In his column, the former Federal Councillor shares a book that has made a lasting impression on him. This month, he comments on the comic strip I, Julius Caesar.
In 57 BC, Servius Sulpivius Galba was sent by Julius Caesar with a legion to occupy the southern access to Mont Joux, today's Grand-Saint-Bernard pass. Galba intended to take up his winter quarters at Octodure, now Martigny. But the Véragres and their local allies were not to be counted out. In his History of the Gallic War that one morning, by surprise, a troop of Véragres, gathered discreetly during the night, ran down the slope, attacked the Roman camp and forced Galba to retreat.
The story of this orderly retreat occupies a chapter of the De Bello Gallico. Was it a half-victory, as Caesar claimed, or «a defeat more glorious than a victory», as our teachers in my youth used to describe the outcome of the Battle of Marignan? The fact remains that, thanks to this military episode, Martigny has gone down in history. The story of the battle is engraved, in Latin, on a marble wall a few steps from the Fondation Gianadda. And Julius Caesar, thanks to Galba, became a local hero in my hometown.
Read also | Our Swiss heroes dossier
Reading comics I, Julius Caesar de Montesquiou and Névil. I really enjoyed it. The drawings are dynamic and expressive, and the script is respectful of historical truth. Caesar's life is as romantic as one could wish... Few things predestined the young Julius Caesar for a glorious future. Admittedly, he came from a great Roman family, the Juli, but this people was decadent and impoverished.
Julius Caesar, moreover, was afflicted with a falsetto voice. The Roman Republic itself was in peril, torn apart by infighting between populares and optimates. Some Marxist writers see this situation as an example of class struggle, but their interpretation is an anachronism.
Caesar belonged to the populares, who relied on the people against the senatorial elites. His childhood was rough. He learned something he practiced all his life. Never give in, but seek, with Fortune's help, a way out of a perilous situation. He also learned the effectiveness of extreme cruelty, while occasionally forgiving when he hoped to gain something from his clemency. He pursued a policy of matrimonial alliances, in which one gets lost, but which was skilful and useful.
In the end, Caesar was on course to win against the opposing party and his inspiration, the virtuous republican Cato. But a motley coalition of’optimates, A group of jealous people, of people whom Caesar had humiliated, of republicans attached to the traditional order, was formed. And on the ides of March 44, Caesar was assassinated in the Senate. What followed were civil wars throughout the area dominated by Rome, which were won by Caesar's nephew Octavian, who became Caesar Augustus, the first of a series of emperors who reigned for four centuries in the West and a thousand more in the East.
Read also | The «Alpine moron», a medical and literary curiosity
What's the point of history? To entertain us, and to reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of political regimes in the face of social change, human beings and their wisdom and folly.
Caveant consules!
Pascal Couchepin, a former federal councillor, shares a monthly reading that has made a lasting impression on him. To his previous columns
You have just read an open-access column published in our print edition. (Le Regard Libre N°118). Debates, analyses, cultural news: subscribe to support us and access all our content.
Alfred de Montesquiou (Author) and Névil (Drawings)
I, Julius Caesar
Allary
April 2025
253 pages
French 
German 
English