Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman who lived between July 12th, 100 BC to March 15th, 44 BC. Caesar was a member of the First Triumvirate who led the Roman soldiers in the Gallic Wars before defeating Pompey in a civil war and becoming dictator of Rome from 49 BC until his assassination in 44 BC. He was a pivotal figure in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the formation of the Roman Empire. He adhered to Rome's Popular ideology, which promoted the democratization of governance and greater rights for the lower classes, as opposed to the Optimate faction's assertion of noble supremacy and traditional Roman values, which favored the upper classes. It should be noted that the Optimate and the Popular were not political parties at odds with one another, but rather political ideals that many individuals, regardless of social status, shifted toward and away from. The idea of turning to the people for support, rather than the Roman Senate or other Patricians, would serve Caesar well later in life.
When Caesar was sixteen, his father died, and he became the family's head. He succeeded to have himself nominated as the next High Priest of Jupiter after deciding that belonging to the priesthood would be the most beneficial to the family. As a priest had to be not only of patrician ancestry but also married to a patrician, Caesar broke off his engagement to a plebian girl and married the patrician, Cornelia, daughter of a high profile and important Populares member, Lucius Cinna. When the Roman ruler Sulla declared himself dictator, he initiated a systematic purging of his rivals, especially those who believed in the Populare doctrine. Caesar was pursued and escaped Rome, but his sentence was commuted thanks to the efforts of his mother's relatives. Nonetheless, he was deposed as a priest and his wife's dowry was confiscated. Caesar entered the army after he was unable to support himself or his family. He established himself as a capable soldier, even receiving the civic crown for saving a life in battle, and was appointed to the staff of the military legate to Bithynia to acquire a fleet of ships. Caesar was successful at this, as he had been as a soldier, and when Sulla died, he chose to return to Rome and try his luck as an orator (a modern-day lawyer). He was a success in this as well, and he became well-recognized as an expressive speaker. In 75 BCE, a band of Cilician pirates in the Aegean Sea kidnapped Julius Caesar, who was on his way to Rhodes to learn oratory. According to Plutarch's Parallel Lives, the capture was a small annoyance for Caesar but disastrous for the pirates. Caesar simply refused to act like a prisoner from the outset. When the pirates informed him that they had placed his ransom at 20 talents, he mocked them for not understanding who they had taken and suggested that 50 talents would be a more suitable price. He then dispatched his entourage to collect the money and prepared himself for captivity. The pirates must have been perplexed. It's not every day that a hostage bargains for his ransom.
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Caesar settled down with the pirates, bossing them around and hushing them when he needed to sleep. He forced them to listen to the speeches and poems he was writing in his unexpected downtime and called them illiterates if they weren't adequately impressed. He would join the pirates in their games and exercises, but he always addressed them as if he were the leader and they were his subordinates. He would threaten to have them all crucified from time to time. They mistook it for a joke from their overconfident, slightly insane prisoner. It wasn't a joke. The ransom was delivered after 38 days, and Caesar was set free. Despite holding no governmental or military authority, Caesar managed to organize a naval force in Miletus and headed out in search of the pirates. He discovered them still camped on the island where he had been imprisoned and took them as his hostages. When the governor of Asia appeared to be undecided about executing them, Caesar went to the prison and had them all crucified. Back in Rome, Caesar was elected military tribune and married Pompeia, a wealthy Optimate granddaughter of Emperor Sulla, when his wife Cornelia died. Caesar had gained enough respect in Rome to convincingly endorse Gnaeus Pompeius (later known as Pompey the Great) for a generalship. During this period, he also became friends with Marcus Licinius Crassus, Rome's wealthiest man. Crassus is said to have contributed to Caesar's election to the position of Chief Priest (Pontifex Maximus) in 63 BCE. He was elected Praetor in 62, divorced Pompeia following a scandal in which she was involved with another man, and departed for Spain in 61 as Propraetor (governor) of Hispania. The First Triumvirate of Ancient Rome was an uneasy alliance of the three titans Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus that controlled Roman Republic politics from 60 BCE until 53 BCE. Alliances have always existed in history. Whether it is the union of Sparta and Athens against the Persians in the 5th century BCE or the united troops of
In the Triple Entente in World War I, nations and individuals - even erstwhile foes - have sought aid to conquer a shared foe for one reason or another. It was no different in ancient Rome. An unsteady Republic and a near civil war compelled three men to put aside their disagreements and even scorn for one another in order to join forces and dominate Rome's governance, even regulating elections, for nearly a decade. One of the three would finally triumph and become a dictator. Gaius Julius Caesar was his name. However, that was several years in the future. For the time being, he was a member of what modern historians refer to as the First Triumvirate. Recognizing the wealth to be obtained by conquest, Caesar dispatched his soldiers to Gaul. Julius Caesar, the governor of Transalpine Gaul and a Roman Consul from 58 to 51 B.C., wrote The Conquest of Gaul in eight volumes. Caesar narrates the eight years he led the Roman troops in an endeavor to quell the emergence of hostile Gallic tribes in what is now Belgium and France. Caesar went on to do many things, and despite the fact that he did not govern for long, he gave Rome new hope and a succession of emperors. Julius Caesar was born into an aristocratic family in 100 BC and grew up in hazardous times. His death and the fallout, On March 15, 44 BCE, Caesar was slain by senators in the portico of Pompey the Great's basilica. Marcus Junius Brutus, Caesar's second choice for an heir, and Gaius Cassius Longinus, among many others, were among the assassins (some ancient sources cite as many as sixty assassins). Caesar was stabbed 23 times and died at the foot of Pompey's statue. The assassins, on the other hand, made the mistake of failing to anticipate what they would do after Caesar's death, allowing Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony), Caesar's cousin and right-hand man, to live. His death and the fallout, Julius Caesar was stabbed to death in Rome, Italy, on March 15, 44 B.C.E. Caesar was the Roman Republic's dictator, and his assassins were Roman senators, fellow
Politicians who shaped Roman policy and government. Julius Caesar was a huge hit with the people of Rome. He was a brilliant military leader who extended the republic into what is now Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Belgium. Caesar was also a well-known author who published works about his travels, philosophies, and political beliefs. Many Senate members, a body of appointed (rather than elected) political leaders, despised Caesar's popularity and arrogance. After Caesar was appointed dictator for life in 44 B.C.E., these authorities determined to deal Caesar the final blow. At the meeting of the Senate on March 15, the ides of March, a group of up to 60 conspirators agreed to assassinate Caesar. The group reportedly stabbed Caesar 23 times, murdering the Roman leader. Julius Caesar's assassination had the opposite effect that his assassins had intended. Many Romans blamed the senators for the assassination, resulting in a series of civil conflicts. Octavian, Caesar's grandnephew and adoptive son, eventually became Rome's ruler. He changed his name to Augustus Caesar. Augustus' reign signaled the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire.
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