Julius
Caesar was a leader of ancient Rome who significantly transformed what became
known as the Roman Empire by greatly expanding its geographic reach and
establishing its imperial system. Allegedly a descendant of Trojan prince
Aeneas, Caesar’s birth 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 and military victories, he became dictator of
the Roman Empire, a rule that lasted for just one year before his death in 44
BCE.
Born
Gaius Julius Caesar on July 12, 100 BCE, Caesar hailed from Roman aristocrats,
though his family was far from rich. Little is known of Caesar’s early years,
but during his youth an element of instability dominated the Roman Republic,
which had discredited its nobility and seemed unable to handle its considerable
size and influence.
When
he was 16, his father, an important regional governor in Asia also named Gaius
Julius Caesar, died. He remained close to his mother, Aurelia. Around the time
of his father’s death, Caesar made a concerted effort to establish key
alliances with the country’s nobility, with whom he was well-connected.
In
84 BCE, Caesar married Cornelia, the daughter of a nobleman. Caesar’s marriage
to Cornelia drew the ire of the Roman dictator Sulla, as Cornelia’s father was
Sulla’s political rival. Sulla ordered Caesar to divorce his wife or risk
losing his property. The young Roman refused and escaped by serving in the
military, first in the province of Asia and then in Cilicia. Caesar likely
returned to Rome after Sulla’s death circa 79 BCE (another account states
Caesar, with the help of his influential friends, eventually convinced Sulla to
be allowed to return).
Back
in Rome, Caesar and Cornelia had a daughter, Julia Caesaris, in 76 BCE. In 69
BCE, Cornelia passed away.
After
Sulla’s death, Caesar began his career in politics as a prosecuting advocate.
He relocated temporarily to Rhodes to study philosophy.
During
his travels he was kidnapped by pirates. In a daring display of his negotiation
skills and counter-insurgency tactics, he convinced his captors to raise his
ransom, then organized a naval force to attack them. The pirates were captured
and executed.
Caesar
further enhanced his stature in 74 BCE when he put together a private army and
combated Mithradates VI Eupator, king of Pontus, who had declared war on Rome.
Caesar
began an alliance with Gnaeus Pompey Magnus, a powerful military and political
leader. Soon after, in 68 or 69 BCE, he was elected quaestor (a minor political
office). Caesar went on to serve in several other key government positions.
In
67 BCE, Caesar married Pompeia, the granddaughter of Sulla. Their marriage
lasted just a few years, and in 62 BCE, the couple divorced.
In
61 to 60 BCE, Caesar served as governor of the Roman province of Spain. Caesar
maintained his alliance with Pompey, which enabled him to get elected as
consul, a powerful government position, in 59 BCE.
The
same year, Caesar wed Calpurnia, a teenager to whom he remained married for the
rest of his life. (He also had several mistresses, including Cleopatra VII,
Queen of Egypt, with whom he had a son, Caesarion.)
At
the same time Caesar was governing under Pompey, he aligned himself with the
wealthy military leader Marcus Licinius Crassus. The strategic political
alliance among Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus came to be known as the First
Triumvirate.
For
Caesar, the First Triumvirate partnership was the perfect springboard to
greater domination. Crassus, a leader known as the richest man in Roman
history, offered Caesar financial and political support that proved to be
instrumental in his rise to power.
Crassus
and Pompey, however, were intense rivals. Once again, Caesar displayed his
abilities as a negotiator, earning the trust of both Crassus and Pompey and
convincing them they’d be better suited as allies than as enemies.
In
a controversial move, Caesar tried to pay off Pompey’s soldiers by granting
them public lands. Caesar hired some 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 (modern-day France and
Belgium). This allowed 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 BCE, Caesar conquered the rest of Gaul up to the river Rhine.
As
he expanded his reach, Caesar was ruthless with his enemies. In one instance he
waited until his opponent’s water supply had dried up, then ordered the hands
of all the remaining survivors be cut off.
All
the while, he was mindful of the political scene back home in Rome, hiring key
political agents to act on his behalf.
Civil
War Against Pompey
As
Julius Caesar’s power and prestige grew, Pompey grew envious of his political
partner. Meanwhile, Crassus still had never completely overcome his disdain for
Pompey.
The
three leaders patched things up temporarily in 56 BCE at a conference in Luca,
which cemented Caesar’s existing territorial rule for another five years,
granted Crassus a five-year term in Syria, and accorded Pompey a five-year term
in Spain.
Three
years later, however, Crassus was killed in a battle in Syria. Around this
time, Pompey—his old suspicions about Caesar’s rise reignited—commanded that
Caesar disband his army and return to Rome as a private citizen.
Rather
than submit to Pompey’s command, on January 10, 49 BCE, Caesar ordered his
powerful army to cross the Rubicon River in northern Italy and march toward
Rome. As Pompey further aligned himself with nobility, who increasingly saw Caesar
as a national threat, civil war between the two leaders proved to be
inevitable. Pompey and his troops, however, were no match for Caesar’s military
prowess. Pompey fled Rome and eventually landed in Greece, where his troops
were defeated by Caesar’s legions.
