Download Julius Caesar`s Background: The Rise to Power

Julius Caesar's Background: The Rise to Power
100 BC: Born Gaius Julius Caesar on July 13th, a month to later be named for
him, into a very politically minded family (Uncle Marius was the leader of an
extremist political party and highly distinguished Roman general), which traced
their ancestry to Iulus, the son of Trojan War hero Aeneas.
84 BC: Caesar married Cornelia, daughter of a political ally of his uncle. They
had a daughter named Julia but divorced due to political pressure from his uncle's
enemy, Sulla, one of the ruling consuls of Rome.
80 BC: While serving in the military, Caesar showed great bravery during the
battle of Miletus. For his bravery, he received the corona civica (the oak crown),
the highest honor given to a non-commander in battle. When worn in public, even
in the presence of the Senate, all were forced to stand and applaud.
75 BC: Caesar left Rome for Rhodes where he became an excellent orator.
70 BC: Pompey, great military leader, and Crassus, Rome’s richest man, become consuls [highest elected official in
the Roman Republic; e.g. President of the United States].
63 BC: Caesar is elected Pontifex Maximus, the head of the Roman religion.
61 BC: Caesar was elected Governor of Spain (Roman Territory).
60 BC: Caesar returned to Rome to join a political alliance with Pompey and Crassus called the 1st Triumvirate.
59 BC: Caesar gave his daughter Julia to Pompey for marriage in return
for his political help in getting elected consul.
58 BC: Caesar was elected Governor of Gaul, which led to him
conquering barbaric tribes including the Celts and the Nervii.
56 BC: Caesar’s friends tried to gain him more power which angered
Pompey until a meeting at Luca between the 1st Triumvirate resulted in a
truce.
54 BC: Julia died during child birth.
53 BC: Crassus invaded the Parthian Empire in Syria and is killed at
Carrhae
52 BC: Pompey created a law that names him sole consul after he
squashed a slave revolt that threatened Rome. Anyone loyal to Caesar is
driven out of the senate.
51 BC: Jealous and threatened by Caesar’s power and popularity, Pompey has the Senate (merely puppets of his at
this point) demand Caesar give up his command and his army. Caesar, of course, refused.
49 BC: Caesar crossed the Rubicon River, the point at which no
Roman Army could cross, in an attempt to lure Pompey into a fight.
Pompey’s troops, however, were scattered over the empire, so he fled
to Greece. Caesar quickly established himself as Rome’s new master,
but he intended to destroy any threat Pompey could wage, so he
followed him to Greece.
48 BC: While on the way to Greece, Caesar is elected consul. Caesar’s
and Pompey’s armies battle on the Plains of Pharsullas. Caesar’s
troops destroyed Pompey’s forces, but Caesar did not execute the
survivors for treason. One such man, Marcus Brutus, was the son of
a woman Caesar had had an affair with years earlier.
The defeated general, Pompey, fled to Egypt, where he is assassinated by one of his own men. Egypt’s king, Ptolemy
XII, paid the soldier to kill Pompey, in an attempt to gain favor with Caesar for his civil war with Cleopatra, his
sister. Caesar arrived in Egypt and when given the head of Pompey became enraged about the dishonorable murder
of a fellow Roman general. Caesar removed Ptolemy XII from power and anointed Cleopatra (and Caesar’s lover) as
queen. While they never married, Cleopatra became Caesar's lover, bearing his only son, Ptolemy XV Caesar.
47 BC: In response to Caesar’s victory at Pharsullas, the Roman Senate elected him for a tenyear term.
45 BC: Julius Caesar named his great-nephew, Octavius (or Augustus), heir to all his power
in his will.
The Senate named him Dictator Perpetuus, or dictator for life. The citizens of Rome began
calling him Rex, or King, a title that he did not care like.
Feeling the threat from Pompey's allies and his two sons, Gnaus and Sextus, who gaining strength in Spain, Caesar
took an army to defeat them in Munda. With all of his enemies not taken removed from his path, Caesar felt he could
now rule Rome and the entire known world without having to constantly worry about overthrow. Little did he know a
plot to overthrow him was brewing within his own government and included someone he treated like his own son.
44 BC: Caesar returned to Rome after his defeat of Pompey's sons. [This is the point where Shakespeare choose to
begin his play based on the life and death of Julius Caesar]