The Career and Times of Gaius Julius Caesar

We left off with the start of the First Triumvirate. Caesar had just been elected consul after creating a fast friendship with two men – Pompey,

a successful general and Rome’s richest citizen; and Crassus, the general who had put an end to Spartacus’ slave revolt….

Caesar had been born in 100 BCE to a patrician family. His nomen, Julius, tells us that he was part of the Julian Clan, who claimed descent from Iulus Caesar grew up quickly during the Social War, and at the age of 16 he married Cornelia, Cinna’s daughter. He was also elected to be a High Priest of Jupiter at that age Caesar was briefly disgraced at the end of the Social War. Sulla targeted him because he was Marius’ nephew and had allied himself with Cinna through his marriage. He lost his priesthood and had to go into hiding Caesar joined the military and fought abroad for two years, until Sulla’s death in 80BCE. Then he returned to Rome where he began practicing rhetoric and oratory He served as a military tribune during the war against Spartacus and was elected Quaestor in 69 BCE. Cornelia died that year and Caesar married Pompeia, Sulla’s granddaughter

EARLY LIFE & CAREER

RISE TO POWER

In 63 BCE Caesar was elected Pontifex Maximus (Chief Priest of the Roman State Religion) and the next year, 62 BCE, Caesar served as a Praetor – that same year, he also divorced his second wife Pompeia Upon finishing his praetorship, Caesar left immediately to become governor of Hispania Ulterior – Pompey helped him financially and he conquered two Spanish tribes, becoming extremely popular In 59 BCE Caesar became consul, cemented his partnership with Crassus and Pompey by letting Pompey marry his daughter Julia, and remarried himself, this time to Calpurnia For the 5 years following his consulship, Caesar again left the city to act as a governor, this time in Gaul and Illyricum

During the first year of his governorship, Caesar defeated the Helvetii. During the second, he conquered the Belgic tribes in

the north. During the third, he beat the Venetii and Crassus took over the Aquitani.. Almost all Gaul had fallen…

Continued Conquests & the End of an Alliance In 55 BCE, the fourth year of his time in Gaul, Caesar held off the

Germans, defeated the last two tribes of Gaul and advanced on Britain

When he first landed in Britain, he made very little progress and was forced to return to Gaul for the winter. He returned in 54 BCE and made more progress

While in Britain, Caesar’s daughter Julia (Pompey’s wife) died in childbirth, he married again, to the daughter of one of Caesar’s political opponents. This man became Pompey’s next co-consul

Meanwhile, Crassus was killed in battle in Parthia.. The First Triumvirate had fallen

Final Pacification of Gaul In 52 BCE, a particularly strong revolt began in Gaul. Although Caesar

had defeated most of the tribes individually, Vercingetorix, leader of the Averni, managed to unite several of the tribes to challenge Caesar

Vercingetorix defeated Caesar several times, until they met at the decisive battle of Alesia

Seige of Alesia The entire civilian population of Alesia was barricaded into the city

walls along with 80,000 fighting men, food would not last long

In an attempt to save food for the fighters and in hopes that Caesar would let them go, the men threw the civilian women and children out of the city. Caesar ordered that nothing be done for them, and nearly all starved to death alone between the city walls and the circumvallations.

Despite increasing attacks from the inside (from Alesia) and outside (Gallic Relief forces), Caesar won within about a month. Vercingetorix was forced to surrender. Many were killed, most were taken prisoner and Gaul soon became a true Roman province

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Vercingetorix_caesar.jpg

The Return to Rome In 50 BCE, Caesar’s term ended and the senate ordered him to

return to Rome. Since Caesar had many enemies within the city still, he was afraid he would be persecuted if he came back without his army and without an office (he wasn’t allowed to run for consul without coming to the city first)

So, in 49 BCE he crossed the Rubicon River (Italy’s northern boundary) with a legion of soldiers under his command

“Alea iacta est” Many of Caesar’s enemies (Optimates) fled South, some made a

stand, but without any significant fighting he won over most towns – the people loved him (Populares)

Pompey fled by ship, so Caesar tracked down and defeated his lieutenants, then engaged Pompey in battle in the east – at Pharsalus

Battle of Pharsalus After a few indecisive battles, Caesar’s smaller but veteran force

met Pompey’s at Pharsalus in Greece in June 48 BCE Caesar briefly returned to Rome where he was elected dictator, a

position he gave up in favor of another term as consul

Alexandria Pompey fled to Alexandria, where he was killed by a member of

Ptolemy XIII’s court Caesar followed him and became caught up in an Egyptian Civil War

between Ptolemy and his sister Cleopatra. Caesar defeated Ptolemy’s forces in 47 BCE and made Cleopatra queen

Continued Conquests Caesar and Cleopatra celebrated their victory over her brother and

had a son together – Caesarion

From 47 BCE – 45 BCE Caesar continued to campaign militarily

First, he traveled through the Middle East to defeat King Pharnaces in Turkey. He campaigned only 5 days and won at the Battle of Zela, then wrote home the famous phrase “veni, vidi, vici”

