Laudatio Iuliae amitae – Caesar’s funeral speech in honor of deceased aunt Julia

Laudatio Iuliae amitae was a funeral speech given by Julius Caesar in 68 BCE in honour of his deceased aunt Julia (wife of Gaius Marius). The beginning of Caesar’s laudation (laudatio funebris) was preserved in the work of Suetonius, in which he praised the origin of the family.

The family of my aunt Julia is descended by her mother from the kings, and on her father’s side is akin to the immortal Gods; for the Marcii Reges (her mother’s family name) go back to Ancus Marcius, and the Julii, the family of which ours is a branch, to Venus. Our stock therefore has at once the sanctity of kings, whose power is supreme among mortal men, and the claim to reverence which attaches to the Gods, who hold sway over kings themselves.