Julius Caesar

File:Julius caesar.jpg

Bust of Julius Caesar

File:Caesar from the collection of Jonas Duxén.JPG

18th century bronze bust from the private collection of Jonas Duxén.

Painting of Gaius Julius Caesar

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A coin with Julius Caesar's head on it

For other uses, see Julius Caesar (disambiguation).

Gaius Julius Caesar (Classical Latin: IMP·C·IVLIVS·CAESAR·DIVVS¹) (b. July 13, ca. 100 BC; d. March 15, 44 BC) was a Roman military and political leader. He was instrumental in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. His conquest of Gaul extended the Roman world all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, introducing Roman influence into what has become modern France, of which direct consequences are visible to this day. This conquest also led to the gradual extinction of many Celtic languages in Gaul. In 55 BC Caesar launched the first Roman invasion of Britain.

Caesar fought and won a civil war which left him undisputed master of the Roman world, and began extensive reforms of Roman society and government. He was proclaimed dictator for life, and heavily centralized the already faltering government of the weak Republic. Caesar's friend Marcus Brutus conspired with others to assassinate Caesar in hopes of saving the Republic. The dramatic assassination on the Ides of March sparked a new civil war between the Caesarians: Octavian, Mark Antony, Lepidus, and Republicans: Brutus, Cassius, and Cicero among others. This conflict ended with a Caesarian victory at the Battle of Philippi, and the formal establishment of the Second Triumvirate in which Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus shared control of Rome. Tensions between Octavian and Antony soon plunged Rome into further civil war, culminating in Antony's defeat at the Battle of Actium, and leaving Octavian as the undisputed leader of the Roman world.

This period of civil wars transformed the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire with Caesar's great nephew and adopted son Octavian, later known as Caesar Augustus, installed as the first Emperor.

Caesar's military campaigns are known in detail from his own written Commentaries (Commentarii), and many details of his life are recorded by later historians such as Suetonius, Plutarch, and Cassius Dio.

The civil war

In 50 BC, the Senate, led by Pompey, ordered Caesar to return to Rome and disband his army because his term as Proconsul had finished. Moreover, the Senate forbade Caesar to stand for a second consulship in absentia. Caesar thought he would be prosecuted and politically marginalized if he entered Rome without the immunity enjoyed by a Consul or without the power of his army. Pompey accused Caesar of insubordination and treason. On January 10, 49 BC Caesar crossed the Rubicon (the frontier boundary of Italy) and civil war broke out. Historians differ as to what Caesar said upon crossing the Rubicon; the two competing lines are "Alea iacta est" ("The die is cast"), and "Let the dice fly high!" (a line from the New Comedy poet Menander). This minor controversy is occasionally seen in modern literature when an author attributes the less popular Menander line to Caesar.

The Optimates, including Metellus Scipio and Cato the Younger, fled to the south, not knowing that Caesar had only his Tenth Legion with him. Caesar pursued Pompey to Brundisium, hoping to restore their alliance of ten years prior. Pompey eluded him, however, and Caesar made an astonishing 27-day route-march to Hispania where he defeated Pompey's lieutenants. He then returned east, to challenge Pompey in Greece where on July 10, 48 BC at Dyrrhachium Caesar barely avoided a catastrophic defeat. He decisively defeated Pompey, despite Pompey's numerical advantage (nearly twice the number of infantry and considerably more cavalry), at Pharsalus in an exceedingly short engagement in 48 BC.

Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was murdered by an officer of King Ptolemy XIII. In Rome, Caesar was appointed dictator, with Mark Antony as his master of the horse; Caesar resigned this dictatorate after eleven days and was elected to a second term as consul with Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus as his colleague. He pursued Pompey to Alexandria, where he camped his army and became involved with the Alexandrine civil war between Ptolemy and his sister, wife, and co-regnant queen, the Pharaoh Cleopatra VII. Perhaps as a result of Ptolemy's role in Pompey's murder, Caesar sided with Cleopatra; he is reported to have wept at the sight of Pompey's head, which was offered to him by Ptolemy's chamberlain Pothinus as a gift. In any event, Caesar defeated the Ptolemaic forces and installed Cleopatra as ruler, with whom he fathered his only known biological son, Ptolemy XV Caesar, better known as "Caesarion". Caesar and Cleopatra never married.

