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= Julius_Caesar_ =
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Introduction
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Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC - 15 March 44 BC) was a
Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar
led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political
rival Pompey in a civil war. He subsequently became dictator from 49
BC until his assassination in 44 BC. Caesar played a critical role in
the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise
of the Roman Empire.
In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey formed the First Triumvirate, an
informal political alliance that dominated Roman politics for several
years. Their attempts to amass political power were opposed by many in
the Senate, among them Cato the Younger with the private support of
Cicero. Caesar rose to become one of the most powerful politicians in
the Roman Republic through a string of military victories in the
Gallic Wars, completed by 51 BC, which greatly extended Roman
territory. During this time, he both invaded Britain and built a
bridge across the river Rhine. These achievements and the support of
his veteran army threatened to eclipse the standing of Pompey. The
alliance between Caesar and Pompey slowly broke down and, by 50 BC,
Pompey had realigned himself with the Senate. With his command
expiring and the Gallic Wars largely concluded, the Senate ordered
Caesar to step down from his military command and return to Rome. In
early January 49 BC, Caesar openly defied the Senate by crossing the
Rubicon and marching towards Rome at the head of an army. This began
Caesar's civil war, which he won, leaving him in a position of
near-unchallenged power and influence in 45 BC.
After assuming control of government and pardoning many of his
enemies, Caesar set upon vigorous reform and building programme. He
created the Julian calendar to replace the republican lunisolar
calendar, reduced the size of the grain dole, settled his veterans in
new overseas colonies, greatly increased the size of the Senate, and
extended citizenship to communities in Spain and what is now northern
Italy. In early 44 BC, he was proclaimed "dictator for life" ().
Fearful of his power, domination of the state, and the possibility
that he might make himself king, a group of senators led by Brutus and
Cassius assassinated Caesar on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC. A
new series of civil wars broke out and the constitutional government
of the Republic was never fully restored. Caesar's great-nephew and
adoptive heir Octavian, later known as Augustus, rose to sole power
after defeating his opponents thirteen years later. Octavian then set
about solidifying his power, transforming the Republic into the Roman
Empire.
Caesar was an accomplished author and historian; much of his life is
known from his own accounts of his military campaigns. Other
contemporary sources include the letters and speeches of Cicero and
the historical writings of Sallust. Later biographies of Caesar by
Suetonius and Plutarch are also important sources. Caesar is
considered by many historians to be one of the greatest military
commanders in history. His cognomen was subsequently adopted as a
synonym for "emperor"; the title "Caesar" was used throughout the
Roman Empire, and gave rise to modern descendants such as Kaiser and
Tsar. He has frequently appeared in literary and artistic works.
==Early life and career==
Gaius Julius Caesar was born into a patrician family, the , on 12 or
13 July 100 BC. The family claimed to have immigrated to Rome from
Alba Longa during the seventh century BC after the third king of Rome,
Tullus Hostilius, took and destroyed their city. The family also
claimed descent from Julus, the son of Aeneas and founder of Alba
Longa. Given that Aeneas was a son of Venus, this made the clan
divine. This genealogy had not yet taken its final form by the first
century, but the clan's claimed descent from Venus was well
established in public consciousness. There is no evidence that Caesar
himself was born by Caesarian section; such operations entailed the
death of the mother, but Caesar's mother lived for decades after his
birth and no ancient sources record any difficulty with the birth.
Despite their ancient pedigree, the Julii Caesares were not especially
politically influential during the middle republic. The first person
known to have had the cognomen 'Caesar' was a praetor in 208 BC during
the Second Punic War. The family's first consul was in 157 BC, though
their political fortunes had recovered in the early first century,
producing two consuls in 91 and 90 BC. Caesar's homonymous father was
moderately successful politically. He married Aurelia, a member of the
politically influential Aurelii Cottae, producing - along with Caesar
- two daughters. Buoyed by his own marriage and the marriage of his
sister to the extremely influential Gaius Marius, he also served on
the Saturninian land commission in 103 BC and was elected praetor some
time between 92 and 85 BC; he served as proconsular governor of Asia
for two years, likely 91-90 BC.
Life under Sulla and military service
=======================================
Caesar's father did not seek a consulship during the domination of
Lucius Cornelius Cinna and instead chose retirement. During Cinna's
dominance, Caesar was named as 'flamen Dialis' (a priest of Jupiter)
which led to his marriage to Cinna's daughter, Cornelia. The religious
taboos of the priesthood would have forced Caesar to forgo a political
career; the appointment - one of the highest non-political honours -
indicates that there were few expectations of a major career for
Caesar. In early 84 BC, Caesar's father died suddenly. After Sulla's
victory in the civil war (82 BC), Cinna's 'acta' were annulled. Sulla
consequently ordered Caesar to abdicate and divorce Cinna's daughter.
Caesar refused, implicitly questioning the legitimacy of Sulla's
annulment. Sulla may have put Caesar on the proscription lists, though
scholars are mixed. Caesar then went into hiding before his relatives
and contacts among the Vestal Virgins were able to intercede on his
behalf. They then reached a compromise where Caesar would resign his
priesthood but keep his wife and chattels; Sulla's alleged remark he
saw "in [Caesar] many Mariuses" is apocryphal.
Caesar then left Italy to serve in the staff of the governor of Asia,
Marcus Minucius Thermus. While there, he travelled to Bithynia to
collect naval reinforcements and stayed some time as a guest of the
king, Nicomedes IV, though later invective connected Caesar to a
homosexual relation with the monarch. He then served at the Siege of
Mytilene where he won the civic crown for saving the life of a fellow
citizen in battle. The privileges of the crown - the Senate was
supposed to stand on a holder's entrance and holders were permitted to
wear the crown at public occasions - whetted Caesar's appetite for
honours. After the capture of Mytilene, Caesar transferred to the
staff of Publius Servilius Vatia in Cilicia before learning of Sulla's
death in 78 BC and returning home immediately. He was alleged to have
wanted to join in on the consul Lepidus' revolt that year but this is
likely literary embellishment of Caesar's desire for tyranny from a
young age.
Afterward, Caesar attacked some of the Sullan aristocracy in the
courts but was unsuccessful in his attempted prosecution of Gnaeus
Cornelius Dolabella in 77 BC, who had recently returned from a
proconsulship in Macedonia. Going after a less well-connected senator,
he was successful the next year in prosecuting Gaius Antonius Hybrida
(later consul in 63 BC) for profiteering from the proscriptions but
was forestalled when a tribune interceded on Antonius' behalf. After
these oratorical attempts, Caesar left Rome for Rhodes seeking the
tutelage of the rhetorician Apollonius Molon. While travelling, he was
intercepted and ransomed by pirates in a story that was later much
embellished. According to Plutarch and Suetonius, he was freed after
paying a ransom of fifty talents and responded by returning with a
fleet to capture and execute the pirates. The recorded sum for the
ransom is literary embellishment and it is more likely that the
pirates were sold into slavery per Velleius Paterculus. His studies
were interrupted by the outbreak of the Third Mithridatic War over the
winter of 75 and 74 BC; Caesar is alleged to have gone around
collecting troops in the province at the locals' expense and leading
them successfully against Mithridates' forces.
