Julius Caesar: Almost An Emperor Page 1
Julius Caesar: Almost An Emperor
Roman General and Dictator ©2009 Firebrand Cover Photo: Claudia Meyer
Julius Caesar: Almost An Emperor Page 2
Caesar belonged to one of the old patrician families of Rome. From his youth he was associated with the so-called popular party led by Lucius Cornelius Cinna and Gaius Marius, Caesar's uncle. Before 84 B.C. he married Cornelia, the daughter of Cinna. Lucius Cornelius Sulla of the conservative senatorial party became dictator in 82 B.C. Sulla ordered Caesar to divorce Cornelia. When Caesar refused to comply, his property was confiscated, and he was forced to flee Rome. For the next three years served with distinction in the Roman army. He then went to Greece to study philosophy and oratory. Sulla later pardoned Caesar, and he returned to Rome. Caesar and Cornelia had a daughter, Julia. Cornelia died about 68 B.C. In 65 B.C., he was elected to direct public works and games. In 69 he was quaestor in Hither Spain; aedile in 65, when he added still further to his enormous debts by lavish expenditure on public entertainments and buildings; and in 63 he was chosen pontifex maximus. In 60 B.C., Caesar allied himself with Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus Pompey in the First Triumvirate, an alliance that ruled Rome. Crassus was a man of enormous wealth and political ambition. Pompey had returned from Asia Minor in 62 B.C. as a great military leader and the idol of the people. Caesar was elected consul for 59 B.C. and forced through a land measure that would benefit Pompey's veterans, as well as a tax remission for the interests represented by Crassus. For himself, Caesar obtained a five-year governorship of the Roman provinces of Cisalpine Gaul, Transalpine Gaul, and Illyricum and the command of four legions. By training, Caesar was a politician rather than a soldier. But he knew he needed military fame and a loyal army to gain more power. In 58 B.C., Caesar began a campaign to conquer Gaul (France). It soon became clear that he was a military genius. During his nine years in Gaul, Caesar lost only two battles in which he personally took part. He conquered all territory east to the Rhine River, drove the Germans out of Gaul, and crossed the Rhine to show them the might of Rome. He also invaded Britain twice, in 55 and 54 B.C. During Caesar's long absence from Rome the struggle for power in the capital had continued. Although the triumvirate agreement among Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus had been renewed in 56 B.C., each of the three men was pursuing his own ambitions. After the death of Crassus in 53 B.C., rivalry between Caesar and Pompey increased. Pompey adopted a more conciliatory position toward the senatorial party, which was eager to use him against Caesar. In 50 B.C., when Caesar demanded the right to canvass for the consul#ship while he was away from Rome, a right that had been promised him, the senate countered with an order that he first give up command of his army. In January 49 B.C., Caesar took his army into Italy across the Rubicon, a small stream on the southern border of Cisalpine Gaul. The civil war had begun. Caesar led a swift and triumphal march to Rome. Most of the senate fled the city, and Pompey, unwilling to fight in Italy since his troops were disorganized, sailed for Greece. Thus, Caesar was virtually unopposed. After a two-month campaign he was master of Italy. Since Pompey's forces still controlled Spain, Africa, and the East, Julius Caesar: Almost An Emperor Page 3
Caesar proceeded immediately to Spain. After being ousted by Pompey before Dyrrhachium, he routed him at the great battle of Pharsalus (9 August 48). Pompey fled to Egypt, but was murdered before Caesar's arrival. There, Caesar met and fell in love with Cleopatra. Before returning to Rome, Caesar won the war he fought to make Cleopatra ruler of Egypt. He later brought her to Rome. Caesar won his next victory in 47 B.C., over Pharnaces II, King of Pontus. Veni, vidi, vici ("I came, I saw, I conquered") was Caesar's brief but meaningful dispatch to the Roman Senate, reporting this victory at Zela in what is now northwestern Turkey. Pompey's forces reorganized after the death of their leader. But, in 46 B.C., at Thapsus in northern Africa, Caesar defeated them decisively. Cato the Younger, one of Pompey's supporters, killed himself when he heard of the defeat. In 45 B.C. at Munda, Caesar defeated the two sons of Pompey. This was his last battle. He pardoned the followers of Pompey. The people honored Caesar for his leadership and triumphs by granting him the powers of dictator for 10 years. Later, he was made dictator for life. On 15 February 44, at the festival of Lupercalia, Mark Antony offered Caesar a crown. Because the Romans hated kings, Caesar refused the crown. Although he repeatedly refused the title of king, he was widely suspected of having imperial designs. His friends, who may have feared for the fate of the country or who perhaps wanted more power for themselves, were among the leaders of the opposition to Caesar. Back again in Rome, as undisputed master of the Roman world, Caesar was appointed dictator for ten years. The crowning victory, however, had yet to be achieved. Pompey's two sons, Gnaeus and Sextus, deter#mined to make a last stand in Spain. Caesar annihilated their forces at Munda on 17 March 45. Although he carried out many necessary reforms, Caesar was tactless in his use of power and abused powers conferred on him by the existing organs of government. By personally appointing his friends to high political positions and openly demonstrating that he had little or no respect for the Senate, he offended many members. Caesar was nevertheless offered a crown which he rejected in February 44 but was later ap#pointed dictator for life. On 15 March 44, at a meeting of the Senate, he was murdered by a group which included his own former officers and pardoned political prisoners who had supported Pompey. Brutus, Cassius and his fellow conspirators assassinated Caesar at the foot of Pompey's statue in the senate house. In the words of Cicero, the great Roman statesman and philosopher and an old enemy of Caesar's and a supporter of his assassins, "the Ides of March have given us nothing beyond the pleasure and the satisfaction of our hatred and indignation." As an orator, Caesar ranked second only to Cicero. Caesar is also famous as a writer. His Commentaries on the Gallic War describes his conquests in Gaul. The clear, direct style of this work makes it a model of historical writing. Caesar's death, however, far from restoring the republic, brought a new period of anarchy and civil war that did not end until his great-nephew and adopted heir, Octavian (later Augustus), defeated Mark Antony in 31 B.C and with his triumph the Roman Empire was born.
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Related Information
1. 2. 3. 4. http://hubpages.com/hub/caesar http://knol.google.com/k/start-point/julius-caesar-almost-an-emperor http://www.squidoo.com/caesar http://www.scribd.com/doc/22001304/Ancient-Rome
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