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Caesar, Julius (100–44 B.C.)
Caesar, Julius (100–44 B.C.), one of the most famous men of antiquity who was dictator of
Rome, a renowned general, and man of letters.
Gaius Julius Caesar was born on July 12, 100 B.C. His family, the gens Julia, was ancient and
patrician, but at the time of his birth it was only beginning to reemerge as an influential family
in Roman politics. Caesar's aunt Julia married Marius, the successful general and leader of the
Popularis party. Caesar's anti-Senatorial attitude was at least partially the result of his
relationship to Marius.
Early Career
Caesar went in 81 to the province of Asia. Later he served under the proconsul of Cilicia, but in
78, after he heard of Sulla's death, he returned to Rome. In Rome he sought popularity through
his oratory in the law courts; and finally, to improve his oratory, he left Rome again in 75 and
went to Rhodes to study under the famous rhetorician Apollonius Molon.
Nothing of great historical significance happened to him after that until his election to the
quaestorship in 69 (for the year 68). He served in Farther Spain. In 66, Caesar ran for the
aedileship, and his campaign was financed by one of the richest and most powerful men in
Rome, Crassus. As aedile, Caesar was responsible for supervising the public games, and with
Crassus' money he sponsored spectacular contests to gain the favor of the populace. In 63 he
was elected pontifex maximus. Then, in 62, he became praetor. In 61, Caesar became propraetor
of Farther Spain, and after some military expeditions he returned to Rome to celebrate a
triumph and run for the consulship.
The First Triumvirate
This was the great turning point in his career. According to Roman law a general had to stay
outside the city until the day of his triumph, but a candidate for the consulship had to present
himself before the magistrates in the city. Caesar asked permission to stand for the consulship
while remaining outside Rome so that he could celebrate his triumph. The Senate refused.
Caesar then gave up his triumph to seek the consulship, but he was now alienated from the
Senate. He began to negotiate with Pompey the Great, who was seeking land for his veterans
and ratification of the arrangements he had made in the east after his successful campaign
against Mithridates. The Senate had also alienated Pompey
by refusing his requests. Crassus, who had recently been rebuffed by the Senate, joined Caesar
and Pompey. The three formed an unofficial political coalition, called the First Triumvirate, and
decided to control Roman politics. Pompey could provide the soldiers and Crassus the money,
and Caesar had popularity.
In 59, Caesar aquired additional territories after the death of the governor of Transalpine Gaul.
The acquisition of these provinces was of great advantage to Caesar. It gave him an opportunity
to recruit and train an army, and he would be in an ideal location to march on Rome whenever
he wished. Until this time he had had only popularity; henceforth he had popularity and armed
might.
The Gallic Wars
For the next eight years (58–51) Caesar was occupied by the Gallic Wars, although he was
always in close contact with developments in Rome. By 51, except for occasional local
rebellions, the conquest of Gaul was complete. Caesar's army was highly trained and well
disciplined and fanatically loyal to him. His military exploits, particularly the invasion of
Britain, made him even more popular with the people.
The Dissolution of the Triumvirate
Meanwhile in Rome political events of great magnitude were taking place. The First
Triumvirate was falling apart because of the quarrels of Pompey and Crassus. There was rioting
in the city, and members of the Senate were beginning to attack Caesar. Therefore, in 56 he
called a meeting of the First Triumvirate in the city of Luca (now Lucca) in his own province of
Cisalpine Gaul. The triumvirs met secretly, patched up the Triumvirate, and made certain
decisions that were to determine the fate of the Roman republic.
It was agreed that Pompey and Crassus should be consuls in 55, and afterward Pompey was to
receive the two Spains as his provinces, while Crassus would get Syria. Each of them received
his provincial commands for a five-year period. Caesar's own commands were extended for five
years (until March 1, 50). Pompey was given the privilege of remaining in Italy and governing
his Spanish provinces through legates.
At this point the First Triumvirate seemed to be strong again. But the appearance was deceptive.
In 54, Julia, Pompey's wife and Caesar's daughter, died, and one real bond between the two men
was lost. In the following year Crassus was killed at the Battle of Carrhae, during his attempted
invasion of the Parthian Empire. Only Caesar and Pompey remained, and the senators at Rome
immediately began to drive a wedge between them.
Because of rioting in the city it was impossible to hold the consular elections for the year 52.