Entrance to politics
======================
While absent from Rome, in 73 BC, Caesar was co-opted into the
pontifices in place of his deceased relative Gaius Aurelius Cotta. The
promotion marked him as a well-accepted member of the aristocracy with
great future prospects in his political career. Caesar decided to
return shortly thereafter and on his return was elected one of the
military tribunes for 71 BC. There is no evidence that Caesar served
in war - even though the war on Spartacus was on-going - during his
term; he did, however, agitate for the removal of Sulla's disabilities
on the plebeian tribunate and for those who supported Lepidus' revolt
to be pardoned. These advocacies were common and uncontroversial. The
next year, 70 BC, Pompey and Crassus were consuls and brought
legislation restoring the plebeian tribunate's rights; one of the
tribunes, with Caesar supporting, then brought legislation pardoning
the Lepidan exiles.
For his quaestorship in 69 BC, Caesar was allotted to serve under
Gaius Antistius Vetus in Hispania Ulterior. His election also gave him
a lifetime seat in the Senate. However, before he left, his aunt
Julia, the widow of Marius died and, soon afterwards, his wife
Cornelia died shortly after bearing his only legitimate child, Julia.
He gave eulogies for both at public funerals. During Julia's funeral,
Caesar displayed the images of his aunt's husband Marius, whose memory
had been suppressed after Sulla's victory in the civil war. Some of
the Sullan nobles - including Quintus Lutatius Catulus - who had
suffered under the Marian regime objected, but by this point
depictions of husbands in aristocratic women's funerary processions
was common. Contra Plutarch, Caesar's action here was likely in
keeping with a political trend for reconciliation and normalisation
rather than a display of renewed factionalism. Caesar quickly
remarried, taking the hand of Sulla's granddaughter Pompeia.
Aedileship and election as ''pontifex maximus''
=================================================
For much of this period, Caesar was one of Pompey's supporters. Caesar
joined with Pompey in the late 70s to support restoration of
tribunician rights; his support for the law recalling the Lepidan
exiles may have been related to the same tribune's bill to grant lands
to Pompey's veterans. Caesar also supported the 'lex Gabinia' in 67 BC
granting Pompey an extraordinary command against piracy in the
Mediterranean and also supported the 'lex Manilia' in 66 BC to
reassign the Third Mithridatic War from its then-commander Lucullus to
Pompey.
Four years after his aunt Julia's funeral, in 65 BC, Caesar served as
curule aedile and staged lavish games that won him further attention
and popular support. He also restored the trophies won by Marius, and
taken down by Sulla, over Jugurtha and the Cimbri. According to
Plutarch's narrative, the trophies were restored overnight to the
applause and tears of joy of the onlookers; however, any sudden and
secret restoration of this sort would not have been possible -
architects, restorers, and other workmen would have to have been hired
and paid for - nor would it have been likely that the work could have
been done in a single night. It is more likely that Caesar was merely
restoring his family's public monuments - consistent with standard
aristocratic practice and the virtue of - and, over objections from
Catulus, these actions were broadly supported by the Senate.
In 63 BC, Caesar stood for the praetorship and also for the post of ,
who was the head of the College of Pontiffs and the highest ranking
state religious official. In the pontifical election before the
tribes, Caesar faced two influential senators: Quintus Lutatius
Catulus and Publius Servilius Isauricus. Caesar came out victorious.
Many scholars have expressed astonishment that Caesar's candidacy was
taken seriously, but this was not without historical precedent.
Ancient sources allege that Caesar paid huge bribes or was shamelessly
ingratiating; that no charge was ever laid alleging this implies that
bribery alone is insufficient to explain his victory. If bribes or
other monies were needed, they may have been underwritten by Pompey,
whom Caesar at this time supported and who opposed Catulus' candidacy.
Many sources also assert that Caesar supported the land reform
proposals brought that year by plebeian tribune Publius Servilius
Rullus, however, there are no ancient sources so attesting. Caesar
also engaged in a collateral manner in the trial of Gaius Rabirius by
one of the plebeian tribunes - Titus Labienus - for the murder of
Saturninus in accordance with a senatus consultum ultimum some forty
years earlier. The most famous event of the year was the Catilinarian
conspiracy. While some of Caesar's enemies, including Catulus, alleged
that he participated in the conspiracy, the chance that he was a
participant is extremely small.
Praetorship
=============
Caesar won his election to the praetorship in 63 BC easily and, as one
of the praetor-elects, spoke out that December in the Senate against
executing certain citizens who had been arrested in the city
conspiring with Gauls in furtherance of the conspiracy. Caesar's
proposal at the time is not entirely clear. The earlier sources assert
that he advocated life imprisonment without trial; the later sources
assert he instead wanted the conspirators imprisoned pending trial.
Most accounts agree that Caesar supported confiscation of the
conspirators' property. Caesar likely advocated the former, which was
a compromise position that would place the Senate within the bounds of
the , and was initially successful in swaying the body; a later
intervention by Cato, however, swayed the Senate at the end for
execution.
During his year as praetor, Caesar first attempted to deprive his
enemy Catulus of the honour of completing the rebuilt Temple of
Jupiter Optimus Maximus, accusing him of embezzling funds, and
threatening to bring legislation to reassign it to Pompey. This
proposal was quickly dropped amid near-universal opposition. He then
supported the attempt by plebeian tribune Metellus Nepos to transfer
the command against Catiline from the consul of 63, Gaius Antonius
Hybrida, to Pompey. After a violent meeting of the comitia tributa in
the forum, where Metellus came into fisticuffs with his tribunician
colleagues Cato and Quintus Minucius Thermus, the Senate passed a
decree against Metellus - Suetonius claims that both Nepos and Caesar
were deposed from their magistracies; this would have been a
constitutional impossibility - which led Caesar to distance himself
from the proposals: hopes for a provincial command and need to repair
relations with the aristocracy took priority. He also was engaged in
the Bona Dea affair, where Publius Clodius Pulcher sneaked into
Caesar's house sacrilegiously during a female religious observance;
Caesar avoided any part of the affair by divorcing his wife
immediately - claiming that his wife needed to be "above suspicion" -
but there is no indication that Caesar supported Clodius in any way.
After his praetorship, Caesar was appointed to govern Hispania
Ulterior 'pro consule'. Deeply indebted from his campaigns for the
praetorship and for the pontificate, Caesar required military victory
beyond the normal provincial extortion to pay them off. He campaigned
against the Callaeci and Lusitani and seized the Callaeci capital in
northwestern Spain, bringing Roman troops to the Atlantic and seizing
enough plunder to pay his debts. Claiming to have completed the
peninsula's conquest, he made for home after having been hailed . When
he arrived home in the summer of 60 BC, he was then forced to choose
between a triumph and election to the consulship: either he could
remain outside the (Rome's sacred boundary) awaiting a triumph or
cross the boundary, giving up his command and triumph, to make a
declaration of consular candidacy. Attempts to waive the requirement
for the declaration to be made in person were filibustered in the
Senate by Caesar's enemy Cato, even though the Senate seemed to
support the exception. Faced with the choice between a triumph and the
consulship, Caesar chose the consulship.
First consulship and the Gallic Wars
======================================================================
Caesar stood for the consulship of 59 BC along with two other
candidates. His political position at the time was strong: he had
supporters among the families which had supported Marius or Cinna; his
connection with the Sullan aristocracy was good; his support of Pompey
had won him support in turn. His support for reconciliation in
continuing aftershocks of the civil war was popular in all parts of
society. With the support of Crassus, who supported Caesar's joint
ticket with one Lucius Lucceius, Caesar won. Lucceius, however, did
not and the voters returned Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus instead, one of
Caesar's long-standing personal and political enemies.
