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Julius Caesar Julius Caesar, one of Ancient Rome's most famous individuals, was born in 100 BC - or near to that year. Julius Caesar joined the Roman Army in 81 BC and was the first Roman army commander to invade England which he did in 55 BC and again in 54 BC. Caesar was born into a wealthy family and he was a well educated child who was good at sport. After serving in the Roman Army, Caesar developed an interest in politics. He became a driven man who wanted to get to the highest positions in Roman politics. In 65 BC, Caesar was appointed an 'adele' and put in charge of public entertainment in Rome. This was a very important position as the citizens of Rome expected quality entertainment. It was believed by those who ran Rome that the people could be kept happy and content if they had access to varied and enjoyable entertainment. Caesar took to the post with zeal. He borrowed large sums of money to ensure that the entertainment he provided was the best money could buy. He put on games and festivals for the people. As a result, he became very popular with the poor of Rome - a considerable part of the city's population. He also courted the friendship of Rome's richest man, Crassus. The First Triumvirate, consisting of Julius Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey, came to power in 59 BC when Caesar was elected consul. The Triumvirate reform program was enacted and Caesar got himself appointed governor of Illycrium and Gaul. The way to power in Rome was through military conquest; this gave the general a loyal army, wealth (from the conquered), and popularity and prestige at home. So the governorship of Illycrium and Gaul allowed Caesar to become the general and conqueror he so desperately desired to become. Now the Romans really had no reason to conquer northern and central Europe; the people who lived there, the Germans and the Celts, were a tribal, semi-nomadic people. The province of Illycrium provided enough of a territorial buffer to defuse any threat from these people. In a series of fairly brilliant campaigns, Julius added a considerable amount of territory to the Roman Empire. Caesar was a brilliant general and commanded an army of over 50,000 loyal men. His success at a military level all but guaranteed the loyalty of his soldiers. But he was seen by some as a cruel man solely driven by expanding his own personal power. As a result, he made enemies of important politicians in Rome itself. Some senior army generals, such as Pompey, were also very concerned about Caesar's intentions. When he had finished his conquests, however, the Triumvirate had dissolved and Pompey had turned against Julius and had roused the Senate against him. The Senate declared Julius an enemy of the state and demanded that he hand over his generalship and province. He refused. Instead Caesar advanced on Italy but paused at the line that divided France (Gaul) and Italy - the River Rubicon which separated his province from Italy. Roman law said that a governor was not allowed to leave his province. Caesar ignored this law, crossed the Rubicon and advanced to confront his enemies in Rome., thus committing a grave crime against the state. The Civil War started the minute the first of his legions had finished crossing the Rubicon. The war was fought between these two great generals, Pompey and Caesar, but in 48 BC, Caesar defeated Pompey at Pharsalus in Greece. Shortly thereafter Pompey was assassinated by the Egyptians among whom he had sought refuge. Caesar then turned his forces towards Asia Minor in a conquest that was so swift that Caesar described it in three words: "Veni, vidi, vici" ("I came, I saw, I conquered"). Caesar returned to Rome in 46 BC and had the Senate appoint him dictator for ten years; he was given imperium over the Roman Empire and was, for all practical purposes, above the law and the constitution. Two years later he was appointed dictator for life, and he quickly assumed all the important offices in the government. He reformed the government in many ways. He halved the number of those receiving the free hand-outs of corn, changed taxation, brought the Senate up from 600 to 900 members and began to recruit senators from outside Italy. More importantly, he granted citizenship to non-Italians (Marius had extended Roman citizenship to non-Roman Italians in the Social War of 91BC), meaning that conquered peoples could share in the benefits of being Roman. Caesar's absolute power, imperium for life (which made him imperator , or Emperor, of Rome), looked suspiciously like a monarchy, which, for all practical purposes, it was. The Romans, proud of their Republican tradition, deeply resented his power, and in 44 BC, on the Ides of March (March 15), a group of conspirators, led by Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus, assassinated Caesar as he entered the Senate in his usual manner: with no bodyguards or protection. Aside from being one of the major historical figures, Caesar's life affects us today. He drew up the Julian Calendar, redefining the lengths of the months and setting a year of 365.25 days. Previously the Roman calendar consisted of 355 days, with 12 months and an extra month every now and then to make up for deficiencies. To rectify problems before the institution of the new calendar, Caesar added four months to 46 BC. This new calendar - with modifications - is the foundation for the calendar we use today. Caesar also managed to get the seventh month named after himself - July. His name is given to the encryption process known as the 'Caesar Cipher'. And of course, he is rumored to have been the first person to be born using a special method to which he has also given his name - the Caesarean Section. Julius Caesar