Download The Twilight of the Roman Republic

“Hail Caesar!”
Caesar, Cicero, and the end of the Roman Republic
History 111: Lecture 31 (November 30, 2009):
One strongman leads to another: After Marius and Sulla
Pompey in the East: imperium infinitum (66-63 B.C.)
Politics makes strange bedfellows: The Catiline conspiracy, 63 BC
Catiline raises rebellion while Pompey’s army in the East
Plot suppressed by the consul, Marcus Tullius Cicero
The age of Cicero (106-43 BC)
A new man from provincial Italy
Speeches, letters, and philosophical treatises
Pompey returns from the East (62 BC), disbands his army
Julius Caesar, ally of Pompey, campaigns in Gaul (France)
Conquering omnia Gallia: Caesar’s history of his own campaign
News of triumphs ensure his popularity in Rome
The “First Triumvirate”: Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus
A new power triangle in a world of shifting political alliances
Crassus and the disaster at Carrhae (Harran)
The dogs of war: Caesar vs. Pompey
Alea iacta est: Caesar crosses the Rubicon
Caesar’s victory at Pharsalus (48 BC)
Settlement in the East, alliance with Cleopatra
Julius Caesar, dictator for life
Caesar’s policy agenda
Marcus Brutus and the Ides of March, 44 BC