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 JULIUS
CAESAR
Caesar: a name that used to terrify the ancient world, and was adopted
by many leaders in Europe, from roman emperors to german "Kaiser"s
to russian "czar"s.
He was driven by enormous ambition, in his early thirties he cried
of frustration under a statue of Alexander the Great, realizing
that at his age the greek leader had already conquered the world.
He marked the transition between Rome's Rubublican years and its
Imperial years, being in a certain sense its first emperor.
In his pursue of power, he created a civil war, and greatly weakened
Rome, paving the way to the creation of another monarchic system
after centuries of republic.
JULIUS CAESAR was born in the year 100 BC from a patrian family
who claimed decendancy from the kings of Alba Longa and through
them, Aeneas of Troy whose mother was the goddess Venus.
At the time of his birth, Rome was still a republic and the empire
was only really beginning. The senators ruled, motivated by the
greed of power in the hope of becoming either a consul or a praetor,
the two senior posts which carried imperium, the legal right to
command an army.
From these posts it was possible to, with the help of the army at
your command, conquer new territories and so gain a triumph, the
main honour for a roman citizen, and the best form of self-promotion.
Caesar made his way to praetorship by 62 BC and many of the senate
felt him a dangerous, ambitious man. Because of this, they deprived
him of a triumph after his praetorian command in Spain (61-60 BC)
and they also did their best to keep him out of consulship. He finally
became consul in 59 BC.
During his consulship, Caesar pushed through a special law giving
him a five-year command in Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum, both provinces
in the empire covering North Italy and the Adriatic coast of Yugoslavia.
Caesar saw this as a great opportunity to extend the empire either
into Gaul or in the Balkans. While in Gaul, the most important section
of the Roman Army, positioned at the German border, was under his
control. This gave him extraordinary power and an excellent position
to pursue his political ambitions.
He was a brilliant military leader and lead many campaigns: 58
BC -The Helvetic Campaign 57 BC -The Belgic Campaign 56 BC -The
Venetic Campaign 55 BC -The German Campaign 54 BC -The British Campaign
He wrote about all the campaigns and sent the books to Rome - often
embellishing the facts - so to gain popularity.
Albeit extremely popular, in order to take control of Rome, he
had to take his troops across the River Rubicon and in doing so
declare civil war on the state and Pompey, his rival. and also the
person who had got Caesar to where he was. Pompey fled, Caesar won
and entered Rome in triumph as Dictator.
His popularity was seriously damaged by his relation with the Egiptian
queen Cleopatra, who gave him a child, Caesareum. She was not a
roman, and this was used by his adversaries against him.
He was assassinated by a group of senators, possibly in support
of Pompey or possibly for some gain of their own, on the Ides of
March 44 BC, just below a statue of his rival Pompey.
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Caesar
by Christian Meier, David McLintock(Translator)
Synopsis
What were the political and social forces that shaped and
challenged Julius Caesar? And how did this larger-than-life
leader truly affect the fate of the Roman republic and the
course of history? Internationally renowned...
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