''Young Caesar'' is an opera written in 1970 by

Lou Harrison Lou Silver Harrison (May 14, 1917 – February 2, 2003) was an American composer, music critic, music theorist, painter, and creator of unique musical instruments. Harrison initially wrote in a dissonant, ultramodernist style similar to his for ...

which depicting the younger years of

Roman dictator A Roman dictator was an extraordinary Roman magistrate, magistrate in the Roman Republic endowed with full authority to resolve some specific problem to which he had been assigned. He received the full powers of the state, subordinating the oth ...

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

, such as his relationship with his first fiancée

Cossutia Cossutia was a Roman woman who became engaged to Julius Caesar prior to his reaching adulthood. There has been debate among historians on whether the marriage actually occurred. Biography Early life Cossutia belonged to a very wealthy equest ...

and his flight from Rome to escape the wrath of Dictator

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...

, but it focuses most of all on Caesar's sexual relationship with the

Bithynian Bithynia (; ) was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Paphlagonia to the northeast a ...

king

Nicomedes IV of Bithynia Nicomedes IV Philopator () was the king of Bithynia from c. 94 BC to 74 BC. (''numbered as III. not IV.'') He was the first son and successor of Nicomedes III of Bithynia. Life Memnon of Heraclea wrote that Nicomedes IV was the son of Nicomedes ...

. Harrison originally designed it as a puppet opera. Instead of focusing on homosexuality in a negative light, Harrison focused on the celebration of life that results from embracing who you are.

Notes

# For the purposes of the opera, Caesar is called Gaius.

References

Compositions by Lou Harrison Depictions of Julius Caesar in opera Gay male mass media Cultural depictions of Cossutia LGBTQ-related operas 1970 operas {{Opera-stub

See also

Notes

References