Gaius Julius Caesar (born: 100 BC, died: 44 BC) was a Roman consul, General, and statesman. He became renowned for having conquered the Transalpine Gaul in 51 BC and defeated the Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix at the Battle of Alesia in 52 BC. He was murdered by Senators who had conspired to eliminate him in 44 BC. After the conquest of French Gaul, he went back to Rome with his legions, pronouncing the historically famous, Latin phrase 'alea iacta est' (the die is cast) when he crossed the Rubicon River.
Julius Caesar was born on July 12, 100 BC, into the gens Julia, which was an important patrician family. Caesar's father governed the province of Asia, and Caesar's aunt, married Gaius Marius, one of the most prominent figures in the Roman Republic. His mother, Aurelia Cotta, also came from a patrician family. Since he and his family was being persecuted by Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who had won the civil war by defeating Gaius Marius, Julius Caesar was forced to leave Rome for Asia Minor. After Sulla’s death in 78 BC, Caesar returned to Rome and began his political career with speeches against his political opponents, who had been accused of extortion in the provinces.
Julius Caesar became a military tribune in 73 BC and fought to restore the rights of the tribunes of the people, which had been curtailed by Sulla. He also sought to restore the position of the Marians, who had been persecuted during Sulla’s dictatorship, and even praised the name of Marius. In 68 BC, he was made a quaestor. After being elected an aedile in 65 BC, Caesar staged expensive spectacles, lavish theatrical shows, gladiatorial combats, and public dinners, winning popularity among wide circles of the Roman citizenry. He was elected a praetor for the year 72 BC and later served two years as governor of the Roman province of Hispania Ulterior, where he demonstrated extraordinary administrative and military ability.
To strengthen his political position and ensure his election as consul, Gaius Julius Caesar entered into an alliance in 60 BC with the most influential political leaders of the day, Pompey the Great and Marcus Crassus, thus forming the First Triumvirate. In 59 BC, when he was already consul, he promulgated several laws designed to strengthen the government and resolve certain social problems. Approximately 20,000 citizens (Pompey’s veterans and fathers with at least three children) received portions of land in Campania; in the interests of the publicans the purchase price of the tax-farming contract in Asia was lowered by one-third. After his consulship, Caesar succeeded in having himself appointed as governor of Cisalpine Gaul and, subsequently, of Narbonensis (Transalpine Gaul), with the right to recruit legions and wage war. In the course of his Gallic campaigns of 58–51 BC, Caesar conquered all of Transalpine Gaul from Bélgica to Aquitania (today's France), defeating Vercingetorix in Alesia in 52 BC. While in Gaul, Caesar skillfully interfered in the political struggle in Rome.
The death of Crassus in 53 B.C. led to the disintegration of the triumvirate, which was also facilitated by increasingly strained relations between Caesar and Pompey, each of whom was striving for sole power. The hostility between them was complicated by the acute political struggle between the adherents of traditional senatorial, republican rule (optimates) and the populares (supported by the popular assemblies). The conservative senatorial republicans were led by Pompey, and Caesar headed the opposition. After smashing Pompey’s troops and political allies at Ilerda (49 BC), Pharsalus (48 BC), Thapsus (46 BC), and Munda (45 BC), Caesar found himself at the head of the Roman state. His power was expressed in the traditional republican forms: he exercised the plenipotentiary powers of a dictator in 49 BC, and from 44 BC for life), the permanent power of a tribune (from 48 BC), and other plenipotentiary powers. In 44 he became censor for life, and all his decrees were approved in advance by the Senate and the Popular Assembly.
Having concentrated all power in his own hands, Caesar became a de facto monarch, although he retained the republican form of rule. He was awarded the external tokens of monarchical power: a gilded chair, an honorary chariot, special clothing and footwear, and residence on the Palatine Hill. A statue was erected in his honor with the inscription “He is a demigod,” and the days of his victories were proclaimed public holidays. Caesar’s monarchical tendencies provoked powerful opposition among the republican-minded aristocracy and even among some of his own former supporters. As a result, a conspiracy of more than 80 persons was organized against him, headed by G. Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus. Caesar was killed on the ides of March (March 15) in 44 BC, during a Senate session.
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| Above, marble bust of Gaius Julius Caesar, which was found in Chiaramonti, Sardinia, dating back to 30 BC. |