Belt Valley times., 1926-08-05
THE WORLDS
GREAT EVENTS
ALBERT PAYsoN TERHUNE
Julius Caesar
V,s Dy Dodd. Mead a Company

seNTOW that you have me In you
IN power you would be wiser +
kill me than to hold me for ransom.
"whyr asked the puzzled pirat
captain.
Because" laughed the prisoner
"when l am free / shall return ani
kill you"
The young man who thus Jestet
wlth-death- was small, bald and o.
harsh, aquiline features. He was
Caius Julius Caesar, a Roman Of
high rank, exiled from his home city
He had fallen into the hands Of Gill
clan pirates and his attendants had
gone to seek his ransom. When they
came back with 1t he promptly armed
a fleet, returned to the place OF his
captivity, overcame and crucIted the
pirates, according to his promise.
Rome, being a republic, was for
centuries swayed by two cOntendIng
factions-the Patriclans and the Pie
beians. In the early part OF the last
century B. c., the city had passed
under the dictation OF one Sulla.
whose political rival was Marius,
Caesars uncle by marriage. Suila
drove Caesar from Rome and kept him
out Of the city for years. during which
period of exile the young man pro-
ceeded to perfect himself as a sol
-dier, writer, statesman and an
orator. He was destined to make
marvellous use,-Iater, of all these ac-
complishmcnts.
on Sulla's death Caesar returned to
Rome, receiving high Office In the
state. He spent the next twelve years
in building up the welfare of the plain
people, whose fortunes were at low
ebb. and In trying to heal civil dis
putes and secure equality for all RO-
man citizens. This course made him
tremendously popular with the peo-
pie, even while his extravaganza
plunged him deep into debt At the
age OF forty he formed a trlumylrate
triple alliance) with two famous
men. Pompey and Crassus. by which
the three were virtually TO share
among them the sovereign power Of
Rome. Caesar, In the division OF Of
fees. was made governor of northern
Italy. Gaul (France and Swltzerland)
and the Alps.
This Office was no sinecure, for the
provinces were swarmlng with insur-
gent tribes. For the Hext eight years
he was constantly on the battlefield;
,ften fighting In the front rank like a
common soldier; little by little sub
lung all Rome's Gallle foes. He CON
Iuered Gaul, hurled the Germans
Iack over the Rhine and made that
liver Roman boundary; crossed |
nto Britain. and. after one repulse.
conquered the country that Is now
England then, as Gaul again rose In
mighty confederacy of revolution,
e crushed the uprising and stemmed |
he tide of barbarism which would I
therwise have swept over the Alps !
nd engulfed Rome.
He kept chronicle OF his cam
aigns which, as Caesars Commen-
aries" has endured for nearly 2.OOO
ears as the foremost Latin textbook
Or schools and model OF literary
tyle.
Crassus died and Pompey and Cae-
ar quarreled, thus breaking up the
Pompey's party was In
over In Rome. To weaken the great
eneral who was becoming the peo-
les idol. the senate, at POmpey,s or
er, deprived Caesar Of office, ordering
Inn to give up his command at once
nd to return home, under penalty OF
treason charge. Caesar had two
,urses open to him-elther to obey
eekly and to lose all he had gained,
: to defy the order and thus render
mself liable to death as an enemy
Rome. The river Rublcon divided
g Gallo province from Italy. Should
: cross that river under arms it
ould be an act OF open war against
)mpey. II
Caesar did not hesitate. with his
glon of veterans he crossed the
ubicon, thus irrevocably committing
mself as Pompey's foe. pompey,
wing no army sufficient cope
Ith him. fled. leaving the field clear