First consulship
==================
After the elections, Caesar reconciled Pompey and Crassus, two
political foes, in a three-way alliance misleadingly termed the "First
Triumvirate" in modern times. Caesar was still at work in December of
60 BC attempting to find allies for his consulship and the alliance
was finalised only some time around its start. Pompey and Crassus
joined in pursuit of two respective goals: the ratification of
Pompey's eastern settlement and the bailing out of tax farmers in
Asia, many of whom were Crassus' clients. All three sought the
extended patronage of land grants, with Pompey especially seeking the
promised land grants for his veterans.
Caesar's first act was to publish the minutes of the Senate and the
assemblies, signalling the Senate's accountability to the public. He
then brought in the Senate a bill - crafted to avoid objections to
previous land reform proposals and any indications of radicalism - to
purchase property from willing sellers to distribute to Pompey's
veterans and the urban poor. It would be administered by a board of
twenty (with Caesar excluded), and financed by Pompey's plunder and
territorial gains. Referring it to the Senate in hope that it would
take up the matter to show its beneficence for the people, there was
little opposition and the obstructionism that occurred was largely
unprincipled, firmly opposing it not on grounds of public interest but
rather opposition to Caesar's political advancement. Unable to
overcome Cato's filibustering, he moved the bill before the people
and, at a public meeting, Caesar's co-consul Bibulus threatened a
permanent veto for the entire year. This clearly violated the people's
well-established legislative sovereignty and triggered a riot in which
Bibulus' fasces were broken, symbolising popular rejection of his
magistracy. The bill was then voted through. Bibulus attempted to
induce the Senate to nullify it on grounds it was passed by violence
and contrary to the auspices but the Senate refused.
Caesar also brought and passed a one-third write-down of tax farmers'
arrears for Crassus and ratification of Pompey's eastern settlements.
Both bills were passed with little or no debate in the Senate. Caesar
then moved to extend his agrarian bill to Campania some time in May;
this may be when Bibulus withdrew to his house. Pompey, shortly
thereafter, also wed Caesar's daughter Julia to seal their alliance.
An ally of Caesar's, plebeian tribune Publius Vatinius moved the 'lex
Vatinia' assigning the provinces of Illyricum and Cisalpine Gaul to
Caesar for five years. Suetonius' claim that the Senate had assigned
to Caesar the ("woods and tracks") is likely an exaggeration: fear of
Gallic invasion had grown in 60 BC and it is more likely that the
consuls had been assigned to Italy, a defensive posture that Caesarian
partisans dismissed as "mere 'forest tracks'". The Senate was also
persuaded to assign to Caesar Transalpine Gaul as well, subject to
annual renewal, most likely to control his ability to make war on the
far side of the Alps.
Some time in the year, perhaps after the passing of the bill
distributing the Campanian land and after these political defeats,
Bibulus withdrew to his house. There, he issued edicts in absentia,
purporting unprecedentedly to cancel all days on which Caesar or his
allies could hold votes for religious reasons. Cato too attempted
symbolic gestures against Caesar, which allowed him and his allies to
"feign victimisation"; these tactics were successful in building
revulsion to Caesar and his allies through the year. This opposition
caused serious political difficulties to Caesar and his allies,
belying the common depiction of triumviral political supremacy. Later
in the year, however, Caesar - with the support of his opponents -
brought and passed the to crack down on provincial corruption. When
his consulship ended, Caesar's legislation was challenged by two of
the new praetors but discussion in the Senate stalled and was
regardless dropped. He stayed near the city until some time around
mid-March.
Campaigns in Gaul
===================
During the Gallic Wars, Caesar wrote his 'Commentaries' thereon, which
were acknowledged even in his time as a Latin literary masterwork.
Meant to document Caesar's campaigns in his own words and maintain
support in Rome for his military operations and career, he produced
some ten volumes covering operations in Gaul from 58 to 52 BC. Each
was likely produced in the year following the events described and was
likely aimed at the general, or at least literate, population in Rome;
the account is naturally partial to Caesar - his defeats are excused
and victories highlighted - but it is almost the sole source for
events in Gaul in this period.
Gaul in 58 BC was in the midst of some instability. Tribes had raided
into Transalpine Gaul and there was an on-going struggle between two
tribes in central Gaul which collaterally involved Roman alliances and
politics. The divisions within the Gauls - they were no unified bloc -
would be exploited in the coming years. The first engagement was in
April 58 BC when Caesar prevented the migrating Helvetii from moving
through Roman territory, allegedly because he feared they would unseat
a Roman ally. Building a wall, he stopped their movement near Geneva
and - after raising two legions - defeated them at the Battle of
Bibracte before forcing them to return to their original homes. He was
drawn further north responding to requests from Gallic tribes,
including the Aedui, for aid against Ariovistus - king of the Suebi
and a declared friend of Rome by the Senate during Caesar's own
consulship - and he defeated them at the Battle of Vosges. Wintering
in northeastern Gaul near the Belgae in the winter of 58-57, Caesar's
forward military position triggered an uprising to remove his troops;
able to eke out a victory at the Battle of the Sabis, Caesar spent
much of 56 BC suppressing the Belgae and dispersing his troops to
campaign across much of Gaul, including against the Veneti in what is
now Brittany. At this point, almost all of Gaul - except its central
regions - fell under Roman subjugation.
Seeking to buttress his military reputation, he engaged Germans
attempting to cross the Rhine, which marked it as a Roman frontier; he
here built a bridge across the Rhine in a feat of engineering meant to
show Rome's ability to project power. Ostensibly seeking to interdict
British aid to his Gallic enemies, he led expeditions into southern
Britain in 55 and 54 BC, perhaps seeking further conquests or
otherwise wanting to impress readers in Rome; Britain at the time was
to the Romans an "island of mystery" and "a land of wonder". He,
however, withdrew from the island in the face of winter uprisings in
Gaul led by the Eburones and Belgae starting in late 54 BC which
ambushed and virtually annihilated a legion and five cohorts. Caesar
was, however, able to lure the rebels into unfavourable terrain and
routed them in battle. The next year, a greater challenge emerged with
the uprising of most of central Gaul, led by Vercingetorix of the
Averni. Caesar was initially defeated at Gergovia before besieging
Vercingetorix at Alesia. After becoming himself besieged, Caesar won a
major victory which forced Vercingetorix's surrender; Caesar then
spent much of his time into 51 BC suppressing any remaining
resistance.
Politics, Gaul, and Rome
==========================
In the initial years from the end of Caesar's consulship in 59 BC, the
three so-called triumvirs sought to maintain the goodwill of the
extremely popular Publius Clodius Pulcher, who was plebeian tribune in
58 BC and in that year successfully sent Cicero into exile. When
Clodius took an anti-Pompeian stance later that year, he unsettled
Pompey's eastern arrangements, started attacking the validity of
Caesar's consular legislation, and by August 58 forced Pompey into
seclusion. Caesar and Pompey responded by successfully backing the
election of magistrates to recall Cicero from exile on the condition
that Cicero would refrain from criticism or obstruction of the allies.
