"The Divine Julius"

The Man Who Transformed the Roman Empire. 

https://www.biography.com/people/julius-caesar-9192504

Julius Caesar was a man to be reckoned with. He transformed the Roman Empire and was basically a war lord. Making alliances and playing his card right got him to the position of dictator for life and the lower and middle classes loved him. Of course if anybody paid attention in high school English classes. They would also know his reign didn’t last long and he was assassinated only one year after his rule had begun. 

                  

Caesar hailed from Roman aristocrats and is allegedly a descendant of Trojan prince Aenea’s. By the age of 31 he had fought in several wars and had found an interest in Roman politics. His first role was as a prosecuting advocate, until he was temporarily relocated to Rhodes to study philosophy where he was kidnapped by pirates. Caesar was able to convince them to raise his ransom and in turn he organized a naval force to attack the pirates who were later captured and executed. By 74 BCE Caesar starts to show his true talent for war when he put together a private army to combat Mithradates VI Eupator, king of Pontus who had recently declared war on Rome. 

Things took a turn in Caesars life when he began working with Pompey in 68 and 69 BCE this close alliance helped Caesar move up further in politics first as a quaestor (a base political office) then a governor of Roman Province in Spain, and finally as a consul (a powerful government position). How Caesar got further up in the government is by creating the First Triumvirate which included Caesar, Pompey and Pompey’s new ally Crassus. Crassus is considered the wealthiest man in Roman history and gave Caesar financial and political support which allowed him to rise to power. 

Caesar’s new found power allowed him to secure the governship of Gaul and push enemies out of Italy which gave him the ability to build a much larger military. This power is where we start to see some of Caesar’s more sociopathic tendencies. For example, he waited for his opponent’s water supply to run out and once it did he cut off the survivor’s hands. Shortly after this expansionism Pompey began to grow jealous of Caesar and the two ended up in a civil war. Pompey was no match for Caesar and retreated to Egypt where Caesar followed suit and killed Pompey. While in Egypt Caesar became allies with Cleopatra VII Queen of Egypt who became one of his mistresses and bore Caesar a son. 

Returning home, Caesar became dictator for life. He transformed the Roman Empire, relieved debt and reformed the Senate to better represent the Roman people while also stuffing it with his allies. Along with this he reformed the Roman calendar, reorganized construction of local government, resurrected two city-states; Cathage and Corinth, granted citizenship to foreigners and even invited defeated enemies to join the Roman government. Politicians grew worried about Caesar’s power and saw him as an aspiring king. 

One year after Caesar had become dictator he was assassinated by political rivals, Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus who were former enemies of the Roman Senate and dubbed themselves “the liberators”. Interestingly Brutus’ mother was one of Caesars many lovers and during Rome’s earlier civil war Brutus had originally sided with Pompey. After his death mobs attacked Cassius’ and Brutus’ homes and Caesar was considered a martyr. The Senate even gave him the title “The Divine Julius” and he was the first Roman figure to be deified. Caesar’s adopted son/ great-grandnephew Octavian later called Augustus took over power 17 years later and became the first Roman Emperor. I guess ruling was in their blood.

I've attached an interesting video about Julius Caesar below if anyone is interested in knowing more.

Sources:

https://www.biography.com/people/julius-caesar-9192504

World History Cultures, States, and Societies to 1500