Three important leaders we studied this semester were Socrates, Julius Caesar, and Martin Luther. Discuss what these men had in common, and how they differed, especially in relation to their teachings, how the establishment reacted to them, and how they lived their life.
Socrates- A philosopher that believed the unexamined life is not worth living, always tried to dig for the deepest understanding of whatever question being asked. Got people to question themselves and their moral character. He believed that absolute standards did not exist for truth and justice. He was charged of corrupting the youth, and neglecting the gods. He was given a trail and claimed his teachings were right, and was then killed by poison.
Julius Caesar- A powerful individual, very successful general, crossed the rubicon even when told not to. Was in the first triumvirate, but quickly turned it into a one man show and took power all for himself. Elected himself dictator, the senators could tell the power was getting to him and killed him.
Martin Luther- He was originally studying at law school but dropped out when he promises to become a monk. He threw himself into his life work and became a priest, got his phd, and 2 bachelor degrees before he was 30. Had 95 objections of the Roman Catholic Church; in particular, he disputed the view on indulgences. He thought that the church was becoming corrupt, and didn't agree with this teaching. His 95 Theses spread all throughout Europe and got a lot of people to agree with him. Luther suggests to drive the pope from the Church, and gets excommunicated from the church. A religious group called the Lutherans was born, because so many people agreed with his ideas in the end.
These men all were very important people of their time, and had a great impact on their people and their towns. Along with this, most of them had ideas or teachings that went against what most people said. Socrates with his unique teaching style, Caesar with his come to power, and Luther with his disagreement with indulgences. Along with this, all of these men threw themselves into their mission and spent their whole lives working on it. Socrates and Luther both were given trials to explain themselves, but did not back down from their opinions and were both punished for it.
They differed because Julius Caesar was all about power, and worked his whole life to gain leadership and power over Rome. Socrates and Luther gained their 'fame' from doing what they thought was right. Also, Caesar was able to get people on his side and never really saw his death coming, where as Socrates was respected but in the end his opinion caused his death. Luther also eventually wound up 'winning' in a sense because his ideas started a new religion, and got some of the old Catholic rules to not be used.
The people disagreed with all three of these men at some point, though they all had supporters. Both Caesar and Socrates were killed for their beliefs, and Luther was also excommunicated from the Church, stopped from doing his whole life work. They did have supporters but the support did not outweigh the opinions of those against them.
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