brutal yet populace leader of the plebians, Marius, and on the run from the Sullan forces of the wealthy ruling class. Nearly 2000 years later Marx correctly summed up world history as the history of class conflict. A fact that is sadly neglected.

[ThisBoyTV]

Brilliant

[suutari13]

I wonder what the jewish influence was in Rome. Then again the Khazars hadn't turned to judaism at that time. Still Neros wife was the jewish poppea

[bxjam85]

@suutari13 The Jewish population of the Roman empire did not descend from the Khazars. The Jewish population of then and now originated in Israel.

[stabbed22]

@bxjam85 Well fantastic, another great reason to just keep it occupied.

[citizenOfNowhere777]

@bxjam85 Yeah, right. The white Jewish population of today originated in Israel. What bs!

[MegaHoleinthewall]

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

philosophies of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and many others to follow

[nokomarie1963]

His ideas are excellent, pity he's not such a hand at reading out loud. Oh, well, that does not impune his scholarship. Or his sense of humour.

[Marspyramids]

This is a brilliant lecture. 10/10

[steve0englewoodFL]

Aristocratic death squads.

[pearldrumsrox]

ET TU BRUTE?

[andrewjbiggs]

Caesar would likely have augmented the numbers in order to gain gloria and dignitas. The number of dead, although horrible in modern society, would have been an incredible feat for him and something the People would have applauded. Don't be so quick to judge his political motives: they must be judged within the context they existed, that being the increased deterioration of the government and constitution.

[jazzbo66zz]

@andrewjbiggs

The undoing of Ceasar is an example of only one the liabilities of empire. If Parenti does not persuade you I would suggest you take in THE SORROWS OF EMPIRE by Chalmbers Johnson. Empire is another word for catastrophe..

[Available8063]

Caesar as mass murderer (ridiculous) as compared to who? The number of 1million "Gauls", (itself a sophmoric term, like calling the all native Americans. Indians) reflects almost no critical thinking, as is the belief that the Gauls were egalitarian. There were very good reasons for Gallic tribes, Caesar's enemies and for Caesar to enlarge the numbers. Not to say that many people weren't killed in the wars, maybe reaching a new horrible high. but a fair study leaves neither side pure.

[Mojo1982]

What have I said that is false? What the hell is sophomoric? The people of Gaul, were called Gauls: a Celtic people. The 1 million figure comes from contemporary and modern historians alike, how could the vanquished Gauls engage in propaganda to smear and tarnish Caesar? Why would Romans exaggerate Gaul fatalities? Fact is Caesar despite Parentis monologue, was a genocidal imperialist!

[Mojo1982]

Julius Ceasar was an imperialist and mass murderer. He committed genocide against the people of Gaul, he killed 1 million Gauls in his conquest. The Gauls were a more egalitarian society. Go to google video and type "Terry Jones Primitive Celts". Watch his Barbarians documentary series.

[mbeller83]

He alsowas not a mass murderer. that was part of war in those ages.. He was loved by the people. He was no tyrant... The rich hated him because he was gonna give land to the hard workers for whom it was stolen from.. He also became too well liked for the senate, and they didnt take kindly to that because their interests were at stake... Brutus,crassus etc.. Were flat out murderers.. Many believe that brutus was even Caesars son/

[Slavestorms]

History is always repeating. This time we have no Caesar granting land & economic reforms for the working people. We have oligarchs bringing in the police state & we will all soon be economic slaves on spaceship earth

Our benevolent leaders give us plenty of bogeymen to fear like global warming, terrorists on every corner, economic hardship & the BOMB. oh I'm so scared please save me father figure police state leader

Divide & conquer, keep divided, keep conquered. A simple, effective strategy

[BenderJJJ]

You're a joke. You missed the point totally of your own reading of the situation. Almost like you were regurgitating things you don't really understand.

[Mike32587]

@Slavestorms dont be a simpleton. think for yourself... maybe alex jones is the bullshit artist,

[envanje]

@Slavestorms

I think you mix Caesar with Tiberius Grachus who together with his brother Gajus Grachus were the heroes of the people during the republic.

They were both killed by the rich though gratefull Romans set up an army of statues for their mother, "Cornelia, mater dei Grachii" !

/watch?v=3xz_ciMj4J0

[aoiwarai]

@Slavestorms Funny, i just finished listening to this and thought about the mythology that Alex Jones regurgitates to the gullible, his constant paranoia about secret occult cabals of freemason Illuminati involved in grand conspiracy to ruin our christian homeland and burn the sacred US Consitution. The irony being, rather than enlighten anyone about hypocrisy or how power and corruption works, Jones hides it behind a cloak of covert conspiracy, and attaches leftist beliefs to these "baddies".

