Gaius Julius Caesar (13 July 100 BC - 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and politician who played a critical role in the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire, reigning as dictator from October 49 BC to March 44 BC. Caesar was a man of the people due to his various conquests in Europe and his leadership of the Populares (a classical populist faction of Roman politics), and he became known as one of the greatest generals in history. He later formed the First Triumvirate with Marcus Licinius Crassus and Pompey the Great, jointly dominating Roman politics, but Crassus' death at the Battle of Carrhae led to Caesar and Pompey struggling for power from 49 to 45 BC. Caesar succeeded in defeating Pompey, subduing his allies, and expanding Roman influence into Egypt, and he became the most powerful man in Rome as dictator. However, Caesar was frustrated with his lack of true power in Rome, as all of his decisions still had to have Roman Senate approval. In 44 BC, Caesar announced that he was going to hold a vote in the Senate to become Emperor, a title that was heavily feared in democratic Rome. On 15 March 44 BC, he was assassinated at the Senate by the pro-democracy Liberatores, and his grand-nephew and adopted heir Octavian fought to seize control of his empire before successfully becoming emperor.
Biography
Early life
Caesar in 82 BC
Gaius Julius was born in Rome, Roman Republic in 100 BC to the patrician House of Julii, a family descended from Prince Aeneas of Troy and his mythological mother, the goddess Aphrodite. He was the son of proconsul Gaius Julius Caesar and Aurelia Cotta, and his paternal aunt was married to Gaius Marius, the legendary Roman general. Julius' nickname "Caesar" came from the fact that he was cut out of his mother's womb in a Caesarian section (from the Latin caedere, "to cut").
Rise to power
Caesar in 73 BC
In 85 BC, Caesar became the head of the family on his father's death, and he married Lucius Cornelius Cinna's daughter Cornelia while serving as High Priest of Jupiter. He was stripped of his inheritance, his wife's dowry, and his priesthood after Sulla conquered Rome, but he refused to divorce his wife and instead went into hiding. He decided to join the army to be away from Sulla, who purged the Marian faction of Roman politics. Caesar served in Asia Minor for years, spending a long time at the court of King Nicomedes IV of Bithynia, with whom Caesar allegedly had an affair. After Sulla's death in 78 BC, Caesar returned to Rome, and he became a well-known orator. On one occasion, he was kidnapped by pirates in the Aegean Sea, and he promised to crucify the pirates; the pirates laughed it off. When his ransom was paid, he hired his own fleet and captured the pirates, and he carried out his promise to crucify them, although he killed them first. He then commanded a band of auxiliaries to repel an invasion from the east, and he was elected tribune on his return to Rome.
Gracchus and Caesar in 72 BC
In 73 BC, Caesar's political mentor Gracchus ensured that he was named temporary commander of the garrison of Rome while Marcus Publius Glabrus led six cohorts of the garrison to hunt down Spartacus' slave army. In 71 BC, however, Caesar was convinced to switch his allegiance to Gracchus' aristocratic rival Marcus Licinius Crassus, who sent Caesar to arrest Gracchus after proscribing him; however, Gracchus committed suicide before he could be taken into exile in Picenum. In 69 BC, the same year as the death of his wife and aunt, Caesar became Quaestor, and he served in Spain. There, he saw a statue of Alexander the Great, and he wept beside it, as he sought to become the great conqueror that the short-lived Alexander was. Alexander had also died at the age of 32, having conquered the world, while Caesar was 32 and was just an officer. In 63 BC, he would be elected Pontifex Maximus, Praetor a year later, and Imperator in 60 BC after conquering two local tribes in Spain.
Gallic Wars
Caesar in Gaul, 58 BC
In 59 BC, Caesar was elected Consul, a post traditionally followed by a posting to govern a province. At this point, he had become a close ally of Rome's most successful general, Pompey the Great, and its richest citizen, Marcus Licinius Crassus. He was given control of Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy), Transalpine Gaul (Provence), and Illyricum (the Balkans) for five years instead of the usual one-year term, and the politically ambitious and debt-ridden Caesar sought to win military glory and find enough plunder to pay off his debts. While Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum were peaceful, Transalpine Gaul was constantly at war with the Celtic Gauls, so Caesar decided to become involved in the tribal wars in France.
In 58 BC, Caesar took command of the Roman forces in Gaul during the Gallic Wars, and he allied with the Aedui tribes between the Saone and Loire rivers. He fought against the Swiss Helvetii as they attempted to migrate to western Gaul, defeating them and forcing the survivors to return to their homeland. The Aedui then asked Caesar for protection against the Suebi chief Ariovistus, and Caesar's legions confronted him in the Vosges and drove him back across the Rhine. Caesar followed these defensive campaigns up with campaigns of conquest, invading the lands of the Belgae in 57 BC under the pretext of protecting a Celtic ally. The following year, he defeated the Veneti in Brittany, and he invaded Germany and England in 55 BC, taking 80 transport ships to invade Britain with two legions. The first foray had no results, and the invasion was repeated in 54 BC, with the Romans advancing as far north as the River Thames before retiring.
