Download Julius Caesar rose to power during the period called the

Background for Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar rose to power during the period called the Late Republic,
when military commanders used their troops to take control of the
government. There was, however, a major difference between Caesar and
the generals who preceded him (Sulla, Marius, and Pompey, for example).
The difference was the improvements Caesar made in the Rome he loved.
To enhance Rome physically, Caesar embarked on an extensive building
and engineering program. His new, colonnaded Forum Iulium (Julian
Forum) showcased spectacular buildings. They were set around a new
temple dedicated to Venus Genetrix (Venus the Mother), the goddess
from whom Caesar’s family claimed descent.
Additionally, great public works were undertaken. Rome was a city of
great urban sprawl and unimpressive brick architecture, and desperately
needed a renewal. A new Rostra of marble was built, along with
courthouses and marketplaces. A public library under the great scholar
Marcus Terentius Varro was also under construction. The Senate house,
the Curia Hostilia, which had been recently repaired, was abandoned for
a new marble project to be called the Curia Julia. The city Pomerium
(sacred boundary) was extended, allowing for additional growth.
Caesar also had plans to construct an entire public library system and a
new canal near Rome to improve transportation. To ensure that Rome
would become a center of learning, Caesar conferred privileges to all
teachers of the liberal arts. Although he was unable to complete these
projects, they set the stage for the glorious building program of Caesar’s
successor, Augustus.
Bolstering the morale of the people was an important aspect of Caesar’s
improvements. After decades of Rome’s physical destruction during the
civil wars, citizens could now see their city rebuilt and take pride in its
beautification. Caesar also made them feel a part of what was happening,
because he had Senate and court proceedings published daily.
Determined to help Rome’s economic conditions, Caesar initiated several
reforms. He reduced the amount of debt people owed. He also settled his
troops on land throughout Italy instead of burdening Rome with a larger
population. He even sent 80,000 of Rome’s poor and unemployed to
establish colonies throughout the provinces. The modern Spanish cities
of Seville, Tarragona, and Cartagena are three of the forty colonies
established under Caesar’s plan. He ordered cities like Carthage and
Corinth to be rebuilt and founded new towns, such as Arles and Seville.
In Asia Minor and Sicily, he introduced a new system of taxation, which
protected the subjects from extortion.
Caesar was the first Roman leader to address the feeling of
dissatisfaction among the Roman people so extensively. His resettlement
helped to relieve Rome of many discontented poor. Under revised rules,
ex-slaves could hold office in the colonies. The new settlers — many
former welfare recipients — saw hope for a better future. Such programs
also resulted in a reduction in the grain handed out to impoverished
people. In fact, under Caesar’s settlement plan, the grain dole was cut by
more than 50 percent.
To make these changes official and permanent, Caesar needed political
support. To achieve this, he increased the number of senators from 600
to 900, adding people who were not politicians—bankers and farmers, for
example—to the senatorial rank. Not only did this policy offer Roman
citizens the prospect of advancement, but it also created a broader-based
Senate, one that was more responsive to the needs of the people. He also
increased the number important government officials – praetores from
ten to twelve, aediles from four to six, and quaestores from twenty to
forty. The last measure granted some justice in provincial taxation, but
did not establish a serious professional bureaucracy as yet.
As part of Caesar’s reform agenda he also took on various social ills. He
passed a law that prohibited citizens between the ages of 20 and 40 from
leaving Italy for more than three years, unless on military assignment.
Theoretically, this would help preserve the continued operation of local
farms and businesses, and prevent corruption abroad. If a member of the
social elite did harm, or killed a member of the lower class, then all the
wealth of the perpetrator was to be confiscated. Caesar demonstrated
that he still had the best interest of the state at heart, even if he believed
that he was the only person capable of running it.
In 63 BC Caesar had been elected Pontifex Maximus, and one of his roles
as such was settling the calendar. A complete overhaul of the old Roman
calendar proved to be one of his most long lasting and influential
reforms. In 46 BC, Caesar established a 365-day year with a leap year
every fourth year (this Julian Calendar was subsequently modified by
Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 into the modern Gregorian calendar). As a
result of this reform, a certain Roman year (mostly equivalent to 46 BC in
the modern Calendar) was made 445 days long, to bring the calendar
into line with the seasons.
Nine veteran legions were finally disbanded in 45BCE. The soldiers who
had been with since the war in Gaul were paid an additional silver talent
(21 kg or the equivalent of 26 year's pay). Several legions were
constituted as a partial substitute. These moves reduced the potential for
civil wars in the future.
Debts were a serious problem, because interest had been sky-high
during the Civil War. Caesar disappointed radical reformers (like Marcus
Caelius Rufus) who had expected a total cancellation. Caesar decreed,
however, that the debtors should satisfy their creditors according to a
valuation of their possessions at the price which they had paid for them
before the civil war, deducting whatever interest already had been paid.
This arrangement wiped out about a fourth part of the debts.
As a legislator, Caesar prepared standard regulations for the municipal
constitutions and proposed a law against extravagance. The Jews – who
had helped him during the Egyptian campaign – were protected. He even
planned a codification of all existent Civil Law (a project not executed
until 438 CE).
Caesar's most important policy was his lavish granting of citizenship:
those who were subjected by the Romans could receive a set of extra civil
rights and a small share in the benefits of empire. During the Social War,
the Italian allies had received this Roman Citizenship from Caesar's
uncle; Caesar extended the privilege first to the Gauls along the Po, and –
later – to some Gauls that he had subdued. The inhabitants of many
individual towns received the privilege too. To the dismay of the old
aristocracy, Caesar even started to recruit new senators from outside
Italy.
Today, Caesar’s best-known project is his revision of the calendar, but
many of his endeavors paved the way for future changes. Even though he
died before all his reforms were implemented, his plans clearly showed
concern for the common citizen. In addition, his was a vision created and
directed by one man. This set an inspiring precedent for Augustus and
the emperors who ruled the Roman world for the next 1,500 years.