Essay/Term paper: Julius ceasar

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Humanities

Julius Caesar, Life of





Julius Caesar was a strong leader for the Romans who changed the course



of the history of the Greco - Roman world decisively and irreversibly. (3)



With his strength and courage he created a strong empire . What



happened during his early political career? How did he become such a



strong dictator of the Roman Empire? What events led up to the making



of the first triumvirate? How did he rise over the other two in the



triumvirate and why did he choose to take over? What happened during



his reign as dictator of Rome? What events led up to the assassination



of Caesar? What happened after he was killed? Caesar was a major part



of the Roman Empire because of his strength and his strong war



strategies. (3)



Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman whose dictatorship was



pivotal in Rome"s transition from republic to empire. When he was young,



Caesar lived through one of the most horrifying decades in the history



of the city of Rome. The city was assaulted twice and captured by Roman



armies, first in 87 BC by the leaders of the populares, his uncle Marius



and Cinna.. Cinna was killed the year that Caesar had married Cinna"s



daughter Cornelia. The second attack upon the city was carried our by



Marius" enemy Sulla, leader of the optimates, in 82 BC on the latter"s



return from the East. On each occasion the massacre of political



opponents was followed by the confiscation of their property. The



proscriptions of Sulla, which preceded the reactionary political



legislation enacted during his dictatorship left a particularly bitter



memory that long survived. (2),(3)



Caesar left Rome for the province of Asia on the condition that he



divorce his wife because Sulla would only allow him to leave on that



condition. When he heard the news that Sulla had been killed he



returned to Rome. He studied rhetoric under the distinguished teacher



Molon. (1)



In the winter of 75-74 BC Caesar was captured by pirated and, while in



their custody awaiting the arrival of the ransom money which they



demanded, threatened them with crucifixion , a threat which he fulfilled



immediately after his release. He then returned to Rome to engage in a



normal political career, starting with the quaetorship which he served



in 69-68 BC in the province of Further Spain. (3)



In the Roman political world of the sixties the dominance of the



optimates was challenged by Pompey and Crassus. The optimates, led by



Quintus Lutatius Catulus and Lucius Licinius Lucullus , were chiefly men



whose careers had been made by Sulla. Pompey and Crassus were consuls



in 70 BC and had rescinded the most offensively reactionary measures of



Sulla"s legislation. During Pompey"s absence from 67 to 62 BC during



his campaigns against the Mediterranean pirates, Mithridates, and



Crassus, his jealous rival. Caesar married Ponpeia after Cornelia"s



death and was appointed aedile in 65 BC As aedile , Caesar returned to



Marius" trophies to their former place of honor in the Capitol, thus



laying claim to leadership of the populares.(1), (2)



When Caesar was a praetor, he supported a tribune who wanted Pompey



recalled to restore order in Rome. As a result, Caesar was suspended



from office for a period and antagonized Catulus. Before leaving Rome



to govern Further Spain for a year, Caesar divorced his wife Pompeia



because of the allegation that she had been implicated in the offense of



Publius Clodius. The latter was then awaiting trial for breaking into



Caesar"s house the previous December disguised as a woman at the



festival of the Bona Dea, which no man is allowed to attend. (2)



After his return from a successful year administrating Spain Caesar was



elected consul for 59 BC through political alliance with Pompey and



Crassus . This alliance was called the first triumvirate. Caesar"s



purpose was to gain a big military command. Pompey for his part sought



the ratification of his Eastern settlement and land allotments for his



discharged troops. Crassus sought a revision of the contract for



collecting taxes in the province of Asia. An agrarian bill authorizing



the purchase of land for Pompey"s veterans was passed in January of 59



BC at a disorderly public assembly which Caesar"s fellow consul



Calpurnius Bibulus, was thrown from the platform and his consular



insignia were broken. Bibulus tried to stop Caesar and his supporters



from passing any further law but was only able to postpone the creation



of the new laws by saying that the skies would not permit it because



there was stormy weather and they were very superstitious. Caesar



disregarded Bibulus" behavior and the remainder of the legislative



program of the triumvirate was carried through. As a result of this



action Caesar and his friends incurred bitter attacks. Their political



opponents continued to claim that the whole of the legislation was



unconstitutional and invalid. (2), (1)



Caesar had secured for five years the governorship of three provinces.



The provinces were Cisalpine Gaul , Transalpine Gaul , and Illyricum .



He left Rome and remained in Gaul until his invasion of Italy. He



continued north of the Alps each summer and he would leave his army



there in garrison each winter while he came south to conduct the civil



administration of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum and to keep in contact



with Rome. (3) (1)



Caesar became determined to conquer and make a province of the whole of



Gaul. After his defeat of the Belgic tribes in the north and the



submission of the maritime tribes on the Atlantic seaboard, he believed



that the task had all but been accomplished. Caesar decided to make two



short reconnaissance expeditions, one across the Rhine. and the other



across the Straits of Dover to Britain. In a longer and more serious



invasion of Britain he crossed the Thames and received the submission of



the supreme commander of the southeastern Britons, Cassivellaunus. (1)



