Gaius Julius Caesar was epileptic? We know from many sources how Caesar was subject to various health problems, especially towards the end of his life, and by some interpreted as symptoms of epilepsy.

The sources on the epilepsy of Julius Caesar

Our main sources are those of Plutarch, who lived roughly between 46 AD and the 125 AD, and of Suetonius, who lived between 69 AD and the 122 d.C .; also a rather late source, that of the Greek historian Appian, who lived between 95 AD and 165 AD, speaks of epilepsy.

The interpretation of the sources on the epilepsy of Caesar

The oldest source, that of Plutarch, reports that Caesar was suffering from numerous headaches and attributed epilepsy to him. On the contrary, Suetonius, later, dismisses the doubts concerning Caesar’s epilepsy and speaks of the Roman leader as a person of excellent health, disturbed only at the end of his life by insomnia, as well as by events like fainting. In reality, this last testimony by Suetonius seems rather strange because, being the hereditary epilepsy disease, and being typical in the family of Caesar (so much to hit the son that Cesare himself did with Cleopatra, Caesarion), it seems curious that he was not also suffering from epilepsy.

The possible causes of late epilepsy for Gaius Julius Caesar

However we cannot be sure that Caesar suffered from epilepsy, especially if it was hereditary: it is also possible that, as long as Julius Caesar really suffered from epilepsy, that it was acquired in the course of his life and manifested during periods late. Possible causes of Caesar acquired epilepsy are some types of parasites such as Taenia Solium or some types of persistent infections.

Caesar’s epilepsy could also be due to malaria, which can be attributed to an increased risk of overall epilepsy.

Caesar’s “epilepsy” would have “probably” begun in Cordoba, and would later have been found near Tapso (46 BC) or Munda (45 BC); it was unlikely that Cesare had public manifestations of epilepsy previously, also because, besides not having any news, his opponents could have used the thing to muddy him.

Did Gaius Julius Caesar really suffer from epilepsy?

In reality, we have no clinical certainty as to its actual relevance to this disease, also because the symptoms reported by Plutarch could also refer to conditions other than epilepsy, such as that of micro stroke.

The hypotheses of a possible epilepsy of Gaius Julius Caesar could also have been the subject of favorable propaganda on the part of Augustus, who would probably have supported the interpretation as generic epilepsy of Caesar’s evil due to the divine character to which the disease was associated, and that he would, therefore, have indicated Caesar as a man chosen by the Roman gods moreover it could help you in various contexts of travel in Greece.