Julius Ceasar Essay -- Biography Biographies Bio

Julius Ceaser was the Roman general and statesman, who laid the foundations of the Roman imperial system. Born in Rome on July 12 or 13, 100 BC, Caesar belonged to the prestigious Julian clan; yet from early childhood he knew controversy. His uncle by marriage was Gaius Marius, leader of the populares. This party supported agrarian reform and was opposed by the reactionary optimates, a senatorial faction. Marius was seven times consul , and the last year he held office, just before his death in 86 BC, he exacted a terrifying toll on the optimates. At the same time he saw to it that Caesar was appointed flamen dialis, one of an archaic priesthood with no power. This identified him with his uncle's extremist politics, and his marriage in 84 BC to Cornelia, the daughter of Marius's associate, Cinna, further confirmed him as a radical. When Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Marius's enemy and leader of the optimates, was made dictator in 82 BC, he issued a list of enemies to be executed. Although Caesar was not harmed, he was ordered by Sulla to divorce Cornelia. Refusing that order, he found it prude nt to leave Rome. He did not return to the city until 78 BC, after Sulla's resignation. Caesar was now 22 years old. Unable to gain office, he left Rome again and went to Rhodes, where he studied rhetoric; he returned to Rome in 73 BC, a very persuasive speaker. The year before, while still absent, he had been elected to the pontificate, an important college of Roman priests. In 71 BC Pompey the Great, who had earned his epithet in service under Sulla, returned to Rome, having defeated the rebellious populares general Sertorius in Spain. At the same time Marcus Crassus, a rich patrician, suppressed in Italy the slave revolt led by Spartacus. Pompey and Crassus both ran for the consulship—an office held by two men—in 70 BC. Pompey, who by this time had changed sides, was technically ineligible, but with Caesar's help he won the office. Crassus became the other consul. In 69 BC, Caesar was elected quaestor and in 65 BC curule aedile, gaining great popularity for his excessive gladiatorial games. To pay for these, he borrowed money from Crassus. This united the two men, who also found common cause with Pompey. When Caesar returned to Rome in 60 BC after a year as governor of Spain, he joined forces with Crassus and Pompey in a three way alliance known as the First Triumv... ... violated, she was maligned by gossips, and Caesar then divorced her, telling the Senate that Caesar's wife must be above suspicion. His next marriage which was in 59 b.c. was to Calpurnia and was politically motivated. Since Caesar had no male heirs, he stipulated in his will that his grandnephew, Octavius, become his successor. It was Octavius who became Rome's first emperor under the name of Augustus. Caesar was a gifted writer, with a clear and simple style. His De Bello Gallico which means On the Gallic Wars in english, in which he described Gaul and his Gallic campaigns, is a major source of information about the early Celtic and Germanic tribes. Scholarly opinion of Caesar's accomplishments is divided. Some regard him as an unscrupulous tyrant, with an insatiable lust for power, and blame him for the demise of the Roman Republic. Others, admitting that he could be ruthless, insist that the Republic had already been destroyed. They maintain that to save the Roman world from chaos a new type of government had to be created. In fact, Caesar's reforms did stabilize the Mediterranean world. Among ancient military commanders, he may be second only to Alexander the Great.

