# Another Julius Caesar question: any cities, towns, geographical features named for him? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 11, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789 "2016-02-11T02:49:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/21 "2016-02-16T16:08:32Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > I guess you aren’t from New Jersey? No, but both my father and stepfather were. You can take the boy out of Joisey, but you can’t take the Joisey out of the boy… ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/22 "2016-02-16T18:44:21Z")
I’m assuming that cities named Rome were not named for the contemporaneous Italian capital, but for the seat of the Roman Empire, analogous to Troy, Carthage, etc. And any early settlers to any such latter-day Rome would likely name Julius Caesar if asked for a famous Roman. So, by extension, familiarity with Julius Caesar would be a fairly direct link to the naming of Romes in Georgia, New York, and elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![yo\_han\_go](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yo_han_go/32/130_2.png) [@yo\_han\_go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yo_han_go)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/23 "2016-02-16T20:06:49Z")
There you have [Julian Alps.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Alps) And probably Julian March of the same region is also named after him. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/24 "2016-02-16T20:10:32Z")
> [@yo\_han\_go](#): > > There you have [Julian Alps.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Alps) And probably Julian March of the same region is also named after him. Score! Best one yet. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2016, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/25 "2016-02-18T18:33:09Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I’m assuming that cities named Rome were not named for the contemporaneous Italian capital, but for the seat of the Roman Empire, analogous to Troy, Carthage, etc. I don’t think that’s a fair assumption. The US is full of cities named after modern European cities of no great import. For example, I live in Oviedo, Florida. Of course, you could say that cities named are English and Spanish places are different, but we also have Paris, Texas, Cairo, Georgia, Naples in Florida, Athens in Illinois, Delhi in California, and innumerable small towns like Moscow, Kansas. Lima, Ohio, is reputedly named for the one in Peru because Peruvian quinine helped stave off a malaria epidemic there. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/26 "2016-02-19T01:00:25Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > …but we also have Paris… And let us all say: “…” ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/27 "2016-02-19T01:59:03Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I’m assuming that cities named Rome were not named for the contemporaneous Italian capital, but for the seat of the Roman Empire, analogous to Troy, Carthage, etc. Bit of a distinction without a difference, surely? The same city has at different times been the seat of the Empire and the capital of Italy. This is a bit like suggesting that the state of Washington is named after Washington the general in the Continental Army rather than Washington the President of the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/28 "2016-02-19T08:44:08Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > There are plenty of places named after Caesar Augustus, … But there are fewer named after Julius Caesar. This is probably related to their age/time in office. Julius was ruler of Rome for only about 4.5 years before his death, and for about 3 years of that he was fighting a Civil War to retain his power, and was away from Rome. He died at age 55. Augustus ruled for over 40 years (the longest of any Roman ruler) and died at age 75. He was around and ‘First Citizen’ for a whole lot longer, to have things named after him. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/29 "2016-02-19T15:20:59Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Augustus ruled for over 40 years (the longest of any Roman ruler) Actually, Theodosius II, who ruled the Eastern Empire from 408 to 450, has Augustus beat by a hair for longest reign. And that despite dying at age 49, as he became emperor as a kid. He could plausibly have stuck around for another 20 years, but I guess he figured: “Well, got Augustus beat, I guess I can fall off my horse and die now.” Unless you want to exclude Theo II on the technicality of being an Eastern emperor post-395, in which case I say: Good for you, 'cause he really annoys me. Apart from giving his name to the Theodosian Walls and the Theodosian Code, ruling for a long time was the only thing he ever did. He was mostly a figurehead, with others pulling the strings. And, yes, that kind of nitpickery is why I’m such great fun on dates. Although maybe it’ll come in useful for someone on a pub quiz one day. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/30 "2016-02-19T21:35:22Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Actually, Theodosius II, who ruled the Eastern Empire from 408 to 450, has Augustus beat by a hair for longest reign. And that despite dying at age 49, as he became emperor as a kid. He could plausibly have stuck around for another 20 years, but I guess he figured: “Well, got Augustus beat, I guess I can fall off my horse and die now.” I laughed. