Julius Caesar

"Gaius Julius Caesar" and "Caesar" also lead here. For the name, see Gaius Julius Caesar (name). For other uses, see Gaius Julius Caesar (disambiguation), Caesar (disambiguation), Julius Caesar (disambiguation), and Caesar (title).

Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general, statesman, and author. He was the dictator of the Roman Republic almost all the time from 49 BC until his assassination in 44 BC. He was a member of the First Triumvirate, and he led Roman armies through the Gallic Wars. He also defeated his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil war. He gained more power and was given the title dictator perpetuo in 44 BC. His actions helped create the political conditions that led to the collapse of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. Because of his role in these events, he is seen as one of history's most influential figures.

In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey formed the First Triumvirate, an informal political partnership that controlled Roman politics for several years. Many people in the Senate opposed their efforts to gain power, including Cato the Younger, who had the private support of Cicero. Caesar became one of the most powerful politicians in the Roman Republic after a series of military victories in the Gallic Wars, which were completed by 51 BC and greatly expanded Roman territory. During this time, he invaded Britain and built a bridge across the Rhine. His achievements, along with the loyalty of his veteran army, threatened to overshadow Pompey. The alliance between Caesar and Pompey slowly fell apart, and by 50 BC, Pompey had joined the Senate's side. When Caesar's command was ending and the Gallic Wars were mostly over, the Senate ordered him to give up his military command and return to Rome. In early January 49 BC, Caesar openly defied the Senate by crossing the Rubicon and marching towards Rome with an army. This act started Caesar's civil war, which he won. By 45 BC, he was in a position of almost unchallenged power and influence.

After taking control of the government and forgiving many of his enemies, Caesar carried out various reforms and public works. He created the Julian calendar to replace the republican lunisolar calendar, reduced the size of the grain dole, settled his veterans in new overseas colonies, greatly increased the size of the Senate, and gave citizenship to communities in Spain and what is now northern Italy. In early 44 BC, he was proclaimed "dictator in perpetuity." Many senators were afraid of his power, his control over the state, and the possibility that he might make himself king. A group of senators led by Brutus and Cassius assassinated Caesar on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC. A new series of civil wars broke out, and the constitutional government of the Republic was never fully restored. Caesar's great-nephew and adoptive heir, Octavian, later known as Augustus, rose to sole power after defeating his opponents thirteen years later. Octavian then worked to strengthen his power, turning the Republic into the Roman Empire, with himself as its first emperor.

Caesar was a skilled author and commentator, and much of what we know about his life comes from his own accounts of his military campaigns. Other sources from his time include the letters and speeches of Cicero and the historical writings of Sallust. Later biographies of Caesar by Suetonius and Plutarch are also important sources. Many historians consider Caesar to be one of the greatest military commanders in history. His cognomen later became a word meaning emperor. The title Caesar was used throughout the Roman Empire and led to modern words such as Kaiser and Tsar. He has frequently appeared in literary and artistic works.

Early life and career

Gaius Julius Caesar was born into a patrician family, the gens Julia, on 12 or 13 July 100 BC. The family claimed to have moved to Rome from Alba Longa after the third king of Rome, Tullus Hostilius, took and destroyed their city. They also claimed descent from Julus, the son of Aeneas, and so from Venus. Although the family had an old history, it was not especially powerful in politics during the middle republic. The first person known to have the cognomen Caesar was a praetor in 208 BC during the Second Punic War. Caesar's homonymous father was moderately successful in politics. He married Aurelia, from the influential Aurelii Cottae. Caesar's sister married the powerful Gaius Marius, and his father served on the Saturninian land commission in 103 BC. Caesar's father was also elected praetor between 92 and 85 BC.

During the rule of Lucius Cornelius Cinna, Caesar's father did not seek a consulship and chose retirement. Caesar was named flamen Dialis, a priest of Jupiter, and married Cinna's daughter, Cornelia. After Sulla won the civil war, he ordered Caesar to divorce her, but Caesar refused. He went into hiding until relatives and contacts among the Vestal Virgins helped reach a compromise. Caesar then served on the staff of the governor of Asia, Marcus Minucius Thermus, and at the Siege of Mytilene he won the civic crown for saving a fellow citizen. He later served under Publius Servilius Vatia and returned to Rome after Sulla's death in 78 BC. In the courts he tried to prosecute Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella, without success, and Gaius Antonius Hybrida, with success. He then went to Rhodes to study with Apollonius Molon, but he was captured by pirates. He was later freed. His studies were interrupted by the Third Mithridatic War.