Life circle theory of saving

The life Circle Theory of Saving teaches about the modalities, guidelines, and strategies in which   families, governments, institutions should save, plan and manage their financial assets to span and cut across their entire life time. In the case of a family or household, it posits on how they should manage their financial assets in a transferable manner to cut across different times in their life circle, taking into cognizance the need to save and provide for retirements, as well as their children’s education, buy insurance, among other needs. According to  Ã‚   Zvi, B, Jonathan, T. Wiillen P. (2004), this also relates to a companies assessment as to what to choose as the default asset allocation for a compulsory retirement saving plan. This theory poses various questions to people and deals with such fundamental issues as to how much of their earned income they should save for the future; how to invest what they save; the type of risk they must provide insurance,   incase of any eventuality; are they to buy a house or rent one; is it better to get a fix rate mortgage or bargain for an adjustable one. As Zvi B. (May 2007) observed, the theory not only concerns families, but government policy makers and firms that provide life circle serves, and even educator who help counsel   the public to make informed choices. LIFE CIRCLE THEORY AND AGGREGATE SAVING IN AN ECONOMY This concept of life circle theory is useful in understanding the aggregate saving in an economy. According to Hayashi, F. (2007), aggregate saving is calculated as average saving for all age brackets in the population of a particular nation. This is expected to be the same or equal to the aggregate savings in the national account. In practical terms, saving is the difference between disposable income and consumption. It therefore goes that if households are able to increase their aggregate savings they will be in a better position to save and plan well for their life circle. Floden, M. (Date not available) defines aggregate saving in a general equilibrium model in an economy, as a situation, â€Å"Where infinitely lived households face volatile income paths, holds a risk-free asset, and face a liquidity constraints†. In any economy, when individual income, or organizational income varies, or differs, then the aggregate equilibrium capital will be larger than when it is constant. He posits further that when income is stochastic, the equilibrium capital stock is always larger than when it is constant. National savings largely depends on the rate of growth and development of national income. However, the purpose of life circle theory is not to provide clear cut answers, instead it is to give a framework for individuals, policy makers and financial planners to provide solutions to the questions posed- as indicated above. The huge variation in household income and in the aggregate savings in the economy will determine how planners (as well as families) will fine tune their advise to suit whatever purpose they want to serve. DEFINITION OF INCOME. The Wikipedia gave various definitions of income, but basically, income, defined in general terms, is the money that is received as a result of normal business activities of an individual; or money received from employment by way of employment by way of salary, wages, tips, as well as profits, dividends from financial investments, as interests, capital gains, or other sources as in social security or premiums. Income also is the money received from labor, services rendered, sale of property or goods or from investment made. There are diverse elaborate definitions of income, but we shall make do with the above definition for the purpose of this paper. PERMANENT INCOME AND LIFE CIRCLE MODELS. In the view of Roberts, S. (date not available), this is a situation where people base their consumption on what they believe to be their regular income. So, they try to maintain a fairly constant and stable standard of living, even though their earnings may vary either on monthly or yearly basis. This happens in a way that their spending pattern are fairly constant irrespective of increases or decreases in their earned income. This hypothesis was developed by Milton   Friedman in 1957. If people perceive that a change in income is temporary, their spending may not change, but if they observe it is permanent, it may vary slightly on the average. DEMOCRAPHIC FUNDAMENTALS   AND FLOW OF SAVING The demographic fundamentals as it relates to flow of savings in life circle theory is based on the premise that young people borrow money, they middle aged class save their money, while the old people (elderly) run down or spend their savings.   Consequently, a nation with large population of middle age will have high savings, especially as people prepare to retire. Concerning the relationship between the demographic fundamentals and the bond marker, when the savings supply is high as a result of the high population of the middle age savings, the price of stocks and bonds falls. Also, when the supply is low, yield equally increases. INTEREST RATE EFFECT ON SAVING AND LIFE CIRCLE MODEL. Naturally, interest rate, which is the rate of the fee paid on borrowed asset, would always adjust to level up with investment and savings. Increase in interest rate affects how much income left for consumption. If the interest rate is increased it means less money for consumption and investment, whereas, it is increased there will be likelihood of slight increase or constant level of consumption and investment. It goes therefore to say that a rise in saving would bring about a fall in interest rate, thereby encouraging investment. Inn life circle theory, the lower the interest rate, the more likely consumption will increase, as well as investment. Both in individuals as well as institutions. According to an extensive review by Modigliani, FF Albert, A. (March 2005), in a world congress of the Economic Society in Barcelona in 1990. In trying to assert a comprehensive and standard evidence on saving and growth in a developing economy, he said that, â€Å"Both growth and demographic structures are powerful predictors of national saving, with little or no role for the level of national income†. WEALTH EFFECT ON LIFE CIRCLE MODEL The level of wealth in an economy bears a simple relation to the length of the retirement span, which is the middle age, the very class that saves money the most. It is also true to say that the consumption of a household is also dependent solely on the present value of their lifetime income. For example, if two investors separately have the same total wealth (monetary wealth) working life, and are equally expectant of some sources of income in their remaining working life, their consumption decisions will be similar or same, not minding their income profile. REEFERENCE 1. Albert, A. Modighiani, F, (March 2005). The Life Circle Hypothesis of Saving: Aggregate Implication and Tests. American Economic Review. 53 (1) 55-84. Angus Deaton. â€Å"Research Programme in Development Studies and Center for Health and Wellbeing. Princeton University. www.princeton.edu/ 2. Floden, M.www.ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/hastef/0591.html 3. Hayashi, F. (2007) Understanding Savings: Evidence from the United States and Japan. MA. MIT Press, 55 Haywad Press. Page 305. ISBN-10: 0-262-08255-1 4. Zvi, B. Jonathan T. Willen P. (2004). The Theory of Life- Circle Saving and Investment. Public Policy Discussion Paper. No. 07-3 5. Zvi B. (May 2007) 6. www.wikipedia.com 7.Robert S. Permanent-Income hypothesis,   published in www.wikipedia.org

Hero Comparison Essay Odysseus vs Gandhi - 1619 Words

Hero Comparison Essay K A K 16/12/2011 A hero, a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability (Merriam-Webster). There are two types of heroes, epic heroes and modern heroes. Odysseus, one of the most famous epic heroes ever, will be compared to Mahatma Gandhi, a modern day hero, to see if there really is a large gap separating the two types. However, one thing is certain, modern heroes can be identical to epic heroes if they are larger than life, embody the ideals of their culture, embark on a perilous journey, and possess super-human, prominent characteristics. Epic heroes are always larger than life; however, modern day heroes can achieve amazing feats too. Odysseus, an epic hero,†¦show more content†¦Lastly, when Circà © didn’t warned Odysseus Odysseus that he has to lose six men in order not to get sucked into Charybdis, a whirlpool, Odysseus may have never returned (Applebee, 930-931). Gandhi has gone on a long journey too, the journey to give his country independence. Gandhi began to think of ways for his voice to be heard, but not to hurt anyone. He immediately had followers that joined him in his passive protests. Gandhi’s protests didn’t always go as planned. In fact, he was imprisoned on numerous occasions, including the years 1922, 1930, 1933, and 1942. Just because he was in jail didn’t mean he would stop fighting for his rights. One of Gandhi’s most famous protests was the Salt March from March 12 to April 5, 1930. Gandhi and thousands of Indians marched 400 kilometers to produce thei r own salt. This was a major statement because any money spent on salt that was bought in India went to Britain. After his march, thousands of people were jailed, but were later freed when Gandhi and Lord Irwin negotiated a deal. Finally in 1947, India declared independence from Britain (Myhero)(Thenagain). Both Gandhi and Odysseus embarked on long, perilous journeys, proving to us once again that a modern day hero can have similar experiences with an epic hero. One trait Odysseus shared with Gandhi is leadership. Odysseus shows his leadership skills countless times in â€Å"The Odyssey†. One of the times it was most apparent was when he saved his men