After spending the first months of 47 BC in Egypt, Caesar went to the Middle East, where he annihilated King Pharnaces II of Pontus in the battle of Zela; his victory was so swift and complete that he commemorated it with the words Veni, vidi, vici ("I came, I saw, I conquered"). Thence, he proceeded to Africa to deal with the remnants of Pompey's senatorial supporters. He quickly gained a significant victory at Thapsus in 46 BC over the forces of Metellus Scipio (who died in the battle) and Cato the Younger (who committed suicide). Nevertheless, Pompey's sons Gnaeus Pompeius and Sextus Pompeius, together with Titus Labienus, Caesar's former propraetorian legate (legatus propraetore) and second in command in the Gallic War, escaped to Hispania. Caesar gave chase and defeated the last remnants of opposition in the Munda in March 45 BC. During this time, Caesar was elected to his third and fourth terms as consul in 46 BC (with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus) and 45 BC (without colleague).

Go Cowboys!

Assassination

The fear of Caesar becoming king continued when someone placed a diadem on the statue of Caesar on the Rostra. The tribunes, Gaius Epidius Marcellus and Lucius Caesetius Flavius, removed the diadem. Not long after the incident with the diadem, the same two tribunes had citizens arrested after they called out the title ‘Rex’ to Caesar as he passed by on the streets of Rome. Now seeing his supporters threatened, Caesar acted harshly. He ordered those arrested to be released, and instead took the tribunes before the Senate and had them stripped of their positions. Caesar had originally used the sanctity of the Tribunes as one reason for the start of the civil war, but now revoked their power for his own gain.

At the coming festival of the Lupercalia, the biggest test of the Roman people for their willingness to accept Caesar as King was to take place. On February 15, 44 BC, Caesar sat upon his gilded chair on the Rostra, wearing his purple robe, red shoes and a golden laurel and armed with the title of Dictator Perpetuus. The race around the pomerium that was a tradition of the festival, and when Mark Antony ran into the forum and was raised to the Rostra by the priests attending the event. Antony produced a diadem and attempted to place it on Caesar’s head, saying "the people offer this (the title of king) to you through me." There was, however, little support from the crowd, and Caesar quickly refused being sure that the diadem didn’t touch his head. The crowd roared with approval, but Antony, undeterred attempted to place it on Caesar’s head again. Still there was no voice of support from the crowd, and Caesar rose from his chair and refused Antony again, saying, "I will not be king of Rome. Jupiter alone is King of the Romans." The crowd wildly endorsed Caesar’s actions.

All the while Caesar was still planning a campaign into Dacia and then Parthia. The Parthian campaign stood to bring back considerable wealth to Rome, along with the potential return of the standards that Crassus has lost over nine years earlier. An ancient legend has told that Partia could only be conquered by a king, so Caesar was authorized by the Senate to wear a crown anywhere in the empire, save Italy. Caesar planned to leave in April of 44 BC, and the secret opposition that was steadily building had to act fast. Made up mostly of men that Caesar had pardoned already, they knew their only chance to rid Rome of Caesar was to prevent him ever leaving for Parthia.

