The National Teachers College

629 J. Nepomuceno St. Quiapo, Manila

Indol, Agakhan B. February 4, 2019

BSED - Social Science Mrs. J.M. A. Ruzol

Special Topic 1
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADER

JULIUS CAESAR
 Julius Caesar had a pretty bad day at work on March 15, 44 BCE. The
dictator of Rome was lured to a meeting and stabbed to death by his
coworkers. He would've done well to beware the Ides of March.

Several years earlier, the politician and general had rose to power in a
civil war. His assassination sparked yet another civil war that doomed the
Roman Republic. The state ended up mutating into an empire, with Caesar's
adopted heir Octavian at the helm.

The best leaders don't just do amazing things — they know how to
present a compelling story. After a relatively brief war with a certain
Pharnacles II of Pontus, Caesar had to sit down and write out a report to
Rome detailing his conquest. According to both Greek biographer Plutarch
and Roman historian Suetonius, the commander didn't go into too much
detail, writing simply: "I came, I saw, I conquered." The phrase proved so
catchy that we still remember it, centuries later.

In ancient Rome, crossing the Rubicon River with an army was kind of
a big deal. It was tantamount to a declaration of war and could be
punishable by death. When Caesar crossed the Rubicon with his legion, he
put everything on the line. In "The Life of the Deified Julius," Suetonius
writes that Caesar quoted an Athenian playwright as he crossed the river,
declaring "the die is cast." He risked it all and it paid off (in the short-term,
at least).