Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar was born in Rome on 12 July 100 B.C into the prestigious Julian clan. His family was closely connected with the Marian faction in Roman politics. Caesar’s father was working as a praetor and died when Caesar was 16 years old. When Caesar was 17 years old he married Cornelius Cinna’s, who was the leader of the radical party. Caesar was one of the Rome’s greatest generals and political leaders. He maneuvered himself through Rome’s tumultuous game of politics and led himself to power. In 60 B.C. Caesar allied himself with the general Pompey and the politician Crassus. With their help a year later he was elected Consul. For the next 10 years, the three men ruled Rome with equal power. While Caesar was serving as consul he realized he needed military victories to advance his political career. In 59 B.C. Caesar conquered the Celts and had them under Roman rule. He also crossed the Rhine River to fight the Germanic tribes and invaded Britain twice. Because of his successful victories, Caesar was hailed as a military hero by Rome’s lower classes. Later on Caesar became political rivals with Pompey and begun a civil war, Caesar assembled 5,000 loyal troops and crossed the Rubicon, a stream that divided his military provinces from Roman Italy. Caesar’s army swiftly captured all of Italy and drove Pompey and his allies out of the country. Caesars troops finally defeated Pompey’s forces at Pharsalus, Greece, in 48 B.C. Because of Caesars rivalry with Pompey the Roman republic collapsed. Caesar contributed to the collapse of the Republic by starting the civil war. Caesar governed the republic fairly until he got more power, he wanted to be a dictator. On March 15 B.C Caesar was stabbed 23 times and killed by the senators. After Caesars death, his 18 year old grandnephew Octavian joined forces with Marc Antony and Marcus Lepidus. Together this second triumvirate defeated Caesar’s assassins in 42 B.C. Later these three generals divided the Roman world among themselves. Octavian took Italy and the west, Antony took Greece and the east, and Lepidus took North America. Later on Octavian became the undisputed ruler of Rome, and begun the Roman Empire.