Dictator Perpetuus: Julius Caesar--did he have seizures? If so, what was the etiology?

Epilepsy & Behavior : E&B
John R Hughes

Abstract

The "Dictator Perpetuus" of the Roman Empire, the great Julius Caesar, was not the one for whom the well-known cesarean operation was named; instead, this term is derived from a Latin word meaning "to cut." Caesar likely had epilepsy on the basis of four attacks that were probably complex partial seizures: (1) while listening to an oration by Cicero, (2) in the Senate while being offered the Emperor's Crown, and in military campaigns, (3) near Thapsus (North Africa) and (4) Corduba (Spain). Also, it is possible that he had absence attacks as a child and as a teenager. His son, Caesarion, by Queen Cleopatra, likely had seizures as a child, but the evidence is only suggestive. His great-great-great grandnephews Caligula and Britannicus also had seizures. The etiology of these seizures in this Julio-Claudian family was most likely through inheritance, with the possibility of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) in his great grandfather and also his father. Our best evidence comes from the ancient sources of Suetonius, Plutarch, Pliny, and Appianus.

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Citations

Feb 10, 2016·Epilepsy & Behavior : E&B·Michael Trimble, Dale C Hesdorffer
Jun 30, 2015·World Neurosurgery·Nicola MontemurroMichael T Lawton
Feb 3, 2007·Epilepsy & Behavior : E&B·Janna Devinsky
Sep 24, 2004·Epilepsy & Behavior : E&B·John R Hughes
Mar 31, 2015·Neurological Sciences : Official Journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology·Francesco M Galassi, Hutan Ashrafian
Sep 26, 2012·European Neurology·Jose-Alberto Palma, Fermin Palma
Nov 10, 2010·The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. Le Journal Canadien Des Sciences Neurologiques·Richard S McLachlan
Jan 25, 2018·Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria·Carlos Henrique Ferreira Camargo, Hélio Afonso Ghizoni Teive
Jul 6, 2021·Revue neurologique·M Bou NasifN J Azar

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