Julius Caesar | Life Story
Channel: Generals in History
Date: 2022-08-03

Gaius Julius Caesar was the founder of the Roman Republic. He was born into a patrician family, the gens Julia, of Alban origin. His coming of age coincided with the civil wars of his uncle Gaius Marius and his rival Lucius Cornelius Sulla. 

Caesar was stripped of his inheritance and forced to marry Cornelia by dictator Sulla. After Sulla's death, he joined the army and fought in Asia and Cilicia. He turned to legal advocacy and became known for his oratory and ruthless prosecution of former governors.

In 69 BC, Caesar was kidnapped by pirates and held prisoner for ransom. He promised his captors that he would pursue and capture the pirates and crucify them while alive. As a sign of leniency, he first had their throats cut in order to show leniency. In 62 BC, Julius Caesar was appointed praetor of Hispania Ulterior (the western part of the Iberian Peninsula) He conquered two tribes and was hailed as imperator by his troops. Caesar was acclaimed imperator in 60 BC and again later in 45 BC.

In 60 BC, Caesar sought election as consul for 59 BC, along with two other candidates. Caesar was already in Marcus Licinius Crassus' political debt, but he also made overtures to Pompey. This informal alliance, known as the First Triumvirate, was cemented by the marriage of Pompey to Caesar's daughter Julia.

Caesar had four legions under his command, two provinces bordering unconquered territory, and parts of Gaul known to be unstable. Some of Rome's Gallic allies had been defeated by their rivals at the Battle of Magetobriga. The Romans feared these tribes were preparing to migrate south, closer to Italy. In 55 BC, Caesar repelled an incursion into Gaul by two Germanic tribes and followed it up by building a bridge across the Rhine. The internal division among the Gauls guaranteed an easy victory for Caesar. Vercingetorix's attempt to unite them against the Roman invasion came too late.

In 52 BC, Pompey became sole consul after Crassus was killed leading to a failed invasion of Parthia. Caesar tried to re-secure Pompey's support by offering him his great-niece in marriage, but Pompey declined. In 51 BC, the consul Marcellus proposed recalling Caesar, arguing that his task in Gaul was complete. Caesar crossed the Rubicon with a single legion, the Legio XIII Gemina, and ignited civil war. His main objectives were to secure a second consulship and a triumph. 

He feared that Pompey and his allies were planning to suppress the liberty of the Roman people.
In 47 BC, Julius Caesar defeated the child pharaoh, Cleopatra, at the Battle of the Nile and installed her as co-regent of Egypt. He then became involved in an Egyptian civil war, which began after Pompey's murder by his brother Antony. 

Caesar was introduced to the luxurious lifestyle of the Egyptian pharaohs on a barge sent from Rome. In 48 BC, Caesar was again appointed dictator, with a term of one year. Cleopatra visited Rome on more than one occasion, residing in Caesar's villa. He was defeated by Titus Labienus at Ruspina in 46 BC but recovered to gain a significant victory at Thapsus.

In his will, he named his grandnephew Gaius Octavius as his principal heir. He also wrote that if Octavian died before Caesar did, Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus would be the next heir in succession.

When Caesar returned to Rome, the Senate granted him triumphs for his victories. Triumphal games were held, with beast-hunts involving 400 lions and gladiator contests. Bystanders complained again at Caesar's wasteful extravagance. A riot broke out and stopped only when Caesar had two rioters sacrificed. To bring the calendar into alignment with the seasons, he decreed that three extra months be inserted into 46 BC (the ordinary intercalary month at the end of February, and two extra months after November).

Thus, the Julian calendar opened on 1 January 45 BC. His assassination prevented further and larger schemes, including the construction of an unprecedented temple on Mars.

Caesar held both the dictatorship and the tribunate but alternated between the consulship and the proconsulship. He was first appointed dictator in 49 BC, possibly to preside over elections, but resigned his dictatorship within 11 days. In 48 BC, Caesar was given permanent tribunician powers that made his person sacrosanct. 

Under Caesar, a significant amount of authority was vested in his lieutenants. Since his absence from Rome might limit his ability to install his own consuls, he passed a law that allowed him to appoint all magistrates, and all consuls and tribunes. 

Video source: Dunia Sejarah
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Data sources: https://en.wikipedia.org
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