The Roman Senate traditionally met in the Curia Hostilia, which had been recently repaired from the fires that destroyed it years before, but the Senate had abandoned it for the new house under construction. Thus Caesar summoned the Senate to meet in the Theatrum Pompeium (built by Pompey) on the Ides of March (March 15) 44 BC. A few days before, a soothsayer had said to Caesar, "Beware the Ides of March." As the Senate convened, Caesar was attacked and stabbed to death by a group of senators who called themselves the Liberators (Liberatores); the Liberators justified their action on the grounds that they committed tyrannicide, not murder, and were preserving the Republic from Caesar's alleged monarchical ambitions. Among the assassins who locked themselves in the Temple of Jupiter were Gaius Trebonius, Decimus Junius Brutus, Marcus Junius Brutus, and Gaius Cassius Longinus; Caesar had personally pardoned most of his murderers or personally advanced their careers. Marcus Brutus was a distant cousin of Caesar and named as one of his testamentary heirs. There is also speculation that Marcus Brutus was an illegitimate child of Caesar's, since he had an affair with Servilia Caepionis, Brutus' mother; however, Caesar was 15 years old at the time Brutus was born. Caesar sustained 23 (as much as 35 by some accounts) stab wounds, which ranged from superficial to mortal, and ironically fell at the feet of a statue of his friend turned rival, Pompey the Great. Pompey had recently been deified by the Senate. Some accounts report that Caesar prayed to Pompey as he lay dying. His last words have been variously reported as:

• και συ τεκνον; (Kai su, teknon?) (Gr., "Even you, my child?" – from Suetonius)

• Tu quoque, Brute, fili mi! (Lat., "You too, Brutus, my son!" – a modern Latin translation of the Greek quotation from Suetonius)

• Et tu, Brute? (Lat., "And (even) you, Brutus?" – from Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar)

Detailed account

Here follows the most detailed account of Caesar's assassination, written by Nicolaus of Damascus a few years after the event and likely based on eyewitness reports.^[1]

The Plan

"The conspirators never met openly, but they assembled a few at a time in each others' homes. There were many discussions and proposals, as might be expected, while they investigated how and where to execute their design. Some suggested that they should make the attempt as he was going along the Sacred Way, which was one of his favorite walks. Another idea was for it to be done at the elections during which he had to cross a bridge to appoint the magistrates in the Campus Martius; they should draw lots for some to push him from the bridge and for others to run up and kill him. A third plan was to wait for a coming gladiatorial show. The advantage of that would be that, because of the show, no suspicion would be aroused if arms were seen prepared for the attempt. But the majority opinion favored killing him while he sat in the Senate, where he would be by himself since non-Senators would not be admitted, and where the many conspirators could hide their daggers beneath their togas. This plan won the day."

Bad Omens

"Before he entered the chamber, the priests brought up the victims for him to make what was to be his last sacrifice. The omens were clearly unfavorable. After this unsuccessful sacrifice, the priests made repeated other ones, to see if anything more propitious might appear than what had already been revealed to them. In the end they said that they could not clearly see the divine intent, for there was some transparent, malignant spirit hidden in the victims. Caesar was annoyed and abandoned divination till sunset, though the priests continued all the more with their efforts.

"Those of the murderers present were delighted at all this, though Caesar's friends asked him to put off the meeting of the Senate for that day because of what the priests had said, and he agreed to do this. But some attendants came up, calling him and saying that the Senate was full. He glanced at his friends, but Brutus approached him again and said, 'Come, good sir, pay no attention to the babblings of these men, and do not postpone what Caesar and his mighty power has seen fit to arrange. Make your own courage your favorable omen.' He convinced Caesar with these words, took him by the right hand, and led him to the Senate which was quite near. Caesar followed in silence."

The Final Attack

"The Senate rose in respect for his position when they saw him entering. Those who were to have part in the plot stood near him. Right next to him went Tillius Cimber, whose brother had been exiled by Caesar. Under pretext of a humble request on behalf of this brother, Cimber approached and grasped the mantle of his toga, seeming to want to make a more positive move with his hands upon Caesar. Caesar wanted to get up and use his hands, but was prevented by Cimber and became exceedingly annoyed.

"That was the moment for the men to set to work. All quickly unsheathed their daggers and rushed at him. First Servilius Casca struck him with the point of the blade on the left shoulder a little above the collar-bone. He had been aiming for that, but in the excitement he missed. Caesar rose to defend himself, and in the uproar Casca shouted out in Greek to his brother. The latter heard him and drove his sword into the ribs. After a moment, Cassius made a slash at his face, and Decimus Brutus pierced him in the side. While Cassius Longinus was trying to give him another blow he missed and struck Marcus Brutus on the hand. Minucius also hit out at Caesar and hit Rubrius in the thigh. They were just like men doing battle against him.