Politics in Rome fell into violent street clashes between Clodius and
two tribunes who were friends of Cicero. With Cicero now supporting
Caesar and Pompey, Caesar sent news of Gaul to Rome and claimed total
victory and pacification. The Senate at Cicero's motion voted him an
unprecedented fifteen days of thanksgiving. Such reports were
necessary for Caesar, especially in light of senatorial opponents, to
prevent the Senate from reassigning his command in Transalpine Gaul,
even if his position in Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum was guaranteed by
the 'lex Vatinia' until 54 BC. His success was evidently recognised
when the Senate voted state funds for some of Caesar's legions, which
until this time Caesar had paid for personally.
The three allies' relations broke down in 57 BC: one of Pompey's
allies challenged Caesar's land reform bill and the allies had a poor
showing in the elections that year. With a real threat to Caesar's
command and brewing in 56 BC under the aegis of the unfriendly
consuls, Caesar needed his allies' political support. Pompey and
Crassus too wanted military commands. Their combined interests led to
a renewal of the alliance; drawing in the support of Appius Claudius
Pulcher and his younger brother Clodius for the consulship of 54 BC,
they planned second consulships with following governorships in 55 BC
for both Pompey and Crassus. Caesar, for his part, would receive a
five-year extension of command.
Cicero was induced to oppose reassignment of Caesar's provinces and to
defend a number of the allies' clients; his gloomy predictions of a
triumviral set of consuls-designate for years on end proved an
exaggeration when, only by desperate tactics, bribery, intimidation
and violence were Pompey and Crassus elected consuls for 55 BC. During
their consulship, Pompey and Crassus passed - with some tribunician
support - the extending Caesar's command and the 'lex Trebonia'
giving them respective commands in Spain and Syria, though Pompey
never left for the province and remained politically active at Rome.
The opposition again unified against their heavy-handed political
tactics - though not against Caesar's activities in Gaul - and
defeated the allies in the elections of that year.
The ambush and destruction in Gaul of a legion and five cohorts in the
winter of 55-54 BC produced substantial concern in Rome about Caesar's
command and competence, evidenced by the highly defensive narrative in
Caesar's 'Commentaries'. The death of Caesar's daughter and Pompey's
wife Julia in childbirth did not create a rift between Caesar and
Pompey. At the start of 53 BC, Caesar sought and received
reinforcements by recruitment and a private deal with Pompey before
two years of largely unsuccessful campaigning against Gallic
insurgents. In the same year, Crassus's campaign ended in disaster at
the Battle of Carrhae, culminating in his death at the hands of the
Parthians. When in 52 BC Pompey started the year with a sole
consulship to restore order to the city, Caesar was in Gaul
suppressing insurgencies; after news of his victory at Alesia, with
the support of Pompey he received twenty days of thanksgiving and,
pursuant to the "Law of the Ten Tribunes", the right to stand for the
consulship in absentia.
Civil war
======================================================================
From the period 52 to 49 BC, trust between Caesar and Pompey
disintegrated. In 51 BC, the consul Marcellus proposed recalling
Caesar, arguing that his 'provincia' (here meaning "task") in Gaul -
due to his victory against Vercingetorix in 52 - was complete; it
evidently was incomplete as Caesar was that year fighting the
Bellovaci and regardless the proposal was vetoed. That year, it seemed
that the conservatives around Cato in the Senate would seek to enlist
Pompey to force Caesar to return from Gaul without honours or a second
consulship. Cato, Bibulus, and their allies, however, were successful
in winning Pompey over to take a hard line against Caesar's continued
command.
As 50 BC progressed, fears of civil war grew; both Caesar and his
opponents started building up troops in southern Gaul and northern
Italy, respectively. In the autumn, Cicero and others sought
disarmament by both Caesar and Pompey, and on 1 December 50 BC this
was formally proposed in the Senate. It received overwhelming support
- 370 to 22 - but was not passed when one of the consuls dissolved the
meeting. That year, when a rumour came to Rome that Caesar was
marching into Italy, both consuls instructed Pompey to defend Italy, a
charge he accepted as a last resort. At the start of 49 BC, Caesar's
renewed offer that he and Pompey disarm was read to the Senate and was
rejected by the hardliners. A later compromise given privately to
Pompey was also rejected at their insistence. On 7 January, his
supportive tribunes were driven from Rome; the Senate then declared
Caesar an enemy and it issued its 'senatus consultum ultimum'.
There is scholarly disagreement as to the specific reasons why Caesar
marched on Rome. A very popular theory is that Caesar was forced to
choose - when denied the immunity of his proconsular tenure - between
prosecution, conviction, and exile or civil war in defence of his
position. Whether Caesar actually would have been prosecuted and
convicted is debated. Some scholars believe the possibility of
successful prosecution was extremely unlikely., explaining:
* Any prosecution was extremely unlikely to succeed.
* No 'contemporary' source expresses dissatisfaction with an inability
to prosecute.
* No timely charges could have been brought. The possibility of
conviction for irregularities during his consulship in 59 was a
fantasy when none of Caesar's actions in 59 were overturned. .
* Caesar proposed giving up his command - opening himself up to
prosecution - in January 49 BC as part of peace negotiations,
something he would not have proposed if he were worried about a
sure-fire conviction.
See also , and, contra Morstein-Marx, Caesar's main objectives were
to secure a second consulship - first mooted in 52 as colleague to
Pompey's sole consulship - and a triumph. He feared that his opponents
- then holding both consulships for 50 BC - would reject his candidacy
or refuse to ratify an election he won. This also was the core of his
war justification: that Pompey and his allies were planning, by force
if necessary (indicated in the expulsion of the tribunes), to suppress
the liberty of the Roman people to elect Caesar and honour his
accomplishments.
Italy, Spain, and Greece
==========================
Around 10 or 11 January 49 BC, in response to the Senate's "final
decree", Caesar crossed the Rubicon - the river defining the northern
boundary of Italy - with a single legion, the Legio XIII Gemina, and
ignited civil war. Upon crossing the Rubicon, Caesar, according to
Plutarch and Suetonius, is supposed to have quoted the Athenian
playwright Menander, in Greek, "let the die be cast". Pompey and many
senators fled south, believing that Caesar was marching quickly for
Rome. Caesar, after capturing communication routes to Rome, paused and
opened negotiations, but they fell apart amid mutual distrust. Caesar
responded by advancing south, seeking to capture Pompey to force a
conference.
Pompey withdrew to Brundisium and was able to escape to Greece,
abandoning Italy in face of Caesar's superior forces and evading
Caesar's pursuit. Caesar stayed near Rome for about two weeks - during
his stay his forceful seizure of the treasury over tribunician veto
put the lie to his pro-tribunician war justifications - and left
Lepidus in charge of Italy while he attacked Pompey's Spanish
provinces. He defeated two of Pompey's legates at the Battle of Ilerda
before forcing surrender of the third; his legates moved into Sicily
and into Africa, though the African expedition failed. Returning to
Rome in the autumn, Caesar had Lepidus, as praetor, bring a law
appointing Caesar dictator to conduct the elections; he, along with
Publius Servilius Isauricus, won the following elections and would
serve as consuls for 48 BC. Resigning the dictatorship after eleven
days, Caesar then left Italy for Greece to stop Pompey's preparations,
arriving in force in early 48 BC.
Caesar besieged Pompey at Dyrrhachium, but Pompey was able to break
out and force Caesar's forces to flee. Following Pompey southeast into
Greece and to save one of his legates, he engaged and decisively
defeated Pompey at Pharsalus on 9 August 48 BC. Pompey then fled for
Egypt; Cato fled for Africa; others, like Cicero and Marcus Junius
Brutus, begged for Caesar's pardon.