The Senate, which preferred Pompey to Caesar, secured a sole consulship for Pompey and gave
him extraordinary powers to protect the city. At this time Julius
Caesar was concerned about a constitutional matter: his command in Gaul was coming to an
end, and he did not want to lay it down to become a private citizen. If he did so, he would be
liable to prosecution in the courts for any illegal acts he had committed as a magistrate, but as
long as he held public office he could not be sued. He wanted to be elected to a second
consulship while he was still proconsul of Gaul. However the holding of both offices was
illegal.
Pompey was moving more and more into an alliance with the senatorial faction. To avoid war,
Caesar made one last offer to lay down his command if Pompey would also. This was again
refused, and on January 10, Caesar crossed the Rubicon, the river that separated his province
from Italy, and the Civil War began. Caesar is reputed to have said, "The die is cast."
Civil War
Caesar moved with lightning rapidity down the east coast of Italy. He took Picenum and
Corfinium while Pompey withdrew with his entire force to Brundisium and sailed to Greece.
Almost overnight, Caesar became the master of Italy. But he was by no means in an enviable
position. Pompey controlled Spain on one side of Italy and secured a stable base in Greece on
the other side. In addition he had control of the sea. Caesar was virtually surrounded.
He decided to strike first at Pompeian forces in Spain. After a short but difficult campaign he
was successful and finally could begin plans to defeat Pompey in Greece. Early in 48 he sailed
across the Adriatic and faced Pompey at Dyrrhachium. But Pompey cut off his supplies, and
after several difficult weeks Caesar was forced to break away and head east toward Thessaly,
where he could feed his army.
Pompey followed and camped opposite Caesar at Pharsalus. In the battle that followed, Caesar
was victorious, and Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was murdered by the Egyptians. Caesar
arrived three days later to find Egypt in political chaos. The young Ptolemy XIII and his
advisers were quarreling with his sister Cleopatra. Ptolemy's advisers turned against Caesar and
besieged him in the palace quarters of Alexandria during the winter of 48–47. Caesar
championed Cleopatra's cause, and when his reinforcements arrived, he defeated Ptolemy.
Cleopatra became the real ruler of Egypt. Caesar lingered with her for a while, obviously
enchanted by her charms, but eventually he had to leave for Asia Minor where Pharnaces, the
son of Mithridates, was in revolt. Caesar defeated him within five days; this victory was the
occasion for his famous "Veni, vidi, vici" ("I came, I saw, I conquered").
The Consolidation of Victory
Throughout this period and in the few months remaining to him after his final victory over the
Pompeian forces, despite his preoccupation with warfare he effected numerous
reforms in Rome and Italy. In 46 he reformed the Roman calendar; the Julian calendar is still
the basis of our calendar today. To ease economic burdens, he remitted approximately one
quarter of the principal of debts, and later all of the interest that had accrued since the beginning
of the Civil War. He cut the number of citizens eligible for the grain dole from 320,000 to
150,000. He inaugurated a building program and passed laws to regulate traffic and open spaces
and to provide for the upkeep of roads. The system of taxation in some of the provinces was
reformed, and Roman citizenship was generously bestowed on many provinces. Colonies were
founded for his veterans and the surplus population of the city.
Personal Characteristics
Julius Caesar was one of the most remarkable men in antiquity or in any period. He was a
highly successful general. As a strategist and tactician he fell short of greatness, but he made up
for that with speed and boldness as well as courage. His ability as a statesman did not have the
opportunity to develop, but all signs indicate that he was extremely sensitive to social and
economic problems and was also bold enough to attempt new solutions. As a politician,
however, he became too overbearing. The poet Lucan compared him to a bolt of lightning,
saying, "Nothing may stand against it, either during that furious progress through the clouds, or
when it bursts against the earth and at once recomposes its scattered fires."
Caesar is important not only as a statesman and a general, but also as a man of letters. His
Commentaries on the Gallic and Civil wars are still widely read today. They were written in a
very clear and direct prose style famous for its affected objectivity. In them Caesar referred to
himself as "he" or as "Caesar," but not as "I." The simplicity and directness of their style have
made the Commentaries popular with teachers of beginning Latin classes. In the field of oratory
he was regarded as second only to Cicero.
Arther Ferrill University of Washington
How to cite this article:
MLA (Modern Language Association) style:
Ferrill, Arther. "Caesar, Julius (100–44 B.C.)." Encyclopedia Americana. 2009. Grolier Online.
20 Oct. 2009 <http://ea.grolier.com/article?id=0070080-00>.