Introduction to Gaius Julius Caesar

Caesar, Gaius Julius (102?–44 B.C.), a Roman statesman and general. At the time he was assassinated by Brutus and other conspirators, Caesar was master of the Roman world. With his death the Roman Republic came to an end. His name survives in the month of July (from Julius), and in the titles “kaiser” and “czar” (from Caesar). He was also an orator and author. His Commentaries on the Gallic War—an account of his conquest of Gaul (France and Belgium)—is familiar to every student of Latin.

Although he was of aristocratic birth, Caesar's sympathies were with the popular (antiaristocratic) party led by the general Gaius Marius, his uncle, and by Lucius Cornelius Cinna. In 83 B.C. Caesar married Cornelia, Cinna's daughter. The next year Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the leader of the aristocratic party, came into power and ordered Caesar to cut his ties with the popular party and divorce his wife. Caesar refused, and was deprived of his property. He then left Rome and served with the army in western Asia until the death of Sulla in 78 B.C.

In 76 B.C. Caesar set out for Rhodes to study oratory. On his way there, his vessel was captured by pirates. He was held prisoner until he raised from among his friends a very large ransom. When he was set free, he manned some ships, attacked the pirates' stronghold, and crucified his former captors.

The First Triumvirate

While Caesar was in Rhodes, the third Mithridatic War broke out, and he served in it for a short time. He returned to Rome in the winter of 74–73 B.C., and found that he had been elected pontifex, or high priest, an important political position. Thereafter he steadily rose in rank and in popular favor.

In 60 B.C. Caesar formed a political alliance with Pompey, commander of the Roman armies, and the wealthy Marcus Licinius Crassus. This alliance, called the First Triumvirate, was a private understanding among the three by which they controlled Rome's most important offices.

Caesar became consul in 59 B.C., and the next year obtained for himself the military rule of Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul (northern Italy and southern France) for five years. In 56 the triumvirs agreed that Crassus would have military charge of Syria, and Pompey of Spain. At the same time, Caesar's command of Gaul was extended to 49 B.C. Caesar's campaigns in Gaul brought the entire region (modern France and Belgium) under Roman control, established him as a great military leader, and won him the loyalty of his legions. Caesar invaded Britain twice (55 and 54 B.C.) but made no attempt to occupy the island.

Meanwhile, Crassus had been killed in the East in 53 B.C. Pompey, who had been made sole consul in 52, began to plot with the Senate to lessen Caesar's influence. In December, 50 B.C., the Senate commanded Caesar to send home part of his legions or be considered an outlaw. Caesar then led his legions across the Rubicon, the little stream that separated his province from Italy, and marched on Rome in January, 49 B.C. The Triumvirate had come to an end.

Civil War

On Caesar's approach to Rome, the Senate fled to Capua. Pompey's forces withdrew to Brundisium, where Caesar's army overtook and besieged them. Pompey managed to assemble ships and move the bulk of his men to Greece. Caesar then invaded Spain and subdued Pompey's forces there. Returning to Rome, he reigned as dictator for 11 days, and then managed to have himself elected consul.

Pompey had gathered a large force in Greece, and Caesar soon moved against him. Pompey's power was crushed forever at Pharsalus, in Thessaly (northern Greece), in August, 48 B.C. He fled to Egypt, with Caesar in pursuit, and was assassinated there.

In Egypt, Caesar's infatuation with Cleopatra kept him involved for some time in the young queen's quarrel with her brother, Ptolemy XII. Finally, having established Cleopatra on the throne of Egypt, Caesar moved against his remaining enemies. His defeat of Pompey's ally Pharnaces, in western Asia. (47 B.C.), was so easy that he reported to Rome: “Veni, vidi, vici” ("I came, I saw, I conquered”). The next year he defeated the last of Pompey's forces, led by Cato the Younger, in a naval battle at Thapsus, in northern Africa.

Caesar was now in complete control. He returned to Rome, and was rewarded for his victories by being appointed dictator for 10 years. In 45 B.C., after crushing the last of the opposition armies in Africa and Spain, he was made dictator for life.

Rule and Assassination

During his administration of Rome, Caesar brought stability to the Roman world. He also reformed the calendar and greatly aided shipping by improving Mediterranean ports. He planned a number of projects, such as draining the Pontine marshes, making simple explanations of the laws available to the citizens, and establishing public libraries. But he was assassinated before he could proceed with these plans. On the Ides of March (March 15), 44 B.C., Caesar was stabbed to death by conspirators who considered him a tyrant. One of these was a friend, Marcus Brutus. Uttering the reproach, “Et tu, Brute!” (You, too, Brutus!), Caesar fell at the base of the statue of Pompey, his former associate and enemy.

Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra are plays about this great Roman.