Ending the Civil War - Thapsus Caesar next set out to destroy the senators and others who had supported

Pompey First, in Africa, at the Battle of Thapsus in 46 BCE, he faced many of the well

known Optimates including Metellus Scipio and Cato the Younger. They fought with 40,000 men and 60 war elephants

Caesar’s maneuvering won the day – in particular, his archers targeted the elephants who trampled many of the Optimates, then some of their allies deserted them. Many wanted to surrender to Caesar, but he ordered them killed

Pompey’s sons and a few others escaped to Spain, Caesar pursued them

Ending the Civil War – Munda After being defeated at Pharsalus

and at Thapsus, Pompey’s supporters fled to Munda in Southern Spain

After a very hard fought battle, confusion took over the Optimates, many of whom tried to flee and were slaughtered. At the end of the day, 30,000 of Pompey’s supporters were killed, while only 1,000 of Caesar’s men died.

Many of his enemies were executed, including one of Pompey’s sons. This was the end of serious resistance to Caesar’s rule

Return to Rome & Political Career Throughout these campaigns, Caesar

continued to be elected Consul at Rome (4 terms total)

In 45 BCE, he was elected to his fourth consulship without a colleague

He had become very popular, particularly because he had pardoned nearly all his enemies except those that insisted on fighting at Thapsus and Munda

Games and Celebrations were held to honor his victory, and he finally returned to Rome in 45 BCE

Upon his return he filed his will, naming his nephew Gaius Octavius as his successor. If anything happened to Octavius, Marcus Junius Brutus would be his heir

Political & Social Policies Caesar remained very popular

publicly, particularly because he looked out for the interests of Rome’s people

He made arrangements for land to be distributed to his veterans and changed the system by which grain was given out at a reduced price. Now, if you could afford to buy your own grain at market, you were not allowed to buy it at a reduced price, leaving more for those who really needed the help

Other Public Works and Reforms

Caesar reformed the calendar. He created a 365 day year with 12 months and an added day every four years (leap years) – This was called the Julian Calendar

He also added on to the Roman forum, naming the new section after himself, the Forum of Caesar

In the forum, he built a temple to Venus Genetrix (mother)

Growing Tension within the Senate In 45 – 44 BCE Caesar received a serious of increasing honors from the

senate

He was given the title “pater patriae”, named dictator for ten years, and was named “prefect of morals” for three years, giving him the powers of a censor

Finally, he was named “dictator for life”

In 44 BCE a delegation from the senate came to tell Caesar about the new honors they had voted him. He met them in the Temple of Venus Genetrix, but did not stand to meet him, instead he stayed sitting. The senators took offense, and some ancient writers claim this incident was their final motivation to plot against him!

The people loved Caesar and although he openly refused the title of King several times, his association with royalty had become too much for the senators to bear

The Plot! Brutus and Cassius led the conspirators.. They planned together

and swore that if their plans were discovered they would all turn their knives on themselves instead!

“The conspirators never met openly, but they assembled a few at a time in each other's homes. There were many discussions and proposals, as might be expected, while they investigated how and where to execute their design. Some suggested that they should make the attempt as he was going along the Sacred Way, which was one of his favorite walks. Another idea was for it to be done at the elections during which he had to cross a bridge to appoint the magistrates in the Campus Martius; they should draw lots for some to push him from the bridge and for others to run up and kill him. A third plan was to wait for a coming gladiatorial show. The advantage of that would be that, because of the show, no suspicion would be aroused if arms were seen prepared for the attempt. But the majority opinion favored killing him while he sat in the Senate, where he would be by himself since only Senators would be admitted, and where the many conspirators could hide their daggers beneath their togas. This plan won the day.”

The Assassination The senatorial conspirators had asked Caesar to meet with them to review

a petition to return power to the Senate – but it was a fake

They had him enter a portion of the Theater of Pompey where the Senate often met and as he began to read, one of the conspirators, tore his tunic. Caesar cried “This is violence!” (ista quidem vis est!

Then, Casca, another conspirator, slashed at him with his dagger. Caesar caught him and yelled “Casca, you villain, what are you doing?”, at which point Casca yelled “Help, Brother!” in Greek, and the rest of the senators fell on him

Caesar was stabbed 23 times, though only one blow to his chest was later judged to be fatal

Upon seeing his close friend Brutus among his attackers, Shakespeare reported his last words to be “et tu, Brute?”

The historian Suetonius, however, said that many people reported his last words as “kai su, teknon?” – Greek for “you too, child?”

The Assassination

The Aftermath The Conspirators fled the building and marched to the Capitol

announcing that the People of Rome were now free

The middle and lower classes had loved Caesar fiercely and were enraged. His friend and general, Mark Antony, took advantage of this and gave a dramatic eulogy, allying himself with the people who supported Caesar and against the Senate/Optimates

A series of civil wars were kicked off by the assassination of Caesar – wars which would lead to the end of the Roman Republic

First, Antony would have to face off against Brutus, Cassius and the Optimates in his bid for power

However, another opponent lay in the wings, Gaius Octavius, whom Caesar had named as his sole heir