Alexandrine war and Asia Minor
================================
Pompey was killed when he arrived in Alexandria, the capital of Egypt.
Caesar arrived three days later on 2 October 48 BC. Prevented from
leaving the city by Etesian winds, Caesar decided to arbitrate an
Egyptian civil war between the child pharaoh Ptolemy XIII Theos
Philopator and Cleopatra, his sister, wife, and co-regent queen. In
late October 48 BC, Caesar was appointed in absentia to a year-long
dictatorship, after news of his victory at Pharsalus arrived to Rome.
While in Alexandria, he started an affair with Cleopatra and withstood
a siege by Ptolemy and his other sister Arsinoe until March 47 BC.
Reinforced by eastern client allies under Mithridates of Pergamum, he
then defeated Ptolemy at the Battle of the Nile and installed
Cleopatra as ruler. Caesar and Cleopatra celebrated the victory with a
triumphal procession on the Nile. He stayed in Egypt with Cleopatra
until June or July that year, though the relevant commentaries
attributed to him give no such impression. Some time in late June,
Cleopatra gave birth to a child by Caesar, called Caesarion.
When Caesar landed at Antioch, he learnt that during his time in
Egypt, the king of what is now Crimea, Pharnaces, had attempted to
seize what had been his father's kingdom, Pontus, across the Black Sea
in northern Anatolia. His invasion had swept aside Caesar's legates
and the local client kings, but Caesar engaged him at Zela and
defeated him immediately, leading Caesar to write ("I came, I saw, I
conquered"), downplaying Pompey's previous Pontic victories. He then
left quickly for Italy.
Italy, Africa, and Spain
==========================
Caesar's absence from Italy put Mark Antony, as , in charge. His rule
was unpopular: Publius Cornelius Dolabella, serving as plebeian
tribune in 47 BC, agitated for debt relief and after that agitation
got out of hand the Senate moved for Antony to restore order. Delayed
by a mutiny in southern Italy, he returned and suppressed the riots by
force, killing many and delivering a similar blow to his popularity.
Cato had marched to Africa and there Metellus Scipio was in charge of
the remaining republicans; they allied with Juba of Numidia; what used
to be Pompey's fleet also raided the central Mediterranean islands.
Caesar's governor in Spain, moreover, was sufficiently unpopular that
the province revolted and switched to the republican side.
Caesar demoted Antony on his return and pacified the mutineers without
violence before overseeing the election of magistrates for 47 BC -
Italy had been ruled by Caesar's authoritarian subordinates with no
ordinary consuls, praetors, etc until his return in September - and
also those for 46 BC. Caesar would serve with Lepidus as consul in 46;
he borrowed money for the war, confiscated and sold the property of
his enemies at fair prices, and then left for Africa on 25 December 47
BC. Caesar's landing in Africa was marked with some difficulties
establishing a beachhead and logistically. He was defeated by Titus
Labienus at Ruspina on 4 January 46 BC and thereafter took a rather
cautious approach. After inducing some desertions from the
republicans, Caesar ended up surrounded at Thapsus. His troops
attacked prematurely on 6 April 46 BC, starting a battle; they then
won it and massacred the republican forces without quarter. Marching
on Utica, where Cato commanded, Caesar arrived to find that Cato had
killed himself rather than receive Caesar's clemency. Many of the
remaining anti-Caesarian leaders, including Metellus Scipio and Juba,
also committed suicide shortly thereafter. Labienus and two of
Pompey's sons, however, had moved to the Spanish provinces in revolt.
Caesar started a process of annexing parts of Numidia and then
returned to Italy via Sardinia in June 46 BC.
Caesar stayed in Italy to celebrate four triumphs in late September,
supposedly over four foreign enemies: Gaul, Egypt, Pharnaces (Asia),
and Juba (Africa). He led Vercingetorix, Cleopatra's younger sister
Arsinoe, and Juba's son before his chariot; Vercingetorix was
executed. According to Appian, in some of the triumphs, Caesar paraded
pictures and models of his victories over fellow Romans in the civil
wars, to popular dismay. The soldiers were each given 24,000 sesterces
(a lifetime's worth of pay); further games and celebrations were put
on for the plebs. Near the end of the year, Caesar heard bad news from
Spain and, with an army, left for the peninsula, leaving Lepidus in
charge as .
At a bloody battle at Munda on 17 March 45 BC, Caesar narrowly found
victory; his enemies were treated as rebels and he had them massacred.
Labienus died on the field. While one of Pompey's sons, Sextus,
escaped, the war was effectively over. Caesar remained in the province
until June before setting out for Rome, arriving in October of the
same year, and celebrated an unseemly triumph over fellow Romans. By
this point he had started preparations for war on the Parthians to
avenge Crassus' death at Carrhae in 53 BC, with wide-ranging
objectives that would take him into Dacia for three or more years. It
was set to start on 18 March 44 BC.
Dictatorships and honours
===========================
Prior to Caesar's assumption of the title in February 44 BC, he had
been appointed dictator some four times since his first dictatorship
in 49 BC. After occupying Rome, he engineered this first appointment,
largely to hold elections; after 11 days he resigned. The other
dictatorships lasted for longer periods, up to a year, and by April 46
BC he was given a new dictatorship annually. The task he was assigned
revived that of Sulla's dictatorship: . These appointments, however,
were not the source of legal power themselves; in the eyes of the
literary sources, they were instead honours and titles which reflected
Caesar's dominant position in the state, secured not by extraordinary
magistracy or legal powers, but by personal status as victor over
other Romans.
Through the period after Pharsalus, the Senate showered Caesar with
honours, including the title () which historically was associated
with the censorial power to revise the Senate rolls. He was also
granted power over war and peace, usurping a power traditionally held
by the comitia centuriata. These powers attached to Caesar personally.
Similarly extraordinary were a number of symbolic honours which saw
Caesar's portrait placed on coins in Rome - the first for a living
Roman - with special rights to wear royal dress, sit atop a golden
chair in the Senate, and have his statues erected in public temples.
The month Quintilis, in which he was born, was renamed (now July).
These were symbols of divine monarchy and, later, objects of
resentment.
The decisions on the normal operation of the state - justice,
legislation, administration, and public works - were concentrated into
Caesar's person without regard for or even notice given to the
traditional institutions of the republic. Caesar's domination over
public affairs and his competitive instinct to preclude all others
alienated the political class and led eventually to the conspiracy
against his life.
=== Legislation ===
Caesar, as far as is attested in evidence, did not intend to
restructure Roman society. Ernst Badian, writing in the 'Oxford
Classical Dictionary', noted that although Caesar did implement a
series of reforms, they did not touch on the core of the republican
system: he "had no plans for basic social and constitutional reform"
and that "the extraordinary honours heaped upon him... merely grafted
him as an ill-fitting head on to the body of the traditional
structure".
The most important of Caesar's reforms was to the calendar, which saw
the abolition of the traditional republican lunisolar calendar and its
replacement with a solar calendar now called the Julian calendar. He
also increased the number of magistrates and senators (from 600 to
900) to better administer the empire and reward his supporters with
offices. Colonies also were founded outside Italy - notably on the
sites of Carthage and Corinth, which had both been destroyed during
Rome's 2nd century BC conquests - to discharge Italy's population into
the provinces and reduce unrest. The royal power of naming patricians
was revived to benefit the families of his men and the permanent
courts' jury pools were also altered to remove the , leaving only the
equestrians and senators.
