The real story behind the phrase – “Julius Caesar’s wife should be above suspicion”

X: @prashanthamine

Mumbai: In the aftermath of the recent alleged illegal cash being found at Delhi High Court judge Justice Yashwant Varma’s official residence the world famous historical quote “Julius Caesar’s wife being above suspicion”, once again made the headlines.

But there is an interesting, intensely intriguing anecdotal story behind the famous quote attributed to Roman dictator Gaius Julius Caesar, better simply known as Julius Caesar.

It is all about Julius Caesar using dubious means to not just clear his wife Pompeia of any suspicion, his friend Clodius from the gallows and at the same time plotting his path to power in Rome.

The meaning of the proverb is that if one is romantically involved with a famous or prominent figure, one must avoid attracting negative attention or scrutiny.

Julius Caesar had divorced his wife Pompeia in 62 BC saying that “my wife ought not even to be under suspicion”. The actual ground of divorce was believed to be that Caesar suspected Pompeia of adultery, over her alleged affair with Publius Clodius Pulcher.

It was altogether a different matter that Clodius was widely believed to be a puppet in the hands of Caesar who used him to plot his pathway to eventually becoming the dictator of Rome. Caesar knew very well of the rivalry between Clodius and Cicero the ruler of Rome. He used that rivalry to force Cicero out of Rome at the hands of Clodius.

According to the ancient Roman story Clodius had an affair with Caesar’s wife and wanted to see her perform rituals at the Bona Dea festival which was meant only for Vestal Virgins. Even male animals were not allowed to see the rituals performed to invoke the blessings of the Good Goddess of health and fertility. Clodius dressed up as a woman sneaked into the house where the rituals were being held and narrowly escaped being caught after being found wandering around. Clodius was escorted out by a slave girl.

Later in his testimony at the trial of Clodius, Caesar was asked as to why he had divorced his wife. To which Caesar strangely replied that he knew nothing as to why Clodius was charged with and added that “I thought my wife ought not even to be under suspicion”.

Clodius narrowly escaped the death penalty as the grand jury was suspected to be bribed by Caesar. In doing so Caesar also saved Pompeia of the taint by divorcing her before the trial began. Caesar cleverly used the affair of Clodius with his wife, saving both, eventually getting rid of them and grabbing the throne in Rome.

It is altogether a different matter that Julius Caesar married thrice and he used all his three marriages and his illicit affairs to enhance his reputation and social standing in the Roman society and use marriage as a stepping stone in ascending to the throne in Rome by using his own closest dear ones. All his three wives belonged to the then Roman aristocracy and whose fathers were Roman noblemen.

His first wife was Cornella and their marriage lasted for five years, then he married Pompeia and his third marriage was with Calpurnia. Although he married thrice his first wife Cornella bore him daughter Julia Caesaris, son Caesarion was born of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt.

Besides his three legal marriages, Caesar had illicit affairs with Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, second lover was Servilia whose son was Marcus Junius Brutus. It is not clear as to whether it was the same Brutus who was the one who assassinated Caesar in Rome.

There is no clear evidence to suggest that before his death after having identified Brutus as one of his assassins, Caesar is reported to have famously remarked “Et tu Brute”, translated from Latin to English as “You too, Brutus?” or “Even you, Brutus?” There is also another version of his quote of Caesar having said “kai su teknon?” after Brutus stabbed him, which translates into “you too, child?”

The third of known affairs Julius Caesar had was with one Eunoe, queen of Mauritania and wife of Bogudes. Besides that, historians widely differ with the exact number of illicit affairs that Julius Caesar had or how many illegitimate children did he father.

Just like Julius Caesar had used deceit and befriended his closest of people, his enemies used the same deceit to have him publicly assassinated on 15 March, 44 BC at the Senate meeting in Rome. Another interesting tale is that Marcus Antonius, or better known as Mark Antony, a relative and supporter of Caesar had read that famous oration at Caesar’s funeral.

The present day politics is no less different than what was in ancient Rome during the reign of Julius Caesar.