Julius Ceasar Essay Example

defeated the rebellious populares general Sertorius in Spain. At the same time Marcus Crassus, a rich patrician, suppressed in Italy the slave revolt led by Spartacus. Pompey and Crassus both ran for the consulshipan office held by two menin 70 BC. Pompey, who by this time had changed sides, was technically ineligible, but with Caesar's help he won the office. Crassus became the other consul. In 69 BC, Caesar was elected quaestor and in 65 BC curule aedile, gaining great popularity for his excessive gladiatorial games. To pay for these, he borrowed money from Crassus. This united the two men, who also found common cause with Pompey. When Caesar returned to Rome in 60 BC after a year as governor of Spain, he joined forces with Crassus and Pompey in a three way alliance known as the First Triumvirate; to cement their relationship further, Caesar gave his daughter Julia to Pompey in marriage. Caesar was elected consul for 59 BC despite optimate hostility, and the year after which was 59 b.c. he was appointed governor of Roman Gaul.

At that time Celtic Gaul, to the north, was still independent, but the Aedui, a tribe of Roman allies, appealed to Caesar for help against another Gallic people, the Helvetii, during the first year of his governorship. Caesar marched into Celtic Gaul with six legions, defeated the Helvetii, and forced them to return to their home area. Next, he crushed Germanic forces under Ariovistus. By 57 BC, following the defeat of the Nervus, Rome was in control of northern Gaul. A last revolt of the Gauls, led by Verckoingetorix, was suppressed in 52-51 BC.

While Caesar was in Gaul,

his agents attempted to dominate politics in Rome. This, however, threatened Pompey's position, and it became necessary for the triumvirs to arrange a meeting at Luca in 56 BC, which brought about a temporary reconciliation. It was decided that Caesar would continue in Gaul for another five years, while Pompeii and Crassus would both be consuls for 55 BC; after that, each would have proconsular control of provinces. Caesar then went off to raid Britain and put down a revolt in Gaul. Crassus, ever eager for military glory, went to his post in Syria. Provoking a war with the Parthian Empire, he was defeated and killed at Carrhae in 53 BC. This removed the last buffer between Caesar and Pompeii; their family ties had been broken by the death of Julia in 54 BC.

In 52 BC, with Crassus out of the way, Pompey was made sole consul. Combined with his other powers, this gave him a fierce position. Jealous of his younger rival, he determined to break Caesar's power, an objective that could not be achieved without first depriving him of his command in Gaul. In order to protect himself, Caesar suggested that he and Pompey both lay down their commands simultaneously, but this was rejected; goaded by Pompey, the Senate summarily called upon Caesar to resign his command and disband his army, or else be considered a public enemy. The tribunes, who were Caesar's agents, vetoed this motion, but they were driven out of the Senate chamber. The Senate then entrusted Pompey with providing for the safety of the state. His forces far outnumbered Caesar's, but they were scattered throughout the provinces, and his

troops in Italy were not prepared for war. Early in 49 BC Caesar crossed the Rubicon, a small stream separating his province from Italy, and moved swiftly southward. Pompey fled to Brundisium and from there to Greece. In three months Caesar was master of all Italy; his forces then took Spain and the key port of Massalia.

In Rome Caesar became dictator until elected consul for 48 BC. At the beginning of that year he landed in Greece and smashed Pompey's forces at Pharsalus. Pompey escaped to Egypt, where he was assassinated. When Caesar arrived there, he installed Cleopatra, daughter of the late King Ptolemy XII, as queen. In 47 BC he pacified Asia Minor and returned to Rome to become dictator again. By the following year all Optimate forces had been defeated and the Mediterranean world pacified.

The basic prop for Caesar's continuation in power was the dictatorship for life. According to the traditional Republican constitution, this office was only to be held for six months during a dire emergency. That rule, however, had been broken before. Sulla had ruled as dictator for several years, and Caesar now followed suit. In addition, he was made consul for ten years in 45 BC and received the sanctity of tribunes, making it illegal to harm him. Caesar also obtained honors to increase his prestige: He wore the robe, crown, and scepter of a triumphant general and used the title imperator. As Pontifex Maximus, he was head of the state religion. Above all, however, he was in total command of the armies, and this remained the backbone of his power.

As a ruler Caesar instituted various reforms. In the provinces

he eliminated the highly corrupt tax system, sponsored colonies of veterans, and extended Roman citizenship. At home he reconstituted the courts and increased the number of senators. His reform of the calendar gave Rome a rational means of recording time.

A number of senatorial families, however, felt that Caesar threatened their position, and his honors and powers made them fear that he would become a rex or a king a title they, as Republicans, hated. Accordingly, in 44 BC, an assassination plot was hatched by a group of senators, including Gaius Cassius and Marcus Junius Brutus. On March 15 of that year, when Caesar entered the Senate house, the group killed him.

After Caesar's first wife, Cornelia, died in 68 BC, he married Pompeia, a granddaughter of Sulla. When the mysteries of the Bona Dea, over which she presided, were violated, she was maligned by gossips, and Caesar then divorced her, telling the Senate that Caesar's wife must be above suspicion. His next marriage which was in 59 b.c. was to Calpurnia and was politically motivated. Since Caesar had no male heirs, he stipulated in his will that his grandnephew, Octavius, become his successor. It was Octavius who became Rome's first emperor under the name of Augustus.

Caesar was a gifted writer, with a clear and simple style. His De Bello Gallico which means On the Gallic Wars in english, in which he described Gaul and his Gallic campaigns, is a major source of information about the early Celtic and Germanic tribes.

Scholarly opinion of Caesar's accomplishments is divided. Some regard him as an unscrupulous tyrant, with an insatiable lust for power, and blame him for the demise of

the Roman Republic. Others, admitting that he could be ruthless, insist that the Republic had already been destroyed. They maintain that to save the Roman world from chaos a new type of government had to be created. In fact, Caesar's reforms did stabilize the Mediterranean world. Among ancient military commanders, he may be second only to Alexander the Great.

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