While he was away from Rome in 73 BC, Caesar was added to the pontifices, a group of religious leaders. In 71 BC he was elected one of the military tribunes. The next year Pompey and Crassus became consuls, and Caesar supported laws that pardoned supporters of Lepidus' revolt. In 69 BC he served as quaestor in Hispania Ulterior. His wife Cornelia died after giving birth to their daughter Julia, and Caesar gave speeches at the funerals of Cornelia and his aunt Julia. At his aunt's funeral, he displayed images of Marius, whose memory had been hidden after Sulla's victory in the civil war. Caesar then married Pompeia. He supported Pompey for much of this time, including the lex Gabinia and the lex Manilia. In 65 BC, as curule aedile, he held lavish games that made him popular. In 63 BC he won election as pontifex maximus, the highest state religious official, and as praetor. He then faced the Catilinarian conspiracy and spoke in the Senate about how its members should be punished, and Cato later pushed the Senate toward execution. Caesar also became involved in the Bona Dea affair, in which Publius Clodius Pulcher entered Caesar's house during a women's religious ceremony. Caesar divorced Pompeia in response. After his praetorship he governed Hispania Ulterior and fought the Callaeci and Lusitani. He returned to Rome in 60 BC and had to choose between a triumph and running for consul. He chose the consulship.

First consulship and the Gallic Wars

Main articles: Military campaigns of Julius Caesar and First Triumvirate

Further information: First Triumvirate

Caesar won the consulship of 59 BC with support from Crassus, after Lucius Lucceius lost the vote. Instead, voters chose Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, one of Caesar's long-time enemies. Caesar then brought Pompey and Crassus together in an alliance that is often called the "First Triumvirate" today. Pompey wanted his eastern settlement approved, and Crassus wanted help for tax farmers in Asia. Caesar first had the Senate's minutes and assembly records published for the public. He then passed a land bill for Pompey's veterans and the urban poor, even after Bibulus threatened a veto and a riot broke out. Caesar's ally Publius Vatinius helped pass the lex Vatinia, which gave Caesar the provinces of Illyricum, Cisalpine Gaul, and later Transalpine Gaul for several years. Caesar also passed the lex Julia de repetundis to stop corruption in the provinces. Later, Publius Clodius Pulcher, a popular plebeian tribune, caused trouble for the alliance, and Caesar reported total victory and pacification in Gaul to Rome. In 55 BC, Pompey and Crassus were elected consuls with help from Appius Claudius Pulcher and his brother Clodius, and the lex Trebonia gave them commands in Spain and Syria. Crassus later died at the Battle of Carrhae at the hands of the Parthians.

Main article: Gallic Wars

During the Gallic Wars, Caesar wrote his Commentaries about his campaigns, which were admired as a Latin literary masterwork even in his own time. In 58 BC, he stopped the migrating Helvetii and defeated them at the Battle of Bibracte. He then answered requests from the Aedui and defeated Ariovistus, king of the Suebi, at the Battle of Vosges. Later, he won a difficult victory over the Belgae at the Battle of the Sabis and campaigned against the Veneti in what is now Brittany. He built a bridge across the Rhine to show Rome's power and led expeditions into Britain in 55 and 54 BC, before withdrawing in the face of uprisings by the Eburones and Belgae. A greater uprising led by Vercingetorix of the Averni followed. Caesar was defeated at Gergovia, but he later besieged Vercingetorix at Alesia, won a major victory, and forced Vercingetorix to surrender.

Civil war

Main article: Caesar's civil war

Further information: Alexandrine war, Early life of Cleopatra VII, and Reign of Cleopatra VII

