Who was Julius Caesar?
Julius Caesar was a roman leader who was also a statesman and a general of Ancient Rome. he was a member of the First Triumvirate who significantly changed the geographic reach of Rome and expanded its empire that was later famously known as the Roman empire where he then implemented the imperial ruling. He is also considered as a great politician and scholar in Ancient Roman time who also conquered a widespread region of Gaul that brought an end to the Roman republic and became the dictator of the entire roman empire.
With a series of military victories in Gallic wars that ended in 51 BC, and allying with Crassus and Pompey, they together formed the First Triumvirate and became the first powerful political alliance that influenced and commanded Roman politics for several years. After he took over governmental control, he worked for many social and government reforms by establishing many reform programs like giving citizenship to recognize many residences of far states under the Roman empire, starting land reform programs to support veterans, creating Julian calendar etc. that made him very popular among a middle and upper section of people. His popularity and the powers of his empire angered many elites and he finally began a conspiracy that ended in the assassination of the great emperor by a group of senators who were guided by Cassius and Brutus who finally stabbed him to death.
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Image: Illustration of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar Early Life
According to the Julius Caesar biography, Caesar was allegedly the descendant of the legendary king named Trojan prince Aeneas and his birth marked the new beginning of Roman political history. Julius Caesar was born on July 13 of 100 BC. Julius Caesar was born to Gaus Julius Caesar who was his father and Aurelia Cottawho was his mother. He was the nephew of the famous general of Rome named Gaus Marius. Despite his bloodline being traced back to the origin of Roman noble heritage, he belonged to a non-influential and not even wealthy family.
In 85 BC when his father died suddenly in the middle of a civil war that was going on between Julius Caesar’s uncle Marius and the Roman ruler Lucius Cornelius Sulla, he became the head of the family at the age of 16. At that time both Sulla and Marius continued bloody exclusion of their opponents whenever either of them came into supremacy. Caesar was then nominated as the high priest of Jupiter when Marius and his ally Lucius Cornelius Cinna were in power and controlling the city and Caesar also went and married Cinna’s daughter Cornelia.
In 82 BC as Marius' opponent Sulla won the civil war he immediately targeted Caesar because of his connection to the old regime of Marius and ordered Caesar to divorce Cornelia. He was ready to give up his priesthood, inheritance, and the dowry of his wife but refused to divorce her and instead was forced to go into hiding. The threat over him was lifted due to the intervention=-0 of his mother’s family, which also comprised Sulla’s supporters. But caesar thought it would be safe to remain outside Rome and eventually joined the army and served Marcus Minucius Thermus in Asia and then Servilius Isauricus in Cilicia.
After the death news floated to Caesar during 78 BC, he then felt safe to return to Rome but it got difficult for him as he gave up on all his inheritance and finally landed in a modest house in Subaru which is known as a neighbourhood of lower-class dwellers. He then focused himself on legal advocacy and soon became a famous prosecutor because of his exceptional oratory with high pitched voice and exceptional impassioned gestures never went unnoticed.
Julius Caesar Political Career
The Political Establishment of Caesar
In Julius Caesar's biography, it was mentioned that as he was travelling to Rhodes in 75 BC to study oratory and philosophy, he was captured by the murderous pirates as he was ensuring through the Aegean Sea that fell in the route to Rhodes. It has also been mentioned in the Caesar biography that he enacted more like a dominating leader than a captive of the pirates. He was released after they received the right amount of ransom money against his captivity. But Caesar hired a private squadron to hunt down the pirates and executed them for the crime they committed. That was the first step towards his political career.
As he returned to Rome he was elected as the popular leader of the military that became his first step towards his political success. In 69 BC he was further elected as a leader who was responsible for taking care of the public revenue and the expenditure. After the death of Sulla followed by Caesar’s wife Cornelia just after a few years. Post her funeral, he went to serve as an official who was responsible for various government finances and its administration in various states along with military control in Hispania during the spring and early summer of 69 BC. he married Pompeia, the granddaughter of Sulla and close relative of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus with whom he formed a strong political alliance but soon divorced her in 61 BC post the Bona Dea scandal.
Julius Caesar was appointed as Curule aedile in 65 BC and conducted lavish games that helped him gain a lot of attention and popular support but put him into huge debt. Later he stood for an election for the post of Pontifex Maximus who is considered as the chief priest of Roman state religion and won the election. Later in 62 BC, he was elected as a governor of the Western region of the Iberian Peninsula but he needed to settle the debts to win the confidence of his creditors before he left. So he turned to the richest man of Rome named Marcus Licinius Crassus who paid for many of his debts and became a guarantor in return for his support in the interest of the political administration of Pompey.
The First Triumvirate
The following year he was appointed as the governor of Spain after he carried out a series of successful and manoeuvring military operations. He along with the support of Marcus Licinius Crassus and Pompey established a political empire and was elected as a senior Roman ambassador in 59 BC. With the marriage of Caesar's daughter Julia with Pompey, three of them made a strong informal alliance known as the First Triumvirate that soon controlled the entire Rome and its extended regions.