Caesar had avoided recall to Rome at the end of the five years of



command voted to him by coming to a fresh agreement with Pompey and



Crassus at Luca. The optimates in control of the senate, now awake to



the immense increase in Caesar"s personal power, wealth, and prestige,



kept Pompey in Italy, allowing him to govern his Spanish provinces by



deputies. Pompey"s own attachment to Caesar was broken when Caesar"s



daughter Julia to whom Pompey had been happily married since 59 BC died



in 54 BC Crassus was killed by the Parthians at Carrhae in. (3)



Mesopotamia. In planning Caesar"s return to civil life in Rome he could



assume that as soon as he lost the immunity from prosecution which his



military command conferred, his political enemies would endeavor to



secure his exile by prosecuting him in the courts either for bribery or



for the use of force in politics. In Rome there was support in the



senate for a negotiated compromise when Curio put forth the proposal by



which Caesar would give up his military command and stand in person at



the consular election on condition that Pompey abandon his military



command at the same time. On January 7, 49 BC Antony and one of his



fellow tribunes were warned that their lives would be in danger if they



sustained their veto and the proclamation of military law was passed.



Caesar was told to leave his troops behind and cross the Rubicon into



Rome alone. Caesar knew that this was a death sentence for him so he



did not leave his troops but marched into the city and caused a civil



war. He defeated Pompey"s troops in many battles and became the



dictator of Rome. (3) (2) (1) (and a pamphlet)



From the time that he had first faced battle in Gaul and discovered his



own military genius, Caesar was evidently fascinated and obsessed by



military and imperial problems. He gave them an absolute priority over



the more delicate by no less fundamental task of revising the Roman



constitution. The need in the latter sphere was a solution which would



introduce such elements of authoritarianism as were necessary to check



corruption and administrative weakness. (2)



Caesar"s first dictatorship was simply a commission to enable him to



hold elections in the absence of the consuls of the year who were with



Pompey, but after the news of Pharsalus, Caesar was created dictator



again; after Tapsus he was made dictator for ten years and in the winter



of 45 BC he was appointed perpetual dictator. (3)



When Caesar was out of Italy after 49 BC real power lay in the hands of



his representatives. When he was dictator the most important of these



representatives was his "master of the horse". This representative was



Mark Antony. Much resentment was felt by prominent senators like Cicero



on account of the great power and influence of such against of Caesar.



Caesar"s military dominance was established beyond the possibility of



successful challenge, the senate gave him a profusion of personal honors



which were out of keeping with Roman tradition, reflecting as they did



the extravagant distinctions accorded earlier to the Hellenistic kings.



The month of July was named after Caesar and his statue was placed in



the temple of Quirinus. (1) (2)



Caesar was considered to be a dictator for life. According to the



traditional Republican constitution this office was only to be held for



six months during a dire emergency. Caesar also obtained honors to



increase his prestige. He wore the robe, crown, and scepter of a



triumphant general and used the title imperator. He was also in command



of the armies. Caesar used his dictatorship and used it to increase his



power. With all of his powers he was pretty much the king of Rome.



Mark Antony was his major supporter and he helped convince the others to



allow Caesar to have these abilities, but it led to some problems. (1) (3)



A group of conspirators had been formed against Caesar because they



felt that he had too much power and that if he became the king of Rome



he would become corrupt and use his powers to create a bad society. The



senate resented his actual position that was shown in the sixty member



conspiracy which Marcus Brutus had organized to kill him. On the Ides



of March , two days before he was due to leave Rome on his great eastern



expedition, he was stabbed to death at a meeting of the senate in



Pompey"s new theater. He fell dead at the foot of Pompey"s statue.



Pompey was avenged, as well as Bibulus and Cato. After a provocative



funeral oration by Mark Antony, Caesar"s body was burned by the mob in



the forum. When at the games in his honor the following July a comet



appeared and it was regarded as evidence of his godhead and he was



formally consecrated and "divus Julius," or divine Julius. Octavius,



whose name became Caesar Octavianus after his adoption by Caesar"s will,



solved, by his creation of the Roman principate, the constitutional



problem that Caesar failed to solve. (3) (1)



Caesar had started as a consul and had formed the first triumvirate



with Crassus and Pompey. They had taken over the Roman civilization and



had controlled for a while. When Crassus was killed and agreement was



made. Pompey and Caesar were supposed to give up their military and



enter the city of Rome to find a real ruler. Pompey was in on the deal



and he was supposed to take over. Caesar knew that if he entered the



city of Rome without his troops he would be killed by Pompey and so he



crossed the Rubicon with his troops and attacked Rome. He took over as



a dictator for life and gained a lot of power. He was able to run a



strong military and even though he was considered only a dictator he



wrote laws that actually made him have the same powers as a king. The



conspirators saw the problem that had arised and so they planned the



murder of Caesar on the Ides of March. Caesar was killed and there was



another triumvirate formed. Caesar was a strong military leader that



had showed strength and courage to take over the town and he was able to



form a civilization that was strong militarily and politically. (2)











Bibliography

(1) "Julius Caesar" Encyclopedia Britannica (1993), X, 682.

(2) "Caesar, Julius" Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia version 4 (1994).

(3) "The life of Julius Caesar" Various (1990),