(Image shows the steps of the senate building in the forum. But it is not the Senate buiding where Caesar was assassinated)
Casesar was born in Rome on July 13, 100 BC. His uncle by marriage was Gaius Marius, leader of the
Populares. Marius' part supported agrarian reform but was opposed by Optimates, a faction in the Senate.
His uncle Marius was elected consul seven times. Near the time of his death, Marius saw to it that Caesar
was appointed flamen dialis, one of an archaic priesthood with no power. This identified him with his
uncle's extremist politics. Later on, his marriage to Cornelia, the daughