Is it normal for a person in professional school not to know who Julius Caesar was?

Question

The other day, my friend, who is in his 3rd year of law school informed me that on the tv show "Rome", they had killed the main character, Julius Caesar. He also said, in a very suprised voice, that Caesar's friend Brutus had assisted in the murder. Then he told me that he saw the movie "Borat" about a guy from Khazakstan, which was "actually a real place". Am I an intellectual snob for expecting people to know who Julius Caesar was and that Khazakstan is a real place?

Answer 1

You are not a snob...your friend is just not been as educated as he lets on. I forget what year I studied Rome history, but JC was in that, & that has been covered by Discovery shows forever as well.
I am sorry, but if he doesn't know any history, I wasnt know who he is so I can avoid having him represent me! He is dumb!

Answer 2

Well, if you are, then I guess I am, too. I mean, it's hard to believe that someone in the 3rd year of law school had never heard of/read about Julius Caesar before.
Khazakstan, OK - that doesn't amaze me as much. I mean, I imagine there are a fair number of people unacquainted with "The Stans":
"I was visiting the lab during a long journey through Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, collectively known as the Central Asian "Stans", with a BBC television crew for a documentary series.
A former Soviet biological weapons lab has become a plague research institute
It was an extraordinary tour of a beautiful, bizarre and unpredictable region.
Although Central Asia is larger than Western Europe, it is probably the most obscure area of the world. A glance at an atlas suggests no area of comparable size about which so little is known in the West.
Because we know little about the Stans, we care little about their problems. Yet we should pay Central Asia more attention, because this is a region that matters to the West."

But Julius Caesar? Did this guy sleep through all his Social Studies classes? That's really incredible.

Answer 3

I think everyone should have an idea of who Julius Casear was. Khazakstan well OK, everybody might not know that, however the fact that he is becoming a lawyer and not know these things is a little unnerving. You would be surprised though how ignorant people are. 60 % of high schoolers could identify where they live on a blank map let alone find Khazakstan or even know about it. Julius Caesar I guess if you didn't pay attention at all in history class. I don't know, I just don't get it. I guess people would rather watch Survivor than actually read a book or take a class etc. They would rather yap on their cell phone than pick up a newspaper. It is just nuts how ignorant people are these days. Anyway, take care and good luck.

Answer 4

Well, in Rome, long time ago, people had three names to designate them: 1- the praenomen (or first name, the one going before the nomen). In this case, the praenomen in Gaius. But it was written Caius! and pronounced Gaius. 2- the nomen, which in this case is Julius, because Caesar was from the Julii family. So it was a family name. 3- the cognomen, is almost like a surname, a nickname. In this case Caesar. So it is Caius Julius Caesar (pronounced Gaius Julius Caesar) who was the same and only Julius Caesar, the one who conquered the Gauls and wrote the Commentarii de bello Gallico, or Comments about the Gallic war. Historians therefore can choose between Julius Caesar, Caesar, and Gaius Julius Caesar, and even Caius Julius Caesar. Useless to say, the man changed the whole world, like Alexander the Great, like Cyrus the Great, and not like all the others, even if they want to pretend marking their time in any way.

Answer 5

No, you are not an intellectual snob. Those are things people should know by the time they are 14 at the latest. As a side note, I am applying to law schools right now, and your question made me feel a lot better about my chances of getting in. After all, I already have a jump on that guy... not only do I know that Khazakstan is a real place, I can actually find it on a real map of the real world.

Answer 6

I'm a history and geography nut, but I think I can understand how someone might not known about Kazakhstan. However, I don't know how an adult could not have heard of Julius Caesar. Has your friend never taken a history or Great Books class????

Of course, I've seen spots on the TV news where people on the street could identify a picture of Madonna, but had no clue who it was when a picture of George Bush was shown to them. Go figure...

And no, I wouldn't label you a snob. I might label your friend, though, but I won't go there....

Answer 7

This is not especially good, but I'm afraid more normal than we might like to believe. Keeping with the "Roman" theme, I was amazed when a schoolmate (graduate-level) was baffled when I mentioned Roman numerals. I know some of them can be a little confusing, when you get into the thousands and all, but this person had never heard of them.

I'm pretty sure I had some knowledge of Julius Caesar even before learning anything in school, just from watching Bugs Bunny and Little Rascals.

Answer 8

Julius Caesar is part of the accepted cannon of High School Literature. It could be he had a teacher who just didnt teach it. He is also part of the 9th- 10th grade canon of World History. Unless he didnt take History or Literature in High School at all, its amazing he wouldnt have known this. Khazakstan might not have shown up in his high school studies, as they may not have gotten that far in history or geography, which often happens, or as countries changed so quickly he might have had an older text that didnt mention it.

Answer 9

No you are not at all - it is absolutly ridiculous that someone in his 3rd year of law school does not know who Julius Caesar is. If our education system hadnt eroded, as it has, elementry age students would know who Caesar is, and have a basic grammatical command of Latin. Caesar is one of the most influential, fundemental figures in the history of the west, to not know who is, is to not have a basic historical memory.

Answer 10

That is NOT normal. Anyone who went to high school should know who Julius Caesar is. I don't think that makes you a snob, just makes you more educated.