Caesar Governing Gaul
Caesar soon became the governor of the entire region of Gaul in 58 BC where he directed a large squad of the army. He carried out some of the brilliant military operations and campaigns that were harsh and even ruthless to stabilize and conquer the regions of Gaul during the Gallic Wars and ended up with a recognition of a formidable and merciless military head.
Then he went further by building a bridge on the Rhine River to the Germanic territory to intrude into Britain crossing the English Channel. But his great winning and successes in Britain resulted in resentment from Pompey that complicated the situation because of the already bitter relationship shared between Crassus and Pompey.
With taking the control of Gaul, the political situation of Rome started becoming more volatile as Pompey became the lone consul. After the death of Julia, Pompey’s wife in 54 BC followed by the death of Cracuss in 53 BC, Pompey joined hands with the opponents of Caesar and confronted him to give his army and return to Roam which Caesar firmly refused. He then took a bold and decisive step to order his army to cross the Rubicon river to enter Italy. There a civil war was triggered between his supporters and army with that of Pompey’s and other opponents. From there Caesar along with his army chased down Pompey’s army to Spain, Greece and finally ended in Egypt.
Julius Caesar and Cleopatra
To prevent Caesar from taking entire control of Egypt the ruler of Egypt named Pharaoh Ptolemy Vlll killed Pompey on 28th September 48 BC and gave Caesar the head of Pompey on his entering into Egypt. But soon he was caught in a civil war between Ptolemy Vlll and Cleopatra who was Egyptian co-regent. Soon he fell in love with Cleopatra and helped her bring down Ptolemy Vlll to become the ultimate emperor of Egypt. Though they were never married with their long term partnership, they had a son named Ptolemy XV Caesar known as Caesarion.
Then he spent a few years swiping out his enemies and taking over his ruling that included a few of the supporters of Pompey in the Middle East, Africa and Spain. In 46 BC he was finally declared as the dictator of Rome and he remained as such for the next 10 years where he made all the efforts to bring to an end the Roman Republic. Caesar then made many reforms in order to benefit the lower and middle class of Rome like
Regulating the distribution process of the grains at subsidized prices.
Government debt reduction
Reforms to support military veterans.
Acknowledging the people of the far territories of Rome by granting them citizenship.
Improve the Roman tax code
Designed Julian calendar
Julius Caesar Death
In 44 BC, Caesar declared himself as the dictator of Rome for life and his aspiration and drive to take over other cities for the ultimate power of becoming a King annoyed and implanted fear in the hearts of the opponents that included many Roman politicians. Thus they conspired against him. On the 15th of March 44 BC, a group of senators led by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus and Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus stabbed him 23 times as he fell off on the floor of the senate at the feet of the status of Pompey leading to the end of his life and reign.
Julius Caesar Short Biography Play
William Shakespeare ends up writing a short biography on Julius Caesar in the form of a play in 1599 named “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”. This story was set in 44 BC where a politician named Brutus conspired against Caesar and made plots to assassin him with others who were not in support of Julius. It also portrays the aftermath of Julius' death as well. This play was launched on the stage of Global theatre and since then it has continued to attract audiences from all over the world and mesmerize their rendition of the novel, inspirational songs, television shows and comedy acts.
Julius Caesar Biography Summary
He was the supreme dictator of Old Rome and had been a fearless leader who led many military operations and won over many emperors. He enters into the world of politics and changes the entire face of politics by making many reforms that made him popular and wanted by the middle and lower class of the society. He had an immense desire to take the ultimate power to rule the nations and declared himself the ruler of Rome for life in 44 BC. Though he was considered as the descendant of the royals of Rome, he didn’t belong to any influential family or wealth to by birth but he made his way up by himself and aligned with other three prime rulers to establish The First Triumvirate that became the first step towards his successful political story. But he was assassinated and stabbed multiple times to death by the other senators and politicians who were threatened and annoyed with his prowess. That had brought an end to his reign.
FAQs on Julius Caesar Biography
Did Julius Caesar's autobiography exist?
The texts that were self-written by Caesar about most of his public events that included many of his own quotes became the primary source in reconstructing his biography.
What is Julius Caesar famous for?
He was a dictator, a scholar and a famous politician of Rome who took over Rome and its extended territories by conducting a series of military operations that were led by Caesar himself and it started by conquering a vast area of Gaul.
How was Julius Caesar as emperor and leader?
He was both in good light and bad light. His capability to rise quickly through the steps of the government system made him desirable and he was also considered ruthless in terms of carrying and leading military operations. He had an aspiration to be the ultimate ruling power. But on the other hand, he made some drastic reforms in governing systems that benefited the middle and lower classes of Rome to its extended territories.
