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Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar was a Roman politician that lived from 100 BC to 44 BC. His father was

Gaius Julius Caesar and his mother was Aurelia Cotta. Gaius was seen as one of the best military

leader. His father died when Caesar was young so Caesar had to become the model of his family.

He had to protect his family like his father did. He believed that joining the priesthood would

best benefit the family. Caesar became a high political figure. He had to flee Rome as another

political figure, Sulla, came to power and threatened Caesar. Caesar lost his high political

position as a priest as well as his connections to his family, therefore he joined the army. He was

an efficient soldier and proved that he was skillful. He received awards when he had committed a

heroic task. When Sulla died, Caesar realized that this was the perfect opportunity to return to

Rome. He returned to Rome to restart his life and he became an orator which is now known as a

lawyer. He succeeded in this occupation and became known for his powerful speaking skills.

Now he had military experience as well as experience with the law and public speaking.

Caesar had always thought highly of himself and a perfect example of this is when he

was captured by pirates in 75 BC. He was sailing to Greece when he was kidnapped by the

pirates. They held Caesar for ransom and told him that they wanted twenty talents which was one

of the several ancient units of mass. He probably took this as an insult as he said he was worth at

least fifty. Ironically, he was able to create a good friendship with the pirates. He told the pirates

saying that when he was freed, he would search for them and crucify them when he found them.

However, the pirates thought that he was joking around, but little did they know when he was

freed, he would slit their throats before the crucifixion. This is a perfect example of a trait that

Caesar would acquire in his lifetime. This trait is the idea that whatever he said, he would do.
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When Caesar returned to Rome, he would be elected as military tribune. A tribune is an

official that was chosen in ancient Rome by the plebeians, otherwise known as commoners, to

protect their interests. His wife, Cornelia had died, so he remarried to a wealthy granddaughter of

the old Emperor Sulla named Pompeia. Caesar once again, began to gain more power within

Rome. He was able to support Pompey the Great in a high military position. He became friends

with a man named Crassus. Crassus was known as the wealthiest man in Rome. Many believe

that he helped fund Caesars quest to become Chief Priest. In 63 BC, Caesar would win the

position but the next year he would be elected as a praetor. A praetor is one of a several number

of Roman magistrates. A magistrate was a civil officer that would administrate the law and the

praetors ranked below consul. His wife at the time had been involved in a scandal, so Caesar

divorced her and sailed to Spain to become the governor of Hispania. Caesar proved to be a

competent ruler in Hispania as he defeated opposing tribes and gained the respect of his men.

Caesar would return to Rome and began a career in business with the two he had befriended

before he traveled to Spain, Pompey and Crassus. This would eventually be called the First

Triumvirate. Triumvirate simply means a group of three men that held power and divided it

equally. In this case the First Triumvirate included Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus. It would be

easy to see how this wouldnt be effective, but under these three men, they were able to rule

Rome successfully, for now. Caesars ideas was supported by Crassus immense wealth and

Pompeys skill in the military as well as his army. Once his consulship ended however, he was

deeply in debt and had to raise money.

Caesar had to raise money due to how deeply in debt he was. Therefore, he relied on his

military skills to gain the money he needed. His target was Gaul. He traveled to Gaul with his

legions which were smaller armies of around three to six thousand men. He was able to succeed
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in defeating tribes there just as he did in Spain, but the Germanic tribes showed signs of an

invasion. He built a bridge over the Rhine River and let his legions march past onto the lands

across the Rhine, but ordered them back to the other side of the bridge and he had it dismantled.

The Germans realized who they were dealing with and understood his point. Caesar invaded

other tribes and invaded Britain as well and eventually defeated Vercingetorix, a leader of Gaul.

When he defeated him, he had finished his conquest and regained a plethora of wealth.

Even though the First Triumvirate had been very successful when it started, they had

fallen as Crassus had died in a battle, and because Caesar had been away on his conquest of

Gaul, Pompey took power. Pompey now had power over the military and was the leading

political figure. He removed Caesars position as governor of Gaul and demoted him to the class

of a citizen. Caesar did not return to Rome as he knew he would be prosecuted. Caesar had

gained the loyalty of his legions and they followed Caesar, not Pompey or Rome. Caesar decided

to attack the city with his legions. Pompey knew of Caesars military skills, so to avoid any

complications if he were to succeed in his battles, he fled to Spain. He eventually fled to Greece

but was defeated by Caesars forces. He was able to escape to Egypt but the Egyptians believed

that Caesar was favored by the gods, therefore they killed Pompey. Caesar was angry that they

had killed Pompey, and took over the royal palace and secretly smuggled Cleopatra over the

border. Eventually he left Cleopatra to rule Egypt and took retook Rome with his legions.

When he returned to Rome he was granted the title Dictator Perpetuus or dictator for

life. As Caesar came to power again, he enforced reforms. Some of these reforms included

redistribution of land to the poor and a land reform for veterans. He disregarded the senate

during his rule to gain more power. He changed the calendar and removed the current tax system.

The senate was afraid that Caesar was gaining too much power and they knew they needed to do
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something about it. On March 15, 44 BC, members of the senate attacked and assassinated

Caesar. They stabbed him twenty-three times and he ironically died at the foot of Pompeys

statue.
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Works Cited

http://www.ancient.eu/Julius_Caesar/
http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/julius-caesar