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No. 98: Fighter-Cleric with Dictator prestige class

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Fighter-Cleric with Dictator prestige class

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Permanent URL: https://mezzacotta.net/pomh/?comic=98

Strip by: Ian Boreham

{Julius Caesar, dressed in Roman military armour, is speaking.}
Caesar: I shall cross the Rubicon and lead my army to Rome.

{Zoomed out a little, Caesar is at a table playing a role-playing game. The GM is behind a screen titled "Legiones et Legati: Edition II". He hurls a D20 for the success of his action.}
Caesar: Alea iacta est!

{The die, marked in Roman numerals, lands with "XX" uppermost.
SFX: Natural XX! Critical success!
Caesar: Yes! YES!!! Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, Baby!

caption: Later...
{Caesar is dressed triumphantly in ceremonial armour and a laurel wreath.}
Caesar: Veni, vidi, levelus uppi.

The author writes:

Generally the quote takes the form "alea iacta est" or "alea jacta est", meaning "the die is cast" ("the die cast is" in Latin word order), signifying that one has committed to an action, but the consequences are not yet known.

According to Wikipedia, the original form in Suetonius was "iacta alea est". I'm not a Latin speaker, but I've been led to believe that Latin word order is used to reflect emphasis, so this order is emphasising the fact that the die has been cast, which seems appropriate. For me, though, the more interesting aspect of this is is that it sounds like Yoda: "Cast, the die is, hmmm. Bring order back to the old Republic, will I."

I was surprised when reading up on Julius Caesar to find that as a young man he had been the high priest of Jupiter, and later, in between various military and governmental roles, he was the chief priest of the Roman state religion. It does sound rather like these priestly roles had more to do with money and power than with devotion, though.

Drawn in Krita and Inkscape.