"Under the mass of wounds, he fell at the foot of Pompey's statue. Everyone wanted to seem to have had some part in the murder, and there was not one of them who failed to strike his body as it lay there, until, wounded twenty-three times, he breathed his last. "

Aftermath

Caesar's death also marked, ironically, the end of the Roman Republic, for which the assassins had struck him down. The Roman middle and lower classes, with whom Caesar was immensely popular, and had been since Gaul and before, were enraged that a small group of high-browed aristocrats had killed their champion. Antony did not give the speech Shakespeare penned for him ("Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!") but he did give a dramatic eulogy which appealed to the common people, a perfect example of what public thinking was following Caesar's murder. Antony, who'd been as of late drifting from Caesar, capitalized on the grief of the Roman mob and threatened to unleash them on the Optimates, perhaps with the intent of taking control of Rome himself. But Caesar named his grand nephew Gaius Octavius sole heir of his vast fortune, giving Octavius both the immensely powerful Caesar name and control of one of the largest amounts of money in the Republic. In addition, Gaius Octavius was also, for all intents and purposes, the son of the great Caesar, and consequently the loyalty of the Roman populace shifted from dead Caesar to living Octavius. Octavius, only aged 19 at the time of Caesar's death, proved to be ruthless and lethal, and while Antony dealt with Decimus Brutus in the first round of the new civil wars, Octavius consolidated his position. In order to combat Brutus and Cassius, who was massing a major army in Greece, Antony needed both the cash from Caesar's war chests and the legitimacy that Caesar's name would provide any action he took against the two. A new Triumvirate was found - the Second and final one, with Octavius, Antony, and Caesar's loyal cavalry commander Lepidus as the third member. This Second Triumvirate deified Caesar as divus iulius and – seeing that Caesar's clemency had resulted in his murder – brought back the horror of proscription, abandoned since Sulla, and proscribed its enemies in large numbers in order to sieze even more funds for the second civil war against Brutus and Cassius, whom Antony and Octavian defeated at Philippi. A third civil war then broke out between Octavian on one hand and Antony and Cleopatra on the other. This final civil war, culminating in Antony and Cleopatra's defeat at Actium, resulted in the ascendancy of Octavian, who became the first Roman emperor, under the name Caesar Augustus. In 42 BC, Caesar was formally deified as "the Divine Julius" (Divus Iulius), and Caesar Augustus henceforth became Divi filius ("Son of God").

The literary Caesar

See Literary works of Julius Caesar.

The military Caesar

See Military career of Julius Caesar.

Caesar's name

See Etymology of the name of Julius Caesar.

Caesar's family

Wives

• First marriage to Cornelia Cinnilla
• Second marriage to Pompeia Sulla
• Third marriage to Calpurnia Pisonis

Children

• Julia Caesaris with Cornelia Cinnilla
• Ptolemy XV Caesar (Caesarion) with Cleopatra VII, he would become an Egyptian pharaoh

Grandchildren

• a grandson from Julia Caesaris and Pompey, dead at several days, unnamed

Female lovers

• Affair with Cleopatra VII
• Affair with Cato's first wife, Bibulus' first two wives, the wives of many of the opposing factions' senators
• Affair with Servilia Caepionis, mother of Brutus

Male lovers

In ancient Rome male homosexuality was common and widespread throughout society, especially amongst the upper classes. However, it was thought to be improper for a freeborn boy or man to be penetrated anally as Caesar was alleged to have been in his youth. For a man or boy to participate in the passive role during anal sex it generally indicated that they were a slave (the purchase of male slaves for sexual purposes was common in Rome) or one that had earned his freedom. Under Roman law emancipated slaves may still be required to render certain services, including sexual ones, to their former master.

