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Julius Caesar
• Julius Caesar was born to a Roman patrician family
in 100 B.C.E.
• Early on, Caesar proved to be a smart and decisive
leader. He was very popular and rose to the position
of Pontifex Maximus at the age of 37 in 63 B.C.E.
• At this time, the republic was in trouble. Three
people were trying to take control of it, including
Caesar.
• Crassus was a wealthy and powerful Roman. He
was made consul in 70 B.C.E. Crassus is most
famous for putting down the slave revolt led by
Spartacus in 71 B.C.E.
• Spartacus was a gladiator who escaped and then led
a slave revolt for two years. He freed other slaves
and built his army up to roughly 70,000, terrorizing
the Roman countryside.
• Crassus finally put down the revolt in 71 B.C.E. As
a warning to all, Crassus crucified the slaves, one
every 30 yards along the Appian Way from Rome
for 100 miles to Capua.
• Also seeking power was the great General Pompey.
Pompey was a famous general conquering many
places, including Judea. He was consul along with
Crassus in 70 B.C.E.
• Caesar had also proven himself and was elected
consul in 59 B.C.E.
• Caesar, Pompey and Crassus informally decided
to share the power to control Rome. This agreement
is known as the First Triumvirate.
• It was not an easy alliance. Caesar was given a
military command in Gaul where he expanded
Roman territory to the Rhine in modern Germany
and across the English Channel to Britain.
• Crassus led a military campaign in Persia but was
killed in 53 B.C.E.
• With Crassus gone, Caesar and Pompey competed
against each other for control. In 49 B.C.E.,
Pompey convinced the Senate to pass a law that
declared Caesar would be prosecuted as a criminal if
he returned to Rome.
• As Caesar crossed the border into Italy with his
army, technically making him a hostile invader, he is
alleged to have said, “The die is cast.”
• Caesar attacked Pompey’s forces swiftly and ran them out
of Rome. He tried to cut Pompey off as they fled Italy but
he was too late.
• Pompey reassembled his army in Greece while
Caesar went back to Rome to shore up his political
support. Then he went after Pompey again.
• First, Caesar attacked Pompey supporters in Spain.
Then, he shocked Pompey again by sailing seven
legions into Greece in the dead of winter.
• Although Pompey’s army was twice as big as
Caesar’s, and his cavalry seven times that of
Caesar’s, Pompey was too cautious and used neither
to his advantage.
• Pompey fled to Egypt where he was killed as soon
as he stepped off the boat.
• At the time, Ptolemy XIII and his sister, Cleopatra
were fighting for the throne of Egypt. In an attempt
to acquire Caesar’s allegiance, Ptolemy had
Pompey’s head cut off and presented it to Caesar as
a gift.
• Caesar was not pleased to receive the head of his
one time friend and subsequent rival. He placed
Cleopatra on the throne.
• Caesar returned to Rome in 47 B.C.E. to settle the
remnants of the civil war and unify the Roman
world under his control.
• Caesar solidified his control over Rome and all of its
territories. He made himself dictator perpetuus—
dictator for life—in 44 B.C.E.
• Many Romans were uncomfortable with Caesar’s
dictatorship and authoritarian control. They feared
that the republic was coming to an end.
• As a result, many Senators conspired to assassinate
Caesar shortly before he was to embark on a
military campaign in the east.
• On the Ides of March, March 15th, the Senators
requested Julius Caesar to meet with them, which he
did near the Theatre of Pompey.
• Beware the Ides of March. At the foot of the statue
of his old rival, Pompey, some 60 Senators stabbed
Julius Caesar to death.
• Although the Senators thought that they would be
hailed for saving the republic, the public was
enraged and a long civil war ensued. The republic
would never recover.
Roman Empire After Ceasar’s Death