Julius Caesar was also known as Gaius Julius Caesar, he born on 12 July 100 BC in Rome Italia, and death on 15 march 44 BC at an age of 55. Julius Caesar was a great Roman dictator, politician, and military general of the last Roman Republic, who played a very critical role in an event of the crisis of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. He was a leader of ancient Rome.
Where the name Caesar originated has been debated. It might have been related to the procedure of the cesarean section, it could have been linked to the saying of an elephant or it might have been down to the first Caesar’s thick, curly locks of hair.
He fought in several wars and become involved in Roman politics. After several treaties and military victories, he became dictator of the Roman Empire, a rule that lasted for just one year before his death.
Quick Facts of Julius Caesar
- Born: 12 July 100 BC in Rome, Italy, Roman Republic
- Also Known As: Gaius Julius Caesar
- Political party: Populares
- Spouse(s): Cossutia (disputed), Cornelia (84–69 BC; her death), Pompeia (67–61 BC; divorced), Calpurnia (59–44 BC; his death)
- Children: Julia, Caesarion (unacknowledged), Augustus (adoptive)
- Parent(s): Gaius Julius Caesar and Aurelia
- Died: 15 March 44 BC (aged 55) Rome, Italy
- Cause of death: Assassination (stab wounds)
- Burial: Resting place Temple of Caesar, Rome
- Awards: Civic Crown
- Quotes: I love treason but hate a traitor. – Julius Caesar
Early Life Of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar’s father name also Gaius Julius Caesar and his mother’s name is Aurelia Cotta. Julius Caesar has come from a patrician family, which claimed he was a descent from Julia, son of the legendary Trojan prince Aeneas, supposedly the son of the goddess Venus. Julius Caesar’s birth marked the starting of a new era in Roman History.
When Julius Caesar was 16 years old suddenly his father died in 85 BC and he becomes head of his family, This was a time of division in Rome and there was a bloody civil war. between his uncle Marius and his rival Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In 84 BC Julius Caesar Married Cornelia the daughter of an ally of Marius and Lucius Cornelius Cinna. Caesar and Cornelia together have one daughter named Julia.
After Sulla’s final victory in the civil war ordered He was stripped of his heritage, his wife’s dower, and his priesthood, but he refused to divorce Cornelia and Caesar left Rome and join the military. But Julius Caesar had a stroke of luck when his mother’s family joined the support of Sulla.
He was allowed to come out of hiding, but he was stripped of his title of priest. As things went, this would make the man be, because priests were not allowed to become part of the military. Free of his title, caesar looks to the army. He serving under Marcus Minucius Thermus in Asia and Servilius Isauricus in Cilicia.
He soon becomes a man of distinction and received Civic Crown for his part in military victories. When Julius Caesar was 22 years old the great sulla died, and with him out of the way, Caesar knew he could likely return to Rome without fear of being killed by an enemy.
That he did and he acquired a house in the “Subura”, a lower-class neighborhood ripe with a crime where the streets always thronged with people. Stripped of his inheritance, Julius Caesar was not a wealthy man by any means. He’s getting to know those streets would shape his view of life. He would not forget the average man.
Julius Caesar Brought down a corrupt governor who had taken advantage of their position. He was renowned for his gift of speech and dazzled people with his fluid orations. He fought righteously and won. He garnered even more praise in Rome after people heard the story of him being kidnapped by pirates when he was sailing to Greece.
How Julius Caesar Political Career Start
Julius Caesar began his political career as a prosecuting advocate, After sulla’s death. In 69 BC He became a military tribune and the treasurer of a Roman province. The same year his wife Cornelia died, he lost his wife then Julius Caesar married again to Pompeia, the granddaughter of Sulla.
At the age of 37, he ran for the position of pontifex Maximus, which translates as chief priest of the Roman state religion. It was a messy affair, with his rivals for that post accused of corruption. But Caesar won and it wasn’t even close. In 62 BC Julius Caesar divorced Pompeia
At the age of 41, he was elected senior Roman consul, a position he gained with the help of some powerful friend. He and these two friends would form what is called the first triumvirate. This consisted of Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey), and Marcus Licinius Crassus.
Why Would they do that? The answer was quite simple the constitution was in place to prevent any one person become too powerful and having too much control.
But these men agreed to make a secret alliance in which they would help each other. Together they were powerful, and each of them would take advantage of that. Julius Caesar had one thing in mind to start with, a populist move that would involve redistributing public land to some of the poorer people in Rome.
If anyone was against this, he said force might be used. The two men in the triumvirate agreed, and so people become aware of the alliance. He was successful, but his number of enemies were growing, especially within the ranks of the Roman aristocracy.
How Julius Caesar conquest of Gaul
Julius Caesar still not a rich man and he had debts to pay. He was aware that money could be made by winning military campaigns, and he looked towards the region of Gaul which now covers parts of western Europe. That land was inhabited by Germanic tribes that might be a threat to Rome, and so Caesar defeated them with two legions.
He wasn’t done by any means, and he defeated more tribes. After this, he concentrated his efforts on an invasion of Briton. On his way there he won more campaigns winning battles against various European tribes, although his first invasion of Britain was unsuccessful.
On his second attempt, his troops made it further inland and some alliances were made, but Caesar was forced to retreat once more due to revolts in Gaul. But we shouldn’t underestimate what he had achieved.
Julius Caesar and his legions had crossed Europe and they had defeated everyone in their path. They had breached the borders of that island of Briton. Caesar had gained great respect for their campaigns, but he had his detractors in the people that thought he was gaining too much power.
In Rome, there was trouble and the triumvirate was strained. One of the enduring strengths of this alliance was the fact that caesar’s daughter was married to Pompey, but she died while giving birth. Caesar offered him another relative, albeit a distant one this time. and that was turned down.
Things went from bad to worse when the third member of the triumvirate, Crassus, died in a military campaign. Pompey then married the daughter of one of Julius Caesar’s political enemies and that was the end of the triad.
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