Caesar's Ambition Lead to His Downfall

“I came, I saw, I conquered.” These were the famous words spoken by the Roman emperor, Julius Caesar. Caesar’s coming to power signalled the Roman Empire escalation in terms of economy, citizen rights, military strength, etc. Caesar’s leadership brought Rome many fortunes; some historians credit his success to the fact that he was ambitious. However, becoming overly ambitious has often been the cause of downfall for the leaders of the past, and Ceasar’s case was no different. While ambition gives an individual a goal and proper motivation towards it, sometimes the culprit can become obsessed with his own legacy, and forego rationality to in an attempt to carve his name in stone. For a ruler, this is a particularly undesirable attribute; ambitious power can lead to corruption and inevitably, the deterioration of a nation. Indeed, this was the case for the venerable yet foolish Roman ruler. Julius Caesar, the feared general of the Roman army, and the leader of the Roman state, suffered a tragic downfall due to his ambitious desires. William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and E.B Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra portray Caesar’s ambitious persona. Caesar’s ambition interfered in three main areas in which inevitably lead him to his demise. The first was Caesar’s defiance of religious morality and his insolence towards the gods. The second was his ignorance and disrespect towards society, and third was Caesar’s general ambitious desire towards complete supremacy and rule.
To achieve a level of greatness unattained in history is arguable, but to extend that level of ambition to the spiritual realm, in other words, the angels and the gods, shows utmost arrogance and disrespect. Caesar’s egotistic idea of becoming greater than the all-mighty gods was one factor that led to his tragic demise:
…he was also totally ruthless in the pursuit of his personal goals and ambitions, which included not only absolute power over the Roman Empire, but also divine honours and