Julius
Caesar and Cleopatra
By
late 48 BCE, Caesar had subdued Pompey and his supporters in Italy, Spain, and
Greece, finally chasing Pompey into Egypt. The Egyptians, however, knew of
Pompey’s defeats and believed the gods favored Caesar: Pompey was assassinated
as soon as he stepped ashore in Egypt. Caesar claimed to be outraged over
Pompey’s murder. After having Pompey’s assassins put to death, he met with the
Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII.
Caesar
and Cleopatra forged an alliance (and a sexual relationship) that ousted her
brother and co-regent, Ptolemy XIII, and placed Cleopatra on the throne of
Egypt. A skilled political tactician, she and her son by Caesar, Caesarion,
proved instrumental in international affairs for years, culminating in her liaison
with Roman general Mark Antony.
Dictatorship
Upon
his triumphant return to Rome, Caesar was hailed as the father of his country
and made dictator for life. Although he would serve just a year’s term,
Caesar’s rule proved instrumental in reforming Rome for his countrymen.
Caesar
greatly transformed the empire, relieving debt and reforming the Senate by
increasing its size and opening it up so that it better represented all Romans.
He altered the Roman calendar and reorganized the construction of local
government.
Caesar
also resurrected two city-states, Carthage and Corinth, which had been
destroyed by his predecessors. And he granted citizenship to a number of
foreigners. A benevolent victor, Caesar even invited some of his defeated
rivals to join him in the government.
At
the same time, Caesar was also careful to solidify his power and rule. He
stuffed the Senate with allies and required it to grant him honors and titles.
He spoke first at assembly meetings, and Roman coins bore his face.
Although
Caesar’s reforms greatly enhanced his standing with Rome’s lower- and
middle-class populations, his increasing power was met with envy, concern, and
angst in the Roman Senate. A number of politicians saw Caesar as an aspiring
king.
And
Romans had no desire for monarchical rule: Legend has it that it had been five
centuries since they’d last allowed a king to rule them. Caesar’s inclusion of
former Roman enemies in the government helped seal his downfall.
Caesar
was assassinated by political rivals in Rome on the Ides of March—March 15—in
44 BCE. It’s not clear whether Caesar knew of the plot to kill him: By all
accounts, he planned to leave Rome on March 18 for a military campaign in what
is now modern-day Iraq, where he hoped to avenge the losses suffered by his
former political ally Crassus.
Who
Killed Julius Caesar?
Gaius
Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus, former rivals of Caesar who’d joined
the Roman Senate, led Caesar’s assassination. Cassius and Brutus dubbed
themselves “the liberators.”
Brutus’
involvement in the killing packed the most complicated backstory. During Rome’s
earlier civil war, he had originally sided with Caesar’s opponent, Pompey. But
after Caesar’s victory over Pompey, Brutus was encouraged to join the
government. His mother, Servilia, was also one of Caesar’s lovers.
After
Caesar’s Death
After
his death, Caesar quickly became a martyr in the new Roman Empire. A mob of
lower- and middle-class Romans gathered at Caesar’s funeral, with the angry
crowd attacking the homes of Cassius and Brutus.
Just
two years after his death, Caesar became the first Roman figure to be deified.
The Senate also gave him the title “The Divine Julius.”
A
power struggle ensued in Rome, leading to the end of the Roman Republic.
Caesar’s great-grandnephew Gaius Octavian played on the late ruler’s
popularity, assembling an army to fight back the military troops defending
Cassius and Brutus. His victory over Caesar’s assassins allowed Octavian, who
assumed the name Augustus, to take power in 27 BCE and become the first Roman
emperor.
Archaeological
Discovery
In
November 2017, archaeologists announced the discovery of what they believed to
be the first evidence of Caesar’s invasion of Britain in 54 BCE. The excavation
of a new road in Ebbsfleet, Kent, revealed a 5-meter-wide defensive ditch and
the remains of pottery and weapons. Experts from the University of Leicester
and Kent County Council said the location was consistent with accounts of the
invasion from the time period, and enabled them to pinpoint nearby Pegwell Bay
as the likely landing spot for Caesar’s fleet.
Julius
Caesar: A Play by William Shakespeare
Julius
Caesar’s last days and the ensuing political clash between Octavian, Cassius,
and Brutus have been famously captured in the five-act tragic play Julius
Caesar by William Shakespeare. It was first produced in 1599 or 1600, around
the opening of the Globe Theater, and continues to entertain audiences today.
Joseph Mankiewicz’s 1953 film adaptation of the play—starring Louis Calhern as
Caesar, Marlon Brando as Mark Antony, James Mason as Brutus, and John Gielgud
as Cassius—is one of the most enduring retellings on the silver screen.
