''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 form ...

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 other ...

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 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 a civil war, and ...

, 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 equestrian ...

and escape from Rome after disrespecting Dictator

Sulla Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman general and statesman. He won the first large-scale civil war in Roman history and became the first man of the Republic to seize power through force. Sulla had ...

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

Bithynian Bithynia (; Koine Greek: , ''Bithynía'') 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, Pa ...

king

Nicomedes IV of Bithynia Nicomedes IV Philopator ( grc-gre, Νικομήδης Φιλοπάτωρ) 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 wro ...

. Harrison originally designed it as a puppet opera.

References

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

See also

References