There’s only 1 Caesar, or Slim Shady, or Charlemagne or Attila.
“Alexander” was an incredibly common name in the Greek world. Even within his own family tree, he was technically Alexander III of Macedon. Using “The Great” was a practical necessity for historians to distinguish him from his father’s predecessors and the dozens of other Alexanders running around the Mediterranean. Plus his scale of impact was absurd! Charlemagne literally means “Charles the Great” because there were many Charleses. Finally, while we usually think of Julius Caesar, “Caesar” became a title used by every Roman Emperor for centuries. It eventually evolved into “Kaiser” and “Tsar”. If you just say “Caesar” in a room full of Roman history buffs they actually will ask you to disambiguate which one you mean
Does this technically mean the the little orange freakshow is also a ‘Donald the Great’? He’s technically the most succesful ‘Donald’, as the only one why made it to leader of a country and the only one with diapers and a nussy.
Generally speaking, they got those titles because they were beloved by the people and did great things on behalf of their country. Things no other countryman before or after has done.
Not because they’re literal pieces of shit shoved into a fat suit that are causing untold death, destruction, chaos, and reputational harm to their country of origin.
There’s a reason why there’s no historical monikers for Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Putin, etc.
It’s because they’re pieces of shit that fuck everything up in the world and nobody likes them now.
Guess which category “Orange Mussolini” is in? I’ll give you a hint. The hint is in the phrase “Orange Mussolini”.
There’s only 1 Caesar
Not necessarily. I originally thought the phrase “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” from the Bible referred to Julius Caesar, but apparently it refers to Tiberius.
Though in modern times “Caesar” almost ubiquitously is referencing Julius
His family name is Julius Caesar. Gaius is his given name.
His family name became a title for future Emperors.
Honestly might be an even harder flex than just being the only Caesar
And the title of Caesar more rightfully translated would be “God King”. It implied divinity and super human levels of being.
God being a roman god, not the christian god. So not omnipotent, omnipresent, or omniscient. But still divine.
While it actually means “born through C-section”
I’m pretty sure it almost always references the salad.
It’s/was basically the chief. Kaiser comes from that word IIRC. It’s a bit like “king”. Julius just made it stick to him, a bit like a brand name!
Almost correct. The title Caesar derives from Gaius Julius Caesars (the “OG”) lastname Caesar. It was used by successors to imply a lineage between them and Caesar and therefore give them more legitimacy in the eyes of the people.
All the other Alexanders are just imitating
!look, there were already great answers, so there was room for a joke one!<
“The Great” is a moniker given to certain rulers. England has only one. List of people known as the Great - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_known_as_the_Great
Fun fact: there was actually zero Charlesmagnes.
The guy was called Charles le Magne (French for Charles the Great) and some barely literate idiot who had somehow* got the translator job in spite of clearly not being anywhere near fluent in French made up a stupid new word born of ignorance that the English speaking world has been using ever since.
*I’m guessing he was the failson of the groom of the stool or something like that.
I don’t know when that happened for the English language, but Charlemagne (as a single word) is also what the French language calls him, the earliest variations of it appearing in the Song of Roland (11th c.)
So you’re telling me that, presumably due to medieval French people having an irrational fear of spaces between words or an allergy to proper kerning, his name WAS actually the equivalent of Charlesthegreat like some German compound noun weirdness?
Huh. TIL!
an irrational fear of spaces between words or an allergy to proper kerning
Yeah uh, medieval language was not nearly as entrenched in rules and grammar, and absolutely not set in stone. Things changed from one text to another - even within the same text. The same Song of Roland writes that same name in a few different ways, some with spaces, some without, with different letters.
From the French Wikipedia, count’em :
Carles (vers 1) ou Charles (28, vers 370), Carles li magnes (68, vers 841) ou Charles li magnes (93, vers 1195), traductions de Carolus magnus, mais aussi Carlemagnes (33, vers 430) ou Charlemaignes (138, vers 1842)
Caesar, or Charlemagne or Attila.
Well, those are fairly uniquely-identifiable names in the scheme of things. “Caesar” isn’t just the guy at your local pizzeria, but THE Caesar of Caesars. “Charlemagne” is a combination of the common name “Charles” and <“great”> as with Alexander. “Attila” is a rarer name, already with a certain stigma, so quite unique in that sense.
“Alex” / “Alexander” is still a pretty common name today, so it makes some sense that there’d be a qualifier. Not unlike with Peter the Great , Catherine the Great, etc…
Also I would say Atilla is usually called Atilla the Hun in most textbooks I saw in the U.S. Also since Caesar became a position/title we still say Julius to specifically refer to him.
As for Slim Shady, I seem to remember many people standing up to that name
Also I would say Atilla is usually called Atilla the Hun
Good point, and I think I whiffed a bit on that one. “Atilla” is actually a name still used sometimes today across Europe, so “the Hun” definitely adds some helpful context.
Also since Caesar became a position/title we still say Julius to specifically refer to him.
You mean, in Italy?
In the States, I feel like it’s pretty clear that “Caesar” without further context refers to either a leader / dictator / emperor of the Julio-Claudian line, or more commonly to Julius himself. The point being that if you’re referring to one of the emperors, it’s usually necessary to name them, i.e. “Caesar Tiberius,” etc.
Yeah now to show our Archilles, I have no idea what else I would call Saladin, but Saladin. Im sure a textbook full names him somewhere… but I haven’t ever remembered it.
There’s only 1 Caesar
Julius or Augustus? Or Edward Swallow, Ave, trve to Caesar!
Caesar is actually a title, and where the German word Kaiser and the Russian word Czar came from.
Slim Shady is a rap name, it’s probably copyrighted tbh.
Charlamagne the God or Charlemagne the King/Emporer?
Caesar only became a title after gaius julius caesar. For him, it was “just” a name