He also took further administrative actions to stabilise his rule and
that of the state. Caesar reduced the size of the grain dole from
320,000 down to around 150,000 by tightening the qualifications;
special bonuses were offered to families with many children to stall
depopulation. Plans were drawn for the conduct of a census.
Citizenship was extended to a number of communities in Cisalpine Gaul
and to Cádiz. During the civil wars, Caesar had also instituted a
novel debt repayment programme (no debts would be forgiven but they
could be paid in kind), remitted rents up to a certain amount, and
thrown games distributing food. Many of his enemies during the civil
wars were pardoned - Caesar's clemency was exalted in his propaganda
and temple works - with the intent to cultivate gratitude and draw a
contrast between himself and the vengeful dictatorship of Sulla.
The building programmes, started prior to his expedition to Spain,
continued, with the construction of the Forum of Caesar and the Temple
of Venus Genetrix therein. Other public works, including an expansion
of Ostia's port and a canal through the Corinthian Isthmus, were also
planned. Very busy with this work, the heavy-handedness with which he
ignored the Senate, magistrates, and those who came to visit him also
alienated many in Rome.
The , civic associations restored by Clodius in 58 BC, were again
abolished. His actions to reward his supporters saw him allow his
subordinates illegal triumphal processions and resign the consulship
so that allies could take it up for the rest of the year. On the last
day of 45 BC, when one of the succeeding consuls died, Caesar had an
ally elected as replacement for a single day. Corruption on the part
of his partisans was also overlooked to ensure their support;
provincial cities and client kingdoms were extorted for favours to pay
his bills.
Conspiracy and death
======================
This also shows Caesar's laurelled head with the inscription . The
reverse, however, shows the name of the moneyer - one Publius
Sepullius Macer - along with the goddess Venus, with which Caesar
identified, holding Victory in her right hand and a sceptre in the
left.
Attempts in January 44 BC to call Caesar () - a title associated with
arbitrary oppression against citizens - were shut down by two tribunes
before a supportive crowd. Caesar, claiming that the two tribunes
infringed on his honour by doing so, had them deposed from office and
ejected from the Senate. The incident both undermined Caesar's
original arguments for pursuing the civil war (protecting the
tribunes) and angered a public which still revered the tribunes as
protectors of popular freedom. Shortly before 15 February 44 BC, he
assumed the dictatorship for life, putting an end to any hopes that
his powers would be merely temporary. Transforming his dictatorship,
even with a decadal appointment, into one for life clearly showed to
all contemporaries that Caesar had no intention to restore a free
republic and that no free republic could be restored so long as he was
in power.
Just days after his assumption of the life dictatorship, he publicly
rejected a diadem from Antony at celebrations for the Lupercalia.
Interpretations of the episode vary: he may have been rejecting the
diadem publicly only because the crowd was insufficiently supportive;
he could have done it performatively to signal he was no monarch;
alternatively, Antony could have acted on his own initiative. By this
point, however, rumour was rife that Caesar - already wearing the
dress of a monarch - sought a formal crown and the episode did little
to reassure.
The plan to assassinate Caesar had started by the summer of 45 BC. An
attempt to recruit Antony was made around that time, though he
declined and gave Caesar no warning. By February 44 BC, there were
some sixty conspirators. It is clear that by this time, the victorious
Caesarian coalition from the civil war had broken apart. While most of
the conspirators were former Pompeians, they were joined by a
substantial number of Caesarians. Among their leaders were Gaius
Trebonius (consul in 45), Decimus Brutus (consul designate for 42), as
well as Cassius and Brutus (both praetors in 44 BC). Trebonius and
Decimus had joined Caesar during the war while Brutus and Cassius had
joined Pompey; other Caesarians involved included Servius Sulpicius
Galba, Lucius Minucius Basilus, Lucius Tullius Cimber, and Gaius
Servilius Casca. Many of the conspirators would have been candidates
in the consular elections for 43 to 41 BC, likely dismayed by Caesar's
sham elections in early 44 BC that produced advance results for the
years 43-41 BC. Those electoral results came from the grace of the
dictator and not that of the people; for the republican elite this was
no substitute for actual popular support. Nor is it likely that the
subordination of the normal magistrates to Caesar's masters of horse
() was appreciated.
Brutus, who claimed descent from the Lucius Junius Brutus who had
driven out the kings and the Gaius Servilius Ahala who had freed Rome
from incipient tyranny, was the main leader of the conspiracy. By late
autumn 45 BC, graffiti gives a number of examples:
* : "If only you lived now, Brutus", on the Capitoline statue of
Lucius Brutus.
* : "If only you [Lucius Brutus] were alive".
* : "[Lucius Brutus,] your descendants are unworthy of you",
challenging Marcus Brutus to act.
* : "Brutus became the first consul, since he had expelled the kings;
This man [Caesar] at last became king, since he had expelled the
consuls", on a statue of Caesar.
* ; ; ; : graffiti at Marcus Brutus' praetorian seat in the forum
challenging him as asleep, corrupt, or not a true descendant of the
Lucius Brutus who founded the republic. and some public comments at
Rome were condemning Caesar as a tyrant and insinuating the need for a
Brutus to remove the dictator. The ancient sources, excepting Nicolaus
of Damascus, are unanimous that this reflected a genuine turn in
public opinion against Caesar. Popular indignation at Caesar was
likely rooted in his debt policies (too friendly to lenders), use of
lethal force to suppress protests for debt relief, his reduction in
the grain dole, his abolition of the restored by Clodius, his
abolition of the poorest panel of jurors in the permanent courts, and
his abolition of open elections which deprived the people of their
ancient right of decision. A popular turn against Caesar is also
observed with reports that the two deposed tribunes were written-in on
ballots at Caesar's advance consular elections in place of Caesar's
candidates. Whether the Romans thought they had a tradition of
tyrannicide is unclear; Cicero wrote in private as if the duty to kill
tyrants was already given, but he made no public speeches to that
effect and there is little evidence that the public accepted the logic
of preventive tyrannicide. The philosophical tradition of the Platonic
Old Academy was also a factor driving Brutus to action due to its
emphasis on a duty to free the state from tyranny.
While some news of the conspiracy did leak, Caesar refused to take
precautions and rejected escort by a bodyguard. The date decided upon
by the conspirators was 15 March, the Ides of March, three days before
Caesar intended to leave for his Parthian campaign. News of his
imminent departure forced the conspirators to move up their plans; the
Senate meeting on the 15th would be the last before his departure.
They had decided that a Senate meeting was the best place to frame the
killing as political, rejecting the alternatives at games, elections,
or on the road. That only the conspirators would be armed at the
Senate meeting, per Dio, also would have been an advantage. The day,
15 March, was also symbolically important as it was the day on which
consuls took office until the mid-2nd century BC.
Various stories purport that Caesar was on the cusp of not attending
or otherwise being warned about the plot. Approached on his golden
chair at the foot of the statue of Pompey, the conspirators attacked
him with daggers. Whether he fell in silence, per Suetonius, or after
reply to Brutus' appearance - ("you too, child?") - is variantly
recorded. He was stabbed at least twenty-three times and died at once.