From 52 to 49 BC, trust between Caesar and Pompey broke down. In 51 BC, the consul Marcellus tried to recall Caesar from Gaul, but the idea was blocked while Caesar was still fighting the Bellovaci. As fears of war grew in 50 BC, both sides gathered troops in southern Gaul and northern Italy. A proposal that both Caesar and Pompey give up their armies was supported by most senators, but one of the consuls ended the meeting before it could pass. On 7 January 49 BC, Caesar's supporters were driven from Rome, and the Senate declared Caesar an enemy and issued its senatus consultum ultimum. Around 10 or 11 January 49 BC, Caesar crossed the Rubicon, the river that marked the northern edge of Italy, with a single legion, the Legio XIII Gemina, and started a civil war. Pompey fled south and then escaped to Greece from Brundisium. Caesar left Lepidus in charge of Italy and won in Spain, defeating Pompey's legates at the Battle of Ilerda and forcing the third to surrender. His legates also moved into Sicily and into Africa. Back in Rome, Caesar was made dictator to run the elections, and he and Publius Servilius Isauricus became consuls. Caesar then went to Greece, besieged Pompey at Dyrrhachium, and defeated him at Pharsalus on 9 August 48 BC. Pompey fled to Egypt, while others, like Cicero and Marcus Junius Brutus, asked Caesar for a pardon.

See also: Alexandrine war

Pompey was killed when he arrived in Alexandria, the capital of Egypt. Caesar arrived there on 2 October 48 BC and was held up by Etesian winds. He became involved in a dispute between the child pharaoh Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator and his sister Cleopatra, and he had an affair with Cleopatra. He withstood a siege by Ptolemy and his other sister Arsinoe until March 47 BC. With help from Mithridates of Pergamum, he defeated Ptolemy at the Battle of the Nile and put Cleopatra in charge. Cleopatra later gave birth to Caesar's child, Caesarion. When Caesar reached Antioch, he learned that Pharnaces had tried to take over the kingdom of Pontus by the Black Sea. Caesar defeated him at Zela and wrote veni, vidi, vici, meaning "I came, I saw, I conquered." While Caesar was away, magister equitum Mark Antony ran Italy, but his rule was unpopular, and Publius Cornelius Dolabella stirred up protests over debt. In Africa, Metellus Scipio led the remaining republicans, who allied with Juba of Numidia. Titus Labienus defeated Caesar at Ruspina, but Caesar later won a battle at Thapsus, defeating the republican forces without quarter. Caesar then celebrated four triumphs in Rome over Gaul, Egypt, Pharnaces, and Juba, and each soldier received 24,000 sesterces. In Spain, Caesar won a narrow victory at Munda on 17 March 45 BC, though one of Pompey's sons, Sextus, escaped. By then, Caesar had started preparations for war against the Parthians to avenge Crassus' death at Carrhae in 53 BC, a campaign set to start on 18 March 44 BC.

Dictatorship and assassination

Caesar was first made dictator in 49 BC and was given this position several more times in the years that followed. These appointments were honours that reflected his strong position after his victories, not a source of legal power. The Senate gave him many honours, including having his portrait placed on coins in Rome, the right to wear royal dress, and a golden chair in the Senate. The Roman calendar month Quintilis, in which he was born, was renamed Julius (now July). Caesar made many decisions about justice, laws, and public works largely on his own, which upset many leaders. His most important reform was to the calendar, which was replaced by the Julian calendar. He also increased the number of senators from 600 to 900.

Shortly before 15 February 44 BC, Caesar took the title dictator perpetuo, meaning dictator for life. This ended any hope that his power would be temporary. Many Romans grew angry with him, and a group of about sixty conspirators, led by Cassius and Brutus, planned to kill him. See also: Assassination of Julius Caesar

On 15 March 44 BC, known as the Ides of March, Caesar attended a Senate meeting held in the Curia of Pompey, where the conspirators attacked him and he died at once. His death did not bring back the republic. Civil wars followed, and his heir Octavian eventually took sole control of the empire by 31 BC, marking the start of a new Roman monarchy. Further information: War of Mutina, Second Triumvirate, Liberators' civil war, and Rise of Augustus

Personal life

Historians are not sure about Caesar's health. Some think he had epilepsy, though modern scholars strongly disagree. Others suggest malaria, especially during the Sullan proscriptions of the 80s BC, or a parasitic infection in the brain caused his seizures. He may also have had absence seizures as a young man, and some experts think hypoglycemia could explain his symptoms. Shakespeare's Julius Caesar includes a line saying Caesar was deaf in one ear, but no ancient source says this. Pliny the Elder wrote in his Natural History that Caesar's father and ancestor died suddenly. Suetonius described Caesar as tall with keen black eyes. Because he was balding and sensitive about teasing, he wore a combover.