Roman society viewed the passive role during sex, regardless of gender, to be a sign of submission or inferiority. Indeed, it was said some sang mockingly of Caesar that, "Caesar may have conquered the Gauls, but Nicomedes conquered Caesar". According to Cicero, Bibulus, Gaius Memmius (whose account may be from firsthand knowledge), and others (mainly Caesar's enemies), he had an affair with Nicomedes III of Bithynia early in his career. The tales were repeated by some Roman politicians as a way to humiliate and degrade him. Caesar himself, according to Cassius Dio, denied the accusations under oath. ^[2]

Mark Antony charged that Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus had earned his adoption by Caesar through sexual favors. Suetonius described Antony's accusation of an affair with Octavian as political slander. The boy would become the first Roman Emperor following Caesar's death. ^[3]

Chronology

• July 13 100 BC – Birth in Rome; Alternatively, July 12, 102 BC or July 12, 100 BC
• 84 BC – First marriage, to Cornelia Cinnilla
• 82 BC – Escapes the Sullan persecutions
• 81/79 BC – Military service in Asia and Cilicia; alleged tryst with Nicomedes of Bithynia
• 70s – Career as an advocate
• 69 BC – Death of Cornelia, Quaestor in Hispania Ulterior
• 65 BC – Curule aedile
• 63 BC – Second marriage, to Pompeia Sulla,
  • December, Divorces Pompeia
  • Elected pontifex maximus and praetor urbanus
  • the Catilinarian conspiracy
• 61 BC – Serves of Propraetor in Hispania Ulterior
• 59 BC – First consulship with Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, beginning of the First Triumvirate
  • Third marriage, to Calpurnia Pisonis
• 58 BC/53 BC – First term as Proconsul of Gaul
• 54 BC – Death of Julia
• 53 BC – Death of Crassus: end of the First Triumvirate
  • 53 BC/48 BC — Second term as Proconsul of Gaul
• 52 BC – Battle of Alesia
• 49 BC – Crossing of the Rubicon, the civil war starts
• 48 BC – Defeats Pompey in Greece at Battle of Pharsalus, made dictator (serves for 11 days)
  • Second consulship with Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus
• 47 BC – Campaign in Egypt; meets Cleopatra VII
• 46 BC – Defeats Cato and Metellus Scipio in northern Africa, third consulship with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
  • Second dictatorship
  • Elected Pontifex Maximus for life (introduces Julian Calendar) and adoptes Octavian as heir
• 45 BC – Defeats the last opposition in Hispania
  • Returns to Rome; fourth consulship (without colleague)
  • Named Pater Patriae by the Senate and third dictatorship
• 44 BC –
  • Fifth consulship with Mark Antony
  • Appointed perpetual dictator
  • February, Refuses the diadem offered by Antony
  • March 15, Assassinated
• 42 BC Formally deified as "the Divine Julius" (Divus Julius)

Honours

Caesar was ranked #67 on Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history.

Was voted the title Divus, or "god," after his death

During his life, he received many honors, including titles such as Pater Patriae (Father of the Fatherland), Pontifex Maximus (Highest Priest), and Dictator. In fact, the many titles he was voted by the Senate are sometimes considered to be a cause of his assassination, as it seemed inappropriate to many contemporaries for a mortal man to be awarded so many honors.

Perhaps the most significant title he carried was his name from birth: Caesar. This name would be awarded to every Roman emperor, and it became a signal of great power and authority far beyond the bounds of the empire (witness the German Kaiser and Russian Tzar/[[Csar][Tsar]/[Czar]]).

