At school we were taught that when Gaius Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon he uttered the famous phrase ‘alea iacta est’, translated as ‘the die is cast’. The historic sentence means taking an irreversible risk, i.e. one of ‘no return’ where one can therefore no longer go back on what has been done. In short: to take an irrevocable step, usually of risk or confrontation.
Alea jacta est or Alea iacta est is an expression attributed by Suetonius to Julius Caesar as he crossed the Rubicon River, the boundary between Italy and Cisalpine Gaul. With this step, he rebelled against the authority of the Senate and began the long civil war against Pompey and the Optimates. No general was supposed to be allowed to enter the jurisdiction of Rome with his legions, otherwise he was understood to have declared himself in rebellion against the government.
However, according to the historian and biographer Plutarch of Chaeronea, in his Parallel Lives, he indicates that Julius Caesar did not utter this phrase in Latin, but in Greek, taking it from a verse by the comedian Menander, which would come to mean something like ‘let the die have been thrown’, clearly alluding to the beginning of a dice game, making a comparison between throwing the dice and crossing the Rubicon. The phrase appears in Ἀρρρηφόρος (transliterated as Arreforos, or possibly, The Piper), as quoted in the Scholars’ Banquet.
The theory that Julius Caesar said this phrase in Greek stems from the custom among noble and educated Romans to learn, read and speak Greek. In fact, this fascination with the Greek language led the Romans, at very important moments of great excitement or inspiration, to recall quotations from Greek authors in order to express their feelings.
Caesar Crossing the Rubicon, by Adolphe Yvon (1875)
Menander
Menander was apparently one of Caesar’s favourite authors, who preferred him to the roman Terence. This historical figure, considered the most important Greek comedian after Aristophanes and the greatest representative of the New Comedy, lived through a period of great social and political change, as he witnessed, for example, the rise of Alexander the Great.
Menander was a celebrated ancient Greek playwright who lived during the Hellenistic period, around the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. Born in Athens (342 BC), he became one of the most celebrated playwrights of his time and left a lasting impact on the world of theatre.
He wrote more than 100 comedies, of which only one, The Misanthrope, has survived in its entirety. Of the rest, only fragments remain, such as The Arbitrage, The Woman of Samos and The Man of Sicion.
Menander’s plays, including The Girl of Samos, The Shield and The Arbitrator, were immensely popular during his time and beyond. They were performed at theatre festivals and won the admiration of both the elite and the common people.
Menander’s importance lies not only in his theatrical achievements. His realistic and relatable characters, together with his narrative skill, have made him an enduring figure in the history of the theatre. His plays remain a testament to the timeless power of comedy and its ability to illuminate the human condition.
Menander was a comediographer and the leading exponent of the so-called new comedy. His comedies in five acts and separated by intermissions are written in the ancient language. He was very skilful in the characterisation of his characters, most of whom are popular types, and many of whom became archetypes of vices (the parasite, the miser, the misanthrope).
His comedies were awarded eight prizes (three in the Leneas, five in the Dionysias). His plays were widely imitated not only by his contemporaries, but also by the Latin authors Publius Terentius and Titus Maccius Plautus and, through them, his style then passed into European Renaissance theatre.
New Comedy
New Comedy was an innovation on the Attic comedy of the 5th century BC, becoming an eminently moralising genre. The most notable differences between the old and the new genre are the disappearance of political themes, the decline of the chorus and the transformation of the poetic style into a familiar style.
It is a realistic comedy, which takes its themes from everyday, common and private life. In it, events unfold according to logic.
The general theme of New Comedy is basically similar to that of the Old Comedy: the protagonist has a problem and, in order to solve it, tries to put an idea into practice and opposes various antagonists. Finally, he wins and the comedy ends with the wedding.
New Comedy is still closely related to Athens. However, the characters who inspire the action are not caricatures of this or that politician, but ordinary types of the middle petty bourgeoisie that is emerging as a new class in Hellenistic Athens.
These are not isolated characters, but whole families are portrayed, one of whose members stands out and becomes the protagonist or antagonist of the action. But they all play a part in the plot to a greater or lesser extent.
Portraits
One of the more than 50 extant sculpted portraits of Menander is this one in which the playwright is shown with his lips curved at the corners of his mouth. Other notable features of the bust are the high cheekbones, the large almond-shaped eyes under a frown, the wrinkled forehead and the hair falling in characteristic thick curls to the left of the forehead.
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All these portraits are intended to evoke a statue, the base of which still exists, erected in the theatre of Dionysos in Athens around 290 BC, close to the time of his death. Other examples of busts of Menander can be found in the National Museum in Liverpool or in The Walters Art Museum.