Caesar's name was written in Latin as GAIVS IVLIVS CAESAR, using the Latin alphabet of his time, and in Greek as Καίσαρ. Later, his name became a title. The Bible includes the verse "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's," and the word became Kaiser in German and Tsar in Slavic languages. The last Tsar in nominal power was Simeon II of Bulgaria, whose reign ended in 1946, but he is still alive in 2026.

Main article: Gaius Julius Caesar (name)

Caesar married Cornelia, then Pompeia, who he divorced around 61 BC over the Bona Dea scandal, and then Calpurnia. His daughter Julia was born to Cornelia. His son Caesarion was born to Cleopatra VII. He posthumously adopted Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, his great-nephew, who was the grandson of Julia, his sister and later became Emperor Augustus. Some ancient sources suggested Marcus Junius Brutus was his child, but most historians have rejected this. Caesar's known lovers included Servilia, mother of Brutus, and Eunoë, queen of Mauretania and wife of Bogudes.

Roman enemies spread rumours that Caesar had a close connection with Nicomedes IV of Bithynia early in his career, calling him the "Queen of Bithynia" to humiliate him. According to Cassius Dio, Caesar denied these claims, even under oath, and Bibulus and Gaius Memmius were among those who spread them. Such insults were a common way to attack rivals. Catullus wrote a poem hinting at a close bond between Caesar and Mamurra, but later apologised. Mark Antony made similar charges against Octavian, which Suetonius called political slander.

Main article: Julio-Claudian family tree

During his lifetime, Caesar was seen as one of the best speakers and writers of prose in Latin. Even Cicero praised Caesar's style and way of speaking. Only Caesar's war commentaries have survived, and a few sentences from his other works are quoted by other authors. Some of his lost works include his funeral oration for his aunt Julia and his "Anticato", a document attacking Cato in reply to Cicero's praise of him. Poems by Julius Caesar are also mentioned in ancient sources.

Caesar's best-known surviving works are his war memoirs. Commentarii de Bello Gallico, usually called The Gallic Wars in English, has seven books, each covering one year of his campaigns in Gaul and southern Britain in the 50s BC. The eighth book was written by Aulus Hirtius and covers the last two years. Commentarii de Bello Civili (The Civil War) describes the civil war from Caesar's point of view, up until just after Pompey's death in Egypt. Other works were once credited to Caesar, but experts doubt that he wrote them: De Bello Alexandrino (On the Alexandrine War) about his campaign in Alexandria, De Bello Africo (On the African War) about campaigns in North Africa, and De Bello Hispaniensi (On the Hispanic War) about campaigns in the Iberian Peninsula. These accounts were written and published each year during or just after the campaigns, like "dispatches from the front." They helped shape Caesar's public image and boosted his reputation while he was away from Rome for long periods. They may have been read aloud to the public. Because of its clear and direct Latin style, The Gallic Wars has traditionally been studied by first- and second-year Latin students.

Legacy

Further information: List of things named after Julius Caesar and Caesar cipher

Caesar wrote texts about the most important events of his public life. They are the most complete primary source for learning about his life, but he wrote them with his political career in mind. He is also considered one of the first historical figures to fold his message scrolls into a concertina form, which made them easier to read. The Roman emperor Augustus began a cult of personality of Caesar, describing himself as Caesar's political heir, and modern study of Caesar is influenced by this tradition. Many rulers in history became interested in the historiography of Caesar. Napoleon III wrote the scholarly work Histoire de Jules César, which was not finished. Charles VIII ordered a monk to prepare a translation of the Gallic Wars in 1480, and Charles V ordered a topographic study in France that created forty high-quality maps of the conflict. The Ottoman sultan Suleiman the Magnificent catalogued the surviving editions of the Commentaries and translated them into Turkish. The remains of Caesar's altar are a pilgrimage site, and flowers are left there daily. Special commemorations take place there on 15 March to remember Caesar's death.

Main article: Caesarism

Julius Caesar is seen as the main example of Caesarism, a form of political rule led by a charismatic strongman. This kind of rule is based on a cult of personality, uses force, establishes a violent social order, and gives great importance to the military in the government. Other people, such as the French Napoleon Bonaparte and the Italian Benito Mussolini, have called themselves Caesarists. The word is also used in a critical way by people who oppose this type of rule.

Main article: Cultural depictions of Julius Caesar

Chronology