The world-renowned general Julius Caesar may have been rather less heroic than we imagine, in terms of victories as well as physique. Caesar was largely bald and had a deformed skull, resulting from difficulties during his birth. As for military campaigns, he suffered his greatest defeat in the Low Countries, possibly near the Dutch city of Maastricht, according to new research suggesting that he fought a substantial proportion of the Gallic Wars in the northern part of Gaul. These findings emerged from the research conducted by the archaeologist and author Tom Buijtendorp on Caesar’s activities in the Low Countries, in response to the mounting pile of clues for his presence here. Buijtendorp’s research was recently published in the book Caesar in de Lage Landen (Caesar in the Low Countries). His findings about Caesar’s countenance in combination with one of the oldest portraits of Caesar from the collection of the Dutch national museum of antiquities (the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden), were the basis for an alternative ’new’ face. The reconstruction of this face is currently on show in the museum. www.rmo.nl The face of Julius Caesar Recently, on 22 June 2018, a lifelike interpretation of the general’s ‘new’ face was presented at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, in which the asymmetric shape of the skull and the receding hairline differ significantly from the traditional images. According to Buijtendorp, Caesar’s head displays clear signs of a difficult birth – a new fact in Caesar’s biography. The specific skull abnormality enabled Buijtendorp to identify the so called Tusculum bust (Museo Archeologico, Turin) as the most authentic portrait of Caesar, which differs markedly from the marble posthumous busts that are most commonly displayed, and fits well with Caesars contemporary coin portrait. Subsequently archaeologist and physical anthropologist Maja d’Hollosy was asked to make an alternative, more lifelike ‘Caesar of the Low Countries’, so to speak, based on one of the Caesar portraits from the collection in Leiden. Sources as the Tusculum bust and the coin portrait were used to add the missing features. Furthermore Buijtendorp’s research gave instructions about skin and eye colour, and hair. The result is a mix between the three sources, with the museum bust as base. Since a 100 percent reliable sources were lacking, a major aim was to make Caesar more alive, not creating the ultimate Ceasar bust. According to Buijtendorp, this reconstruction of Caesar’s portrait reminds us that the traditional image of Caesar is unrealistic, but also shows the remaining uncertainties about details like the eyes: ‘Though the new version likewise does not represent an absolute truth, it does provide a more credible alternative to the existing picture, rejecting the symmetric head of hair image we got used to’.

Today, 13 July 2018, Beijing Normal University won the final round of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Moot Court Competition, Chinese version, held in ICC Courtroom II in The Hague (Netherlands). Soochow University and Liaoning University won, respectively, second and third place. The Best Speaker award went to Yiwei Guo of the Beijing Normal University. Sitting on the bench this year were ICC Judge Chang-ho Chung and ICC legal officers Eleni Chaitidou and Anthony Abato. The teams competed on a fictitious case, presenting oral arguments during an appeals hearing in the roles of Prosecution, Defence and Legal Representatives of the Victims. After a break for deliberations, the jury announced the bench’s decision and an awards ceremony was held for all participants. The finalists’ peers attended the event in the Court’s public galleries and the event was web streamed live on the Court’s website. This year, 48 universities participated in the competition, where students put to the test their knowledge of the applicable law and jurisprudence of the ICC. After the main rounds and semi-final, the three top teams came to The Hague for a six-day study visit before the final competition at the ICC. The study visit offered the students a unique opportunity to gather in an exciting setting and to meet with eminent personalities of the international law scene. The students visited several international institutions and organizations, such as the International Criminal Court, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, the International Development Law Organization, the T.M.C. Asser Institute, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the Anne Frank House, and the Leiden University. This version of the ICC Moot Court Competition is organised by the Chinese Initiative on International Criminal Justice (CIICJ). In the context of its Academic Programme, the ICC supports the organisation of ICC Moot Court Competitions in Chinese, English, Russian and Spanish, with a view to also support Arabic and French versions in the future. These initiatives play a critical role in galvanising interest in the Court’s work with academic communities as well as in enhancing promotion and respect for international criminal law.