Did you ever realize that the Hunger Games and Julius Caesar have a lot of similarities? Not just Julius Caesar, but also the whole Ancient Roman Empire itself. The Latin word “Panem”, the country the Hunger Games is located, means bread in English. To me, the Hunger Games is more of an advanced version with all of the same concepts of the former Ancient Roman Empire. There is an old Greek myth that exists where fourteen Athenian boys and girls are sent to Crete to fight for their lives to keep their city, like Katniss does to keep district twelve.
Many names of the characters share some type of connection. We probably know that Katniss’s stylist Cinna is named after the poet Gaius Helvius Cinna, also known as the general Lucius Cornelius Cinna. In Julius Caesar, the conspirators mistook the poet Cinna with the other Cinna, which was in on Caesars murdering. The poet was quickly killed by that mob of conspirators, which foreshadows what happens to Katniss’s stylist. The game maker, Seneca Crane, is most likely named after Lucius, a judicial officer of Ancient Rome that holds accountable for the production of all the public games. Both sets of characters claim that the troubles are to protect their homeland and stop its suffering. The names Caesar, Brutus, Portia, Cinna, Flavius, and Cato also make an appearance in the Hunger Games and famous Shakespearean play, Julius Caesar.
Another big similarity is the word “tribute”. It comes from the Latin word “tributa” and it means a tax paid to the government. This means that Katniss pretty much sells herself to be spent by her rulers. She can be represented by the idea that the game makers can control what goes on in the capitol and the lives of the victims. Katniss volunteers as tribute to save her little sister Primrose, who has little to no survival skills to be put in the Hunger Games.
As many as there are similarities, there are also some differences that Suzanne Collins