Julius Caesar
100 - 44 B.C.
|
Gaius Julius Caesar was born in 100 B.C. to a patrician familiy. His family was without social equals, claiming they were the descendents of Venus and Aeneas. (Oxford Classics Dictionary, 780) He married Cornelia, daughter ot Cinna, who was a bitter enemy of the current dictator, Sulla. The marriage made him flamen Dialis (High Priest of Jupiter). Sulla, dictator at the time, tried to force Caesar to divorce Cornelia. Caesar refused, even after Sulla stripped him of his priesthood, his wife's dowry, and his own inheritance. To avoid Sulla's secret police, he disappeared from public view. Caesar eventually won Sulla's pardon, but did not return to Rome until Sulla's death in 78 B.C. (Suetonius, 1) He spent most of the next decade in Asia, studying and winning military distinction. (OCD, 780) On his way to Rhodes he was captured by pirates. He was held captive for 40 days. After sending away his staff to borrow his ransom of 12,000 gold pieces, Caesar joked easily with his captors, ordering them about with amused disdain. He "had often smilingly sworn, while still in their power, that he would soon capture and crucify them; and this is exactly what he did." (Suetonius, 2) On his return to Rome in 73 B.C. he was elected to the College of Pontiffs. In 69 B.C. he served as quaestor under the governor of Further Spain, an unsetted territory only recently brought under Rome's authority. Not long afterwards he lost both his aunt Julia and his wife, Cornelia. In 67 he married Pompeia, the grand-daughter of Sulla. (OCD, 780) At the time Rome was split by factions, one made up of the followers of Sulla and the other the followers of Marius. With his first marriage Caesar had allied himself with Marius, his second marriage set him on Sulla's side of the political battle. (Cross, Online) In 63 B.C. the death of Caecilius Metellus Pius left the position of chief pontifex vacant. In an electorial upset, and a lot of bribery, Caesar won the election. This and his election to praetorship for 62 B.C. established him as a man of power and importance. The same year of his election to praetor Caesar got caught up in a scandal. Clodius Pulcher, a young patrician, disguised as a woman, gained access to the rites of Bona Dea, from which men were strictly excluded. Rumors started spreading that he went in order to approach Pompeia in her husband's absence. Caesar, while asserting the innocence to both Clodius and Pompeia, divorced Pompeia. He claimed it was to free his household of suspicion. (OCD, 780) After serving Rome as praetor, Caesar returned to Spain in 61 B.C. as propraetor where he won a considerable military reputation with a victorious campaign against the warlike Lusitanians. At the age of 39, he was now in position to seek the Consulship, the highest and most revered office in the Roman Republic. (Cross, Online) Both Caesar and Marcus Bibulus were elected Consul. However, Bibulus got so frustrated with Caesar that he stayed at home for the rest of his term. This allowed Caesar to govern alone. (Suetonius, 9) Crassus and Pompey openly joined in an alliance with Caesar, forming what is sometimes called the 'First Triumvirate.' Not long after this Caesar married for the third and final time to a woman named Calpurnia. They had no children. To cement his relationship with Pompey, Caesar married his only child (a daughter named Julia, from his first marriage) to Pompey. When his consulship ended, Caesar was given rule over Illyricum and Cisalpine Gaul for ten years. (OCD, 781) From 58 to 49 BC - Julius Caesar lived absent from Rome, conquering one of the largest stretches of hostile territory ever brought into its Empire. (Cross, Online) In Rome Caesar's position remained secure until 56 B.C., when his bitter enemy Domitius Ahenobarbus promised to recall and prosecute him, and Cicero hoped to detach Pompey from him. As a result their alliance soon disintegrated. Julia, Caesar's daughter, died, and Crassus was killed. Pompey married the daughter of one of Caesar's enemies. When Caesar secured the legal authorization to stand for consulship in 49 B.C., his legality became doubtful. Pompey was forced to follow Caesar's enemies in trying to stop Caesar from getting the consulship. (OCD, 781) In 49 B.C. Caesar invaded Italy and started a civil war. His official reason was to defend the rights of tribunes who had been forced to flee to him for protection, but he later admitted that it was to avoid conviction and exile. He quickly took over Italy, where there were no veteran legions to oppose him. Eventually Pompey, one of those who opposed him, was defeated. However, he escaped to Egypt and was killed. Caesar followed him there, but ended up finding himself in the middle of a power struggle between young Ptolemy and parties supporting his elder sister, Cleopatra VII. He was caught up in Egypt, mainly with Cleopatra VII, who he estabished on the throne, for months. After defeating republican forces in Spain, Caesar was finally able to return to Rome. Between 49 and 44 B.C. he was elected either dictator or consul (or both) many times. The reason for the dictatorships was much the same a Sulla's, for 'settling the empire.' Any specification of perpetual dictatorship is unknown. In addition to introducing the Julian calendar, his most lasting achievement, he considerably increased the numbers of senators, priests, and magistrates, for the first time since 500 B.C. He created new patrician families, founded numerous colonies and passed various admistrative reforms.
During his dictatorships he adopted the dress and ornaments of the old Roman kings, but refused to take the title of rex (king). He was assassinated in Pompey's theatre on March 15 of 44 B.C. (OCD, 782)
Menu
|
