Dictator, General (C. 100 BCE-44 BCE) : 883 Shares

Julius Caesar Biography.
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Dictator, General(c. 100 BCE44 BCE)
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QUICK FACTS
NAME
Julius Caesar
OCCUPATION
Dictator, General
BIRTH DATE
c. July 12, 100 BCE
DEATH DATE
March 15, 44 BCE
PLACE OF BIRTH
Rome, Italy
PLACE OF DEATH
Rome, Italy
AKA
Julius Caesar
FULL NAME
Gaius Julius Caesar
CITE THIS PAGE
Roman general and statesman Julius Caesar turned the
Roman Republic into the powerful Roman Empire. A
coup ended his reign, and his life, on the Ides of March.
IN THESE GROUPS
FAMOUS EPILEPTICS
FAMOUS ANCIENT ROMANS
FAMOUS CANCERIANS
LOVED TO DEATH
Show All Groups
QUOTES
For the immortal gods are accustomed at times to grant
favorable circumstances and long impunity to men whom
they wish to punish for their crime, so that they may
smart the more severely from a change of fortune.
Julius Caesar
Synopsis
Allegedly, a descendent of Trojan prince Aeneas, Julius
Caesar's auspicious birth, c. July 12 or 13, 100 B.C.,
marked the beginning of a new chapter in Roman history.
By age 31, Caesar had fought in several wars and become
involved in Roman politics. After several alliances, he
became dictator of the Roman Empire. This led to a
senatorial coup, and Caesar's eventual assassination, on
the Ides of March.
Early Years
A politically adept and popular leader of the Roman
Republic, Julius Caesar significantly transformed what
became known as the Roman Empire, by greatly
expanding its geographic reach and establishing its
imperial system.
While it has long been disputed, it's estimated that Julius

Caesar was born in Rome on July 12 or 13, 100 BC. While
he hailed from Roman aristocrats, his family was far from
rich. When Caesar was 16 his father, Gaius Caesar, died.
He remained close to his mother, Aurelia.
The Rome of Caesar's youth was unstable. An element of

disorder ruled the Republic, which had discredited its
nobility and seemed unable to handle its considerable
size and influence.
At around the time of his father's death, Caesar made a

concerted effort to side with the country's nobility. His
marriage to Cornelia, the daughter of a noble, had drawn
the ire of Rome's dictator, Sulla, who ordered the young
Roman to divorce his wife or risk losing his property.
Caesar refused and found escape in the military, serving
first in the province of Asia and then in Cilicia.
Following the death of Sulla, Caesar returned to Rome to

begin his career in politics as a prosecuting advocate. He
relocated temporarily to Rhodes to study philosophy, but
during his travels there he was kidnapped by pirates. In a
daring display of his negotiation and counter-insurgency
tactics, he convinced his captors to raise his ransom. He
then organized a naval force to attack them. The pirates
were captured and executed.
His stature was enhanced further in 74 BC when he put

together a private army and combated Mithradates VI
Eupator, king of Pontus, who had declared war on Rome.
When Caesar returned to Rome he began to work with

Pompey, a former lieutenant under Sully, who'd switched
sides following the dictator's death. Not long after, in 68
or 69 BC, Caesar was elected quaestor (a base political
office) and then went to serve in several other key
government positions under Pompey.
His personal life meanwhile offered up tragedy when his
wife, Cornelia, passed away in 69 BC. Two years later he
remarried, taking Pompeia, a distant relative of Pompey,
as his wife. Their marriage lasted just a few years, and in
62 BC the couple divorced.
Caesar's political ascendency, however, continued. In 61-

60 BC he served as governor of the Roman province of
Spain. He also continued his close alliance with Pompey,
which enabled him to get elected as consul, a powerful
government position, in 59 BC.
Early Rule
As Caesar was cultivating his political partnership with
Pompey, the astute leader was also aligning himself with
Marcus Licinius Crassus, a Roman general and politician
who'd served valiantly during Sulla's rule.
Crassus proved to be instrumental in Caesar's rise to

power. A leader himself, and cited as the wealthiest man
in Roman history, Crassus offered financial and political
support to Caesar.
Over the years Pompey and Crassus had come to be

intense rivals. But once again Caesar displayed his
abilities as a negotiator, earning the trust of both men
and convincing them they'd be better suited as allies
instead of enemies.
This partnership among the three men came to be

known as the First Triumvirate. For Caesar, this political
alliance and the power it gave him was the perfect
springboard to greater domination.
An early controversial move came when he tried to pay

off Pompey's soldiers by granting them public lands.
While initially unpopular, Caesar hired a collection of
Pompey's soldiers to stage a riot. In the midst of all the
chaos, he got his way.
Not long after, Caesar secured the governorship of Gaul