Conquest of Gaul
By 54 BC, Caesar had expanded Roman-ruled Gaul from southern France to the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel, and the North Sea coasts, and Caesar wrote The Gallic Wars about his experiences. Caesar's reputation was greatly enhanced, and his term as provincial governor was extended for five more years. Caesar improved the training and combat experience of his legions, and he also recruited skirmishers and cavalry from Gauls, Germans, and peoples from as far afield as Crete and North Africa. In the winter of 54-53 BC, the Belgae revolted and annihilated a Roman column, and the Arverni leader Vercingetorix led the tribes of western and central Gaul in an uprising against the Romans the following winter. Vercingetorix avoided pitched battle, and Caesar took Avaricum after a 25-day siege, massacring almost the entire population. However, Gergovia held itself against the legions. In 51 BC, Vercingetorix installed his army at the fortified hill town of Alesia, where he was besieged by Caesar's legions. The Romans starved out the defenders and held off fanatical relief attempts, and Vercingetorix was eventually forced to ride into Caesar's camp and lay down his arms at his feet. Caesar was victorious, and his army was ever-powerful.
Fall of the Triumvirate
In 56 BC, during the Gallic Wars, Caesar met with Crassus and Pompey in northern Italy, where they formed the "Triumvirate", a political alliance. Crassus ruled over Syria, Pompey ruled over Italy and Spain, and Caesar ruled over Gaul and the Balkans, and they attempted to share power. However, the death of Crassus and his son in battle with Parthia in 53 BC led to the Triumvirate collapsing, and Caesar became a very wealthy and famous man, earning the personal loyalty of his legions. Caesar also became the leader of the lower-class Populares, championing the rights of the common man against the elitist Optimates. Pompey reluctantly threw in his lot with teh anti-Caesar faction in the Roman Senate, which demanded that Caesar leave his army in Gaul, disband his legions, and return to Rome. However, Caesar was unwilling to throw away his shot at becoming the master of Rome, and he decided not to give in. He resolved on conquering Rome and assuming absolute power.
Civil war
On 10 January 49 BC, Caesar led his legioanries across the Rubicon River, the border between Cisalpine Gaul and the Roman home province of Italia, marking the start of the war; no legion was allowed to enter Italia. Within weeks, he occupied a largely unresisting Italy, and Pompey fled across the Adriatic. Rather than pursue his rival, Caesar headed west and secured control of Hispania before returning to Rome to have himself declared dictator. Pompey assembled a large army of soldiers from the eastern Roman provinces at Macedonia, and he also had a powerful war fleet. In 48 BC, Caesar crossed the Adriatic Sea with seven legions, joined later by four legions led by his follower, Mark Antony. Outside Dyrrachium, Caesar was forced to retreat after a series of skirmishes with Pompey's army, and they met again at the Battle of Pharsalus in Greece. Caesar's infantry drove off Pompey's large cavalry force before smashing his infantry formation, and Pompey fled to Egypt.
Caesar at the coronation of Cleopatra
Caesar pursued Pompey into Egypt with his army, and he landed at Alexandria in late 48 BC. He was greeted by Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII and his regent, Pothinus, who had him presented with the severed head of Pompey as a gift; Caesar was disgusted and saddened by the death of his respected rival. Caesar, who had also been aiming to mediate a dispute between Ptolemy and his sister and co-ruler Cleopatra over the rulership of Egypt, was won over by Cleopatra, who gained his support in installing her on the throne. Caesar interfered in the "Alexandrine Civil War" by having Pothinus executed for sending the servant Lotus to kill Cleopatra, and he proceeded to hold Alexandria against a siege and defeated Ptolemy's army at the Battle of the Nile; Ptolemy drowned while retreating. Caesar installed Cleopatra as the new ruler of Egypt, and he enjoyed an affair with her, later marrying her in the Egyptian tradition and having a son with her, named Caesarion.
Dictator for life
Caesar on horseback
While Caesar was spending time with Cleopatra, Pompeian forces rallied, and Caesar campaigned against their ally of Pontus in Asia Minor before fighting battles at Thapsus in North Africa in 46 BC and at Munda in Spain in 45 BC. After the Battle of Munda, his defeat of Pompey's faction was complete, and Caesar decided to have himself made dictator-for-life. However, his decisions were still subjected to votes by the Senate, and he did not yet hold absolute power, as Romans feared a return to monarchy. Caesar later invited Cleopatra to Egypt with their young son, and the people of Rome idolized Cleopatra, who entered the city riding on a large movable pyramid with her son, and escorted by several parade participants. She stayed with Caesar as his guest in Rome, and she encouraged him to become master of Rome. At a meeting with some of his allies, Caesar said that the Senate would hold a vote on whether to name him "Emperor", shocking some of his supporters. Caesar was later confident that the vote to name him Emperor of all of Rome, except for Rome itself, would pass, as he had engaged in bribery, or had appointed several Roman senators himself. However, the senatorial conspiracies against Caesar intensified, and Aya, Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Cicero, Servilius Casca, Tullius Cimber, Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, and several other senators conspired to kill him before the vote could be held.
Assassination
Caesar's death
On 15 March 44 BC, as Caesar entered the Senate building, Cimber presented Caesar with a petition asking for the return of his brother from exile. The other conspirators crowded around to offer their support, and Caesar attempted to wave Cimber away. Cimber then pulled down Caesar's toga, and Casca attempted to stab Caesar in the neck. Caesar caught his arm and called him a villain, and Casca cried out for the other conspirators to help him. Caesar was then stabbed 23 times by sixty or more senators, and his former ally Brutus - whom he had considered a son to him - was the last to stab him. Caesar's legendary last words were "Et tu Brute? Then fall, Caesar," losing his will to live after witnessing this heartbreaking act of betrayal. He fell dead in front of a statue of the late Pompey the great in a great twist of irony. His adopted son grand-nephew Octavian, who Caesar had designated as his heir, would later vanquish Caesar's assassins as well as Mark Antony and Cleopatra before becoming the first Emperor of the Roman Empire, achieving Caesar's dream.