[Stoner075]

@Slavestorms "'m so scared please save me father figure police state leader" Ha ha ha ha ha... Youve just said it all. What is not funny is that we are pretty much done for, I see no reason to be optimistic.

[Rehpot024]

Just finished reading his book. I love how he just exposed these modern historians on their class biases towards the common people. These writers ignored the hardships that the poor had to go through as a result of the greedy exploitation of the aristocrats.

[DonMeaker]

Cicero was murdered by Mark Anthony. Julius Caesar had a military background, which Obama is lacking.

Obama is Obama. Caesar is Caesar. You are a liar.

[irishgeal1]

o how the main stream historians must hate michael parenti for distorting there lie's, along with the meadia and the goverments of quite a few countrys. keep kicking ass mick.

[enwurds]

Great book. Great writer. Great speaker.

[neosoc]

although i am a marxist (of the Leninist-Trotskyist tradition), this video has given me respect for Julius Caesar.

[benmcfee]

I have a feeling that if Caesar had lived in post-marx times, he would have considered himself a Marxist, if only in secret. It's not about political affiliation, but what you do with the power you have.

[mikeybrumbrum]

Basically, if you dont keep a watchful eye on your freedom, this is how the world ends up.

It was all because peopel either didnt see the Romans for the threat they really were, or believed their lies, and became victims of bad deals.

Either way, the message is: NEVER believe anyone who tells you ANTHING that could result in a loss for you (because it always WILL end up a loss).

The "devil" is waiting, in 95% of people, from what this guy says, so beware.

You may be good, but your masters ?

[appleriver6]

Thank you so very much for posting!

[soakchips]

kennedys=gracchi

[RightCitizen]

Fantastic.

[Mrkalabaw27]

Im glad I watched this video pertaning to how the roman senate operated. Its a big ball of hypocrisy where the aristocarts or the social elites are exploiting their power for their own personal goal.

[beatlesfan525]

Hail Caesar!!! I found this talk very consistant with most of history which is good because he paints a very accurate picture of the assassination of Julius Caesar

[paulDIAT]

The people that comment on these kind of videos are probably the only intelligent people one will ever find on YouTube. Whoever is smart enough to understand this, and patient enough to listen through it all deserves my attention and my read.

[westphalianprinz]

This is the first Parenti book I read. I've read as many of his books as I can find. It's very rare to find a writer who can make you think about history, economics, and politics in a totally different way than the imposed orthodoxies of our time-- neoliberalsim in economics, imperialism in foreign policy, and oligarchy in our national government. Those three orthodoxies are the death of our planet, our republic, and our humanity.

[johnlepo]

I'm so glad this is up. The full version will be coming my way for a nice night in. Oh, how nerdy, yet how fascinating.

[Vinnypoo]

@westphalianprinz well there is marx and Engels lol

[MrSalamander7]

@westphalianprinz I agree with everything you said exept for when you called it "our republic".

[DuffmanIRL]

@MrSalamander7 I second that.

[andyx1205]

@westphalianprinz mate the book was a nominee for Pulitzer prize, that's how good it is. If you look at history, politics in ancient Rome, for a long time (way before Caesar like hundreds of years before him) you had the Conflict of the Orders, and after a long period of struggle (almost 200 years) Patricians and Plebs finally had equal standing in politics. Then you've got two main factions, Optimates (Tories representing interests of aristocracy) and Populares (rest of society).

[kfkonrad]

Good stuff...

[hasatum]

Parenti praises Caesar and attacks the Senate in making a comparison with the politics of today yet does not address the dangers inherent in disregard for the rule of law. While a good man with total and arbitrary power may do much good, bad men will invariably follow to do much more evil. This is at least as true in Communism as it is in other autocratic forms of government. The problem was not that the elite were too rich, but that their power was not properly constrained by the rule of law.

[SimpleSys]

Yes, because the system of law, like any bureaucratic system, is designed to prevent change - good or bad. Laws which are not held by simple and understandable and self evident truths, but are complicated and compounded by even more laws to a degree which only an elite can understand or afford to execute them. Even the founding fathers knew this and advocated a good shake up every now and again.

[avalsonline]

that is the problem today. the rich, though unoficially, are above the law. a lowlife who knocks ove a 7/11 for 100 bucks is cuffed by a policeman and is thrown in jail the same day. a CEO who steals millions may not see jail for years

[cheddyrod]

And if he steals billions he will never see jail.

[StephinRazin]

Thanks

[Irtidad]

I read that book. Good stuff.