(now France and Belgium), allowing him to build a bigger
military and begin the kind of campaigns that would
cement his status as one of Rome's all-time great
leaders. Between 58 and 50 BC, Caesar conquered the
rest of Gaul, up to the river Rhine. As he expanded his
reach, he also showed his ruthlessness with his enemies.
In one instance he waited until his opponents' water
supply had gone dry, and then ordered the hands of all
the remaining survivors be cut off.
Even while he conquered Gaul, Caesar was mindful of the
political scene back home, and he hired key political
agents to act on his behalf in Rome.
But Pompey, who grew envious of his political partner's

power and prestige, did not meet Caesar's growing
stature with enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Crassus still had
never completely overcome his disdain for Pompey. The
three leaders patched things up temporarily in 56 BC at a
conference in Luca that cemented Caesar's existing
territorial rule for another five years, and granted
Crassus a five-year term in Syria and Pompey a five-year
term in Spain.
Three years later, however, Crassus was killed in a battle

in Syria. Around this time Pompey revisited his old
concerns about Caesar.
The Dictator
Through a series of events, Caesar eventually went to
war against Pompey, leading troops across the river
Rubicon on January 10-11, 49 BC. With Pompey further
aligning himself with nobility, and the nobility
increasingly seeing Caesar as a national threat, civil war
proved to be inevitable.
But Pompey and his troops were no a match for Caesar
and his military campaign. By the end of 48 BC, Caesar
had pushed his enemies out of Italy and pursued Pompey
into Egypt, where he was eventually killed. There, Caesar
aligned himself with Cleopatra, with whom he had a son,
Caesarion.
Upon his return to Rome, Caesar was made dictator for

life and hailed as the Father of his Country. For Caesar
and his countrymen, his rule proved instrumental in
reforming Rome.
He would serve just a year's term before his

assassination, but in that short period Caesar greatly
transformed the empire. He relieved debt and reformed
the Senate by increasing its size and opening it up so that
it better represented Romans as a whole. He reformed
the Roman calendar and reorganized how local
government was constructed. In addition he resurrected
two city-states, Carthage and Corinth, which had been
destroyed by his predecessors, and he granted
citizenship to a number of foreigners. He also proved to
be a benevolent victor by inviting some of his defeated
rivals to join him in the government.
But Caesar was also careful to solidify his power and rule.
He stuffed the Senate with allies, and required the same
body to grant him honors and titles. He was allowed to
speak first at assembly meetings, and Roman coins bore
his face.
Assassination
Caesar's reforms greatly enhanced his standing with
Rome's lower- and middle-class populations. But his
popularity with the Senate was another matter. Envy and
concern over Caesar's increasing power led to angst
among a number of politicians who saw in him an
aspiring king. History had shown that Romans had no
desire for monarchical rule. Legend had it that by the
time Caesar came to power it had been five centuries
since they'd last allowed a king to rule them.
Caesar's wish to include his former Roman enemies in

the government helped spell his downfall. Gaius Cassius
Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus were both former
enemies who'd joined the Senate. Together, the two of
them led the assassination of Caesar on the Ides of
March (the 15th), 44 BC.
It's not altogether clear whether Caesar knew ahead of

time of the plot to kill him. What was clear, though, was
that the conspirators, who dubbed themselves "the
liberators," needed to act fast. By all accounts Caesar had
plans to leave Rome on March 18 for a military campaign
in what is now modern-day Iraq. There he hoped to
avenge the losses suffered by Crassus.
Brutus' involvement in the killing packed the most

complicated backstory. He had originally sided with
Pompey during Rome's earlier civil war, but then had
been encouraged to join the government after Caesar's
victory. His mother, Servilia, was also one of Caesar's
lovers.
Following Caesar's death, a power struggle ensued in

Rome, leading to the end of the Roman Republic. A mob
of lower- and middle-class Romans gathered at Caesar's
funeral, with the angry crowd attacking the homes of
Cassius and Brutus.
Caesar quickly became a martyr in the new Roman

Empire, and just two years after his death he became the
first Roman figure to be deified. The Senate also gave
him the title "The Divine Julius."
Playing on the late ruler's popularity, Caesar's great-

grandnephew, Gaius Octavian, assembled an army to
fight back the military troops defending Cassius and
Brutus. His victory over Caesar's assassins allowed
Octavian, who would assume the name Augustus, to take
power in 27 BC and become the first Roman emperor.

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Julius Caesar Biography.

While it has long been disputed, it's estimated that Julius

The Rome of Caesar's youth was unstable. An element of

At around the time of his father's death, Caesar made a

Following the death of Sulla, Caesar returned to Rome to

His stature was enhanced further in 74 BC when he put

When Caesar returned to Rome he began to work with

Caesar's political ascendency, however, continued. In 61-

Crassus proved to be instrumental in Caesar's rise to

Over the years Pompey and Crassus had come to be

This partnership among the three men came to be

An early controversial move came when he tried to pay

Not long after, Caesar secured the governorship of Gaul

But Pompey, who grew envious of his political partner's

Three years later, however, Crassus was killed in a battle

Upon his return to Rome, Caesar was made dictator for

He would serve just a year's term before his

Caesar's wish to include his former Roman enemies in

It's not altogether clear whether Caesar knew ahead of

Brutus' involvement in the killing packed the most

Following Caesar's death, a power struggle ensued in

Caesar quickly became a martyr in the new Roman

Playing on the late ruler's popularity, Caesar's great-

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