Aftermath of the assassination
================================
The assassins seized the Capitoline hill after killing the dictator.
They then summoned a public meeting in the Forum where they were
coldly received by the population. They were also unable to fully
secure the city, as Lepidus - Caesar's lieutenant in the dictatorship
- moved troops from the Tiber Island into the city proper. Antony, the
consul who escaped the assassination, urged an illogical compromise
position in the Senate: Caesar was not declared a tyrant and the
conspirators were not punished. Caesar's funeral was then approved. At
the funeral, Antony inflamed the public against the assassins, which
triggered mob violence that lasted for some months before the
assassins were forced to flee the capital and Antony then finally
acted to suppress it by force.
In 44 BC, there was a seven-day cometary outburst that the Romans
believed to represent the deification of Caesar, giving it the name
Caesar's Comet. On the site of his cremation, the Temple of Caesar was
begun by the triumvirs in 42 BC at the east side of the main square of
the Roman Forum. Only its altar now remains. The terms of the will
were also read to the public: it gave a generous donative to the plebs
at large and left as principal heir one Gaius Octavius, Caesar's
great-nephew then at Apollonia, and adopted him in the will.
Resumption of the pre-existing republic proved impossible as various
actors appealed in the aftermath of Caesar's death to liberty or to
vengeance to mobilise huge armies that led to a series of civil wars.
The first war was between Antony in 43 BC and the Senate (including
senators of both Caesarian and Pompeian persuasion) which resulted in
Octavian - Caesar's heir - exploiting the chaos to seize the
consulship and join with Antony and Lepidus to form the Second
Triumvirate. After purging their political enemies in a series of
proscriptions, the triumvirs secured the deification of Caesar - the
Senate declared on 1 January 42 BC that Caesar would be placed among
the Roman gods - and marched on the east where a second war saw the
triumvirs defeat the tyrannicides in battle, resulting in a final
death of the republican cause and a three-way division of much of the
Roman world. By 31 BC, Caesar's heir had taken sole control of the
empire, ejecting his triumviral rivals after two decades of civil war.
Pretending to restore the republic, his masked autocracy was
acceptable to the war-weary Romans and marked the establishment of a
new Roman monarchy.
Health and physical appearance
================================
Based on remarks by Plutarch ( - ), Caesar is sometimes thought to
have suffered from epilepsy. Modern scholarship is sharply divided on
the subject, and some scholars believe that he was plagued by malaria,
particularly during the Sullan proscriptions of the 80s BC. Ridley
cites:
*
*
* Other scholars contend his epileptic seizures were due to a
parasitic infection in the brain by a tapeworm.
Caesar had four documented episodes of what may have been complex
partial seizures. He may additionally have had absence seizures in his
youth. The earliest accounts of these seizures were made by the
biographer Suetonius, who was born after Caesar died. The claim of
epilepsy is countered among some medical historians by a claim of
hypoglycemia, which can cause epileptoid seizures.
A line from Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar' has sometimes been taken to
mean that he was deaf in one ear: "Come on my right hand, for this ear
is deaf." No classical source mentions hearing impairment in
connection with Caesar. The playwright may have been making
metaphorical use of a passage in Plutarch that does not refer to
deafness at all, but rather to a gesture Alexander of Macedon
customarily made. By covering his ear, Alexander indicated that he had
turned his attention from an accusation in order to hear the defence.
Francesco M. Galassi and Hutan Ashrafian suggest that Caesar's
behavioural manifestationsheadaches, vertigo, falls (possibly caused
by muscle weakness due to nerve damage), sensory deficit, giddiness
and insensibilityand syncopal episodes were the results of
cerebrovascular episodes, not epilepsy. Pliny the Elder reports in his
'Natural History' that Caesar's father and forefather died without
apparent cause while putting on their shoes. These events can be more
readily associated with cardiovascular complications from a stroke
episode or lethal heart attack. Caesar possibly had a genetic
predisposition for cardiovascular disease.
Suetonius ( - ) describes Caesar as "tall of stature with a fair
complexion, shapely limbs, a somewhat full face, and keen black eyes".
He adds that the balding Caesar was sensitive to teasing on the
subject, and therefore had a combover. Suetonius reports that Caesar
was thus especially pleased to be granted the honour of wearing a
wreath at all times.
The name Gaius Julius Caesar
==============================
Using the Latin alphabet of the period, which lacked the letters 'J'
and 'U', Caesar's name would be rendered GAIVS IVLIVS CAESAR; the form
CAIVS is also attested, using the older Roman representation of 'G' by
'C'. The standard abbreviation was C. IVLIVS CÆSAR, reflecting the
older spelling. (The letterform 'Æ' is a ligature of the letters 'A'
and 'E', and is often used in Latin inscriptions to save space.)
In Classical Latin, it was pronounced . In the days of the late Roman
Republic, many historical writings were done in Greek, a language most
educated Romans studied. Young wealthy Roman boys were often taught by
Greek slaves and sometimes sent to Athens for advanced training, as
was Caesar's principal assassin, Brutus. In Greek, during Caesar's
time, his family name was written ('Kaísar'), reflecting its
contemporary pronunciation. Thus, his name is pronounced in a similar
way to the pronunciation of the German 'Kaiser' or Dutch 'keizer' .
In Vulgar Latin, the original diphthong first began to be pronounced
as a simple long vowel . Then, the plosive before front vowels began,
due to palatalization, to be pronounced as an affricate, hence
renderings like in Italian and in German regional pronunciations of
Latin, as well as the title of Tsar. With the evolution of the Romance
languages, the affricate became a fricative (thus, and the like) in
many regional pronunciations, including the French one, from which the
modern English pronunciation is derived.
Caesar's cognomen itself became a title; it was promulgated by the
Bible, which contains the famous verse "Render unto Caesar the things
which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's". The title
became, from the late first millennium, 'Kaiser' in German and
(through Old Church Slavic 'cěsarĭ') Tsar or Czar in the Slavic
languages. The last Tsar in nominal power was Simeon II of Bulgaria,
whose reign ended in 1946, but is still alive in 2023. This means that
for approximately two thousand years, there was at least one head of
state bearing his name. As a term for the highest ruler, the word
Caesar constitutes one of the earliest, best attested and most
widespread Latin loanwords in the Germanic languages, being found in
the text corpora of Old High German ('keisar'), Old Saxon ('kēsur'),
Old English ('cāsere'), Old Norse ('keisari'), Old Dutch ('keisere')
and (through Greek) Gothic ('kaisar').
Posterity
===========
;Wives
* First marriage to Cornelia, from 84 BC until her death in 69 BC
* Second marriage to Pompeia, from 67 BC until he divorced her around
61 BC over the Bona Dea scandal
* Third marriage to Calpurnia, from 59 BC until Caesar's death
;Children
* Julia, by Cornelia, born in 83 or 82 BC
* Caesarion, by Cleopatra VII, born 47 BC, and killed at age 17 by
Caesar's adopted son Octavianus.
* 'Posthumously adopted': Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, his
great-nephew by blood (grandson of Julia, his sister), who later
became Emperor Augustus.
; Suspected children
Some ancient sources refer to the possibility of the tyrannicide,
Marcus Junius Brutus, being one of Julius Caesar's illegitimate
children. Caesar, at the time Brutus was born, was 15. Most ancient
historians were sceptical of this and "on the whole, scholars have
rejected the possibility that Brutus was the love-child of Servilia
and Caesar on the grounds of chronology".
