Download Name Period # ____ Hail Caesar! From Encyclopedia Britannica

Name ______________________________________________________________________________
Period # ____
Hail Caesar!
From Encyclopedia Britannica Student Edition Online Edition, “Caesar”
(102?-44 BC). Assassins ended the career of Julius Caesar before he had finished
his lifework. But what he accomplished made him one of the few men who
changed the course of civilization. Some historians consider him Rome’s greatest
genius. He was a soldier of remarkable ability, an accomplished scholar and
writer, and a statesman gifted with enormous insight. He changed the chaos of an
outworn system of government into the foundations of a new order that produced
the greatest of all ancient empires.
Hiding his serious character under a mask of light-hearted gaiety, Caesar made
himself a favorite with the people of Rome. When he was overseer of public
games (66 BC), he increased his popularity by preparing magnificent spectacles in the Circus Maximus
for the pleasure-loving Romans at the cost of crushing burden of debt for himself. The dignified Roman
senators would have scorned any suggestion that this careless young fop would someday be the conqueror
of the world. No one realized that his smiling manner covered a shrewd penetration and purpose. He saw
the rottenness of the exiting government and the need of a strong central power to save Rome from decay.
He felt that he was the one person to bring this change about. This was his determined aim and as a part
of his plan he formed a political alliance, a triumvirate, with the two most powerful men in Rome, the
wealthy Crassus and the popular general Pompey. As a result Caesar was elected consul in 59 BC. After
his year of office he decided to leave Rome to govern Gaul, the country that is now France.
Gaul gave Caesar the opportunity to show his great qualities as a leader, an organizer, and a general. He
so endeared himself to his soldiers that they would follow him anywhere. He worked with them, and
suffered the same hardships.
The Civil Wars
Meanwhile Crassus had been killed. Pompey, who had sided with Caesar’s enemies, was sole consul,
with enormous powers. The Senate declared Caesar a public enemy and ordered him to disband his army.
The river Rubicon marked the boundary between Caesar’s province and Italy. Crossing it with an army
meant declaring war on Rome. When Caesar reached the river (Jan. 10, 49 BC), he plunged his horse into
its shallow water and exclaimed, Alea jacta est (“The die is cast”). The expression “crossing the
Rubicon” is still used to describe an irreversible decision.
Pompey fled across the sea to Greece, keeping command of the fleet. Caesar seized the treasury in Rome
and set up a temporary government, with himself as dictator. Five years of civil war followed.
The Ides of March
In 44 BC Caesar was powerful enough to have himself made dictator for life. He planned to use his
power to put through many far-reaching and much-needed reforms. He thought of himself as a person of
high destiny and lived with pomp and ceremony. He offended the republicans – those who opposed the
establishment of a monarchy – by having his statue set up alongside the statues of the early kings of
Rome. However, he rejected a crown Marc Antony set on his head.
Sixty senators joined in a conspiracy to assassinate Caesar at a meeting of the Senate on the 15th, or the
Ides, of March 44 BC. In the group was Caesar’s friend Brutus, an impractical young republican.
Caesar disregarded the warning of his wife, Calpurnia, and went to the Senate chamber. As he entered, he
was surrounded by the conspirators. At a signal they drew their daggers and attacked. At first Caesar
tried to defend himself. When he saw Brutus with a dagger, he gave up the struggle, say “Et tu, Brute?”
(You too, Brutus?). He fell dead at the foot of Pompey’s statue.
The murder of Caesar deprived Rome of perhaps its greatest statesman and soldier. Caesar’s social and
political reforms as well as his military victories were notable. He instituted the Julian calendar, which
became the basis the calendar now used in most parts of the world. Shortly before his death Caesar drew
up a blueprint for the constitutions of the municipia, units of local self-government for Roman citizens.
He also increased the size of the Senate and made its composition more representative of the Roman
population.
Caesar’s murderers failed to save the republic, for 14 years later, Caesar’s nephew Octavian became
emperor of Rome. The next four emperors also belonged to the family of the Caesars. The imperial
name became a title of honor. It survived to World War I as the title of the German and Austrian ruler,
kaiser.
Directions: Use the reading to answer the questions below.
1. Why do historians consider Caesar “Rome’s greatest genius?”
2. How did Caesar mask his ambitions?
3. What did Caesar believe would save Rome from decay?
4. How did Caesar go about forming a strong central government?
5. When did Caesar become consul?
6. What did Gaul allow Caesar to do?
7. What member of Caesar’s triumvirate posed a threat to his dictatorship?
8. How does the expression “the die is cast” pertain to Caesar and general decision making?
9. What decisions did Caesar make that were good?
10. How did Caesar offend republicans?
11. When was Caesar killed and by whom?
12. What reforms did Caesar plan and enact that demonstrate his ability to govern an empire
effectively?
13. What even demonstrated that the assassins’ attempt to save the republic were useless?
14. Give an example of how Caesar’s name continued to be used while honoring future leaders.