References

• The Gallic War, by Julius Caesar; Loeb Classics
• Life of Caesar, by Plutarch; Oxford Classics
• The Twelve Caesars – Julius Caesar, by Suetonius; Penguin Classics

1. ^ Vita Caesaris, chapters 19–24, recounts Caesar's assassination; extracts are quoted in "The Assassination of Julius Caesar, 44 BC". EyeWitness to History. 9 November. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help). For an assessment of Nicolaus and his sources see Sihler, E.G. Annals of Caesar: A Critical Biography with a Survey of the Sources (New York : G. E. Stechert, 1911), pp. 293–4
2. ^ Suetonius 1.2, 49; Dio, 43.20
3. ^ Suetonius 2.68, 71

See also

• Famous military writers
• Nine Worthies
• Caesarian section
• Caesar cipher
• Marfan syndrome
• Epilepsy
• Crocea Mors
• Julio-Claudian family tree

External links

• All Julius Caesar Provides a summary of the play; and background on Shakespeare and Julius Caesar including historical background on Julius Caesar and a character analysis of Caesar.
• Julius Caesar Suzanne Cross's site with in-depth history of Caesar, plus a timeline and links.
• C. Julius Caesar From www.livius.org
• Julius Caesar — virgil.org An Annotated Guide to Online Resources categorized into Primary Sources, Background & Images, Modern Essays & Historical Fiction.
• Julius Caesar, page with many links in several languages, including English
• Suetonius: The Life of Julius Caesar (Latin). Also hosts a English translation by J. C. Rolfe.
• Suetonius: The Life of Julius Caesar (English) (J. C. Rolfe translation, modified)
• Plutarch: The Life of Julius Caesar The lengthy classic; quite a death scene.
• Collected works of Caesar in Latin, Italian and English
• Romans online: Julius Caesar
• History of Julius Caesar
• omnia munda mundis Hypertext of Caesar's De Bello Gallico
• Forum of Caesar

Primary sources

Caesar's own writings

• Forum Romanum Index to Caesar's works online in Latin and translation
• [4] in Latin and translation (anonymous site)
• Caesar and contemporaries on the civil wars
• Works by Julius Caesar at Project Gutenberg

Ancient historians on Caesar

• Suetonius: The Life of Julius Caesar. (Latin and English, cross-linked: the English translation by J. C. Rolfe.)
• Suetonius: The Life of Julius Caesar (J. C. Rolfe English translation, modified)
• Plutarch: The Life of Julius Caesar (English translation)
• Cassius Dio, Books 37‑44 (English translation)

Secondary Material

• Julius Caesar Suzanne Cross's site with in‑depth history of Caesar, plus a timeline and links.
• C. Julius Caesar Jona Lendering's in‑depth history of Caesar (Livius.Org)
• Julius Caesar — virgil.org An Annotated Guide to Online Resources categorized into Primary Sources, Background & Images, Modern Essays & Historical Fiction.
• Julius Caesar, page with many links in several languages, including English
• History of Julius Caesar
• The Heart of Change: Julius Caesar and the End of the Roman Republic

Ancient historians on Caesar

• Suetonius: The Life of Julius Caesar. (Latin and English, cross-linked: the English translation by J. C. Rolfe.)
• Suetonius: The Life of Julius Caesar (J. C. Rolfe English translation, modified)
• Plutarch: The Life of Julius Caesar (English translation)
• Cassius Dio, Books 37‑44 (English translation)

Secondary Material

• Julius Caesar Suzanne Cross's site with in‑depth history of Caesar, plus a timeline and links.
• C. Julius Caesar Jona Lendering's in‑depth history of Caesar (Livius.Org)
• Julius Caesar — virgil.org An Annotated Guide to Online Resources categorized into Primary Sources, Background & Images, Modern Essays & Historical Fiction.
• Julius Caesar, page with many links in several languages, including English
• History of Julius Caesar
• The Heart of Change: Julius Caesar and the End of the Roman Republic

Loosely Related

• All Julius Caesar Summary of Shakespeare's play, with background material on Shakespeare and Caesar.
• Forum of Caesar (Official site of the modern excavators)
• Antony Plutarch, on Antony. Translated by John Dryden.

Notes

1- Official name after 42 BC, Imperator Gaius Iulius Caesar Divus, in English, "Imperator Gaius Julius Caesar, the deified one". Born as Gaius Iulius Gaii Filius Gaii Nepos Caesar, in English, "Gaius Julius Caesar, son of Gaius, grandson of Gaius".

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