;Grandchildren
Grandchild from Julia and Pompey, dead at several days, unnamed.
;Lovers
* Cleopatra, mother of Caesarion
* Servilia, mother of Brutus
* Eunoë, queen of Mauretania and wife of Bogudes
Rumors of passive homosexuality
=================================
Roman society viewed the passive role during sexual activity,
regardless of gender, to be a sign of submission or inferiority.
Indeed, Suetonius says that in Caesar's Gallic triumph, his soldiers
sang that, "Caesar may have conquered the Gauls, but Nicomedes
conquered Caesar." According to Cicero, Bibulus, Gaius Memmius, and
others - mainly Caesar's enemies - he had an affair with Nicomedes IV
of Bithynia early in his career. The stories were repeated, referring
to Caesar as the "Queen of Bithynia", by some Roman politicians as a
way to humiliate him. Caesar himself denied the accusations repeatedly
throughout his lifetime, and according to Cassius Dio, even under oath
on one occasion. This form of slander was popular during this time in
the Roman Republic to demean and discredit political opponents.
Catullus wrote a poem suggesting that Caesar and his engineer Mamurra
were lovers, but later apologised.
Mark Antony charged that Octavian had earned his adoption by Caesar
through sexual favours. Suetonius described Antony's accusation of an
affair with Octavian as political slander. Octavian eventually became
the first Roman Emperor as Augustus.
Literary works
======================================================================
During his lifetime, Caesar was regarded as one of the best orators
and prose authors in Latineven Cicero spoke highly of Caesar's
rhetoric and style. Only Caesar's war commentaries have survived. A
few sentences from other works are quoted by other authors. Among his
lost works are his funeral oration for his paternal aunt Julia and his
"Anticato", a document attacking Cato in response to Cicero's eulogy.
Poems by Julius Caesar are also mentioned in ancient sources.
Memoirs
=========
* The 'Commentarii de Bello Gallico', usually known in English as 'The
Gallic Wars', seven books each covering one year of his campaigns in
Gaul and southern Britain in the 50s BC, with the eighth book written
by Aulus Hirtius on the last two years.
* The 'Commentarii de Bello Civili' ('The Civil War'), events of the
Civil War from Caesar's perspective, until immediately after Pompey's
death in Egypt.
Other works historically have been attributed to Caesar, but their
authorship is in doubt:
* 'De Bello Alexandrino' ('On the Alexandrine War'), campaign in
Alexandria;
* 'De Bello Africo' ('On the African War'), campaigns in North Africa;
and
* 'De Bello Hispaniensi' ('On the Hispanic War'), campaigns in the
Iberian Peninsula.
These narratives were written and published annually during or just
after the actual campaigns, as a sort of "dispatches from the front".
They were important in shaping Caesar's public image and enhancing his
reputation when he was away from Rome for long periods. They may have
been presented as public readings. As a model of clear and direct
Latin style, 'The Gallic Wars' traditionally has been studied by
first- or second-year Latin students.
Historiography
================
The texts written by Caesar, an autobiography of the most important
events of his public life, are the most complete primary source for
the reconstruction of his biography. However, Caesar wrote those texts
with his political career in mind. Julius Caesar is also considered
one of the first historical figures to fold his message scrolls into a
concertina form, which made them easier to read. The Roman emperor
Augustus began a cult of personality of Caesar, which described
Augustus as Caesar's political heir. The modern historiography is
influenced by this tradition.
Many rulers in history became interested in the historiography of
Caesar. Napoleon III wrote the scholarly work 'Histoire de Jules
César', which was not finished. The second volume listed previous
rulers interested in the topic. Charles VIII ordered a monk to prepare
a translation of the 'Gallic Wars' in 1480. Charles V ordered a
topographic study in France, to place the Gallic Wars in context;
which created forty high-quality maps of the conflict. The
contemporary Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent catalogued the
surviving editions of the 'Commentaries', and translated them to
Turkish language. Henry IV and Louis XIII of France translated the
first two commentaries and the last two respectively; Louis XIV
re-translated the first one afterwards.
The remains of Caesar's altar are a pilgrimage site for visitors from
across Italy and the world. Flowers and other items are left there
daily and special commemorations take place on 15 March to commemorate
Caesar's death.
Politics
==========
Julius Caesar is seen as the main example of 'Caesarism', a form of
political rule led by a charismatic strongman whose rule is based upon
a cult of personality, whose rationale is the need to rule by force,
establishing a violent social order, and being a regime involving
prominence of the military in the government. Other people in history,
such as the French Napoleon Bonaparte and the Italian Benito
Mussolini, have defined themselves as Caesarists. Bonaparte did not
focus only on Caesar's military career but also on his relation with
the masses, a predecessor to populism. The word is also used in a
pejorative manner by critics of this type of political rule.
Depictions
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File:Giulio-cesare-enhanced 1-800x1450.jpg|Bust in the National
Archaeological Museum, Naples
File:Rimini083.jpg|Modern bronze statue of Julius Caesar, Rimini,
Italy
File:Portrait of Julius Caesar (1st cent. B.C.) at the Archaeological
Museum of Sparta on 15 May 2019.jpg|Portrait at the Archaeological
Museum of Sparta
File:Porta palatina, statue.jpg|Bronze statue at the Porta Palatina in
Turin
File:Portrait head of Julius Caesar (1st cent. A.D.) at the
Archaeological Museum of Corinth on 10 January 2020.jpg|Bust in the
Archaeological Museum of Corinth
File:Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44 BC).JPG|Bust in the National
Archaeological Museum, Naples, photograph published in 1902
Battle record
===============
Date War Action Opponents Type Present-day areas Outcome
rowspan="12" |Gallic Wars |Battle |France |Victory
|Helvetii, Boii, Tulingi, Rauraci |Battle |France |Victory
|Battle of Vosges]] |Battle |France |Victory
|Battle of the Axona |Battle |France |Victory
Atrebates, Aduatuci |Battle |France |Victory
|Veneti]] |Battle |France |Victory
|Campaign |England |Victory
Campaign Belgium, France |Victory
|Bituriges]], Arverni |Siege |France |Victory
|Gallic tribes]] Battle France Defeat
September 52 BC |Gallic]] Confederation |Siege and Battle
|Alise-Sainte-Reine, France |Decisive victory
|Gallic]] |Siege |Vayrac, France |Victory
rowspan="8" |Caesar's Civil War |Battle |Catalonia, Spain |Victory
|Battle of Dyrrhachium (48 BC) |Battle Durrës, Albania |Defeat
Battle of Pharsalus |Battle |Greece |Decisive Victory
Battle of the Nile |Battle |Alexandria, Egypt |Victory
Battle of Zela |Battle |Zile, Turkey |Victory
|Battle Ruspina Africa |Defeat
|Battle |Tunisia |Decisive Victory
|Battle |Andalusia Spain |Victory
See also
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*Caesar (title)
* Caesar cipher
* Caesareum of Alexandria
* 'Et tu, Brute?'
* 'Giulio Cesare' - 1724 opera by Handel
* List of things named after Julius Caesar
Own writings
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Ancient historians' writings
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* Published in nine volumes.
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Secondary sources
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* Reprinted 2009.
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External links
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[
https://web.archive.org/web/20101129220004/http://virgil.org/caesar/
Guide to online resources]
License
=========
All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA
License URL:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar_