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/31 "2016-02-19T23:21:49Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > A bit of a stretch but there is the town Kaiser in Wisconsin (The German Kaiser being based on the Roman title, which was ultimately named for Julius Caesar). Why do we pronounce Caesar as if it starts with an s rather than a k, like kaiser, as in many instances of Latin words starting with c? I may have covered that in 9th or 10th grade Latin but I ‘fergit’, after so many decades. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/32 "2016-02-20T04:11:10Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > Why do we pronounce Caesar as if it starts with an s rather than a k, like kaiser, as in many instances of Latin words starting with c? I may have covered that in 9th or 10th grade Latin but I ‘fergit’, after so many decades. That “ae” was recast as “e” in many English words of learned Latin or Greek origin, some earlier and some later (you saw “encyclopaedia” until pretty recently). “Caesar” kept the original spelling, but went along with the trend for pronunciation – and in English “ce” is always pronounced with an “s” sound. In Spanish, they did the same thing, but spell it as it’s now pronounced (“César”). ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/33 "2016-02-20T04:19:31Z")
PS. It happened in Italian, too – note how the Latin -ae plural ending for feminine nouns became -e in Italian. In Italian, “c” is pronounced like English “ch” before “e,” hence “Cesare” = CHEZZ-array. (I remember finding this out when I was around ten years old and saw the film _The Idolmaker_). ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/34 "2016-02-20T21:18:04Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Unless you want to exclude Theo II on the technicality of being an Eastern emperor post-395, in which case I say: Good for you, 'cause he really annoys me. Apart from giving his name to the Theodosian Walls and the Theodosian Code, ruling for a long time was the only thing he ever did. He was mostly a figurehead, with others pulling the strings He persecuted the Nestorians pretty good, too. You’re right, though. He was no Theodosius I. And if you want to nitpick, Constantine VII was emperor for 51 years. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/35 "2016-02-20T21:58:17Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > And if you want to nitpick, Constantine VII was emperor for 51 years. Oh, right. Well, I usually stop paying attention to the Byzantines somewhere around the middle of seventh century. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/36 "2016-02-21T10:10:45Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I don’t think that’s a fair assumption. The US is full of cities named after modern European cities of no great import. For example, I live in Oviedo, Florida. _¡Ay madre!_ You’re lucky I’m not ovetense! Calling Oviedo, capital of Asturias, the kingdom which eventually became León and from León Castille, “unimportant”! Only because a city isn’t particularly important now doesn’t mean it’s never been. I mean, yes, Oviedo (Fl) probably got founded by an ovetense who happened to pass by, but still… don’t go to the original saying it’s “of no great import” if you want to be able to get service at the local restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/37 "2016-02-21T12:35:09Z")
So an inhabitant of Oviedo (Spain) is an “Ovetense”? The things you learn on the Straight Dope… ! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/38 "2016-02-21T12:49:32Z")
Yeah, I misread that as “overtense.” I though at first Nava was saying: “Lucky for you I’m not too wound up today! If I weren’t feeling so relaxed, I’d _really_ rip you a new one!”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/39 "2016-02-21T14:20:00Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Interesting – thanks. So, probably a toponymic equivalent of a “folk etymology,” like thinking (wrongly) that _asparagus_ derives from _sparrowgrass_. To be accurate, “folk etymology” meas changing the pronunciation/spelling of an unfamiliar word to match the spelling/pronunciation of a familiar word (that may have no connection). Some examples include “turtle” (originally a bird) and “isenglass.” ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789/40 "2016-02-21T14:56:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > New York apparently doesn’t have any place named after Julius Caesar. Which is surprising because our state is full of classical place names. Apparently there was some minor public official back in the early nineteenth century who was a huge fan of classical history. So New York has towns named Athens, Aurelius, Brutus, Carthage, Cato, Camillus, Cicero, Cincinnatus, Corinth, Elba, Fabius, Galen, Hannibal, Hector, Homer, Ithaca, Junius, Lysander, Manlius, Marcellus, Ovid, Pompey, Ravena, Rome, Romulus, Salamanca, Savona, Scipio, Sempronius, Solon, Syracuse, Troy, Ulysses, Utica, and Virgil. So there was some town naming guy, and not the inhabitants, who chose the town names? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-julius-caesar-question-any-cities-towns-geographical-features-named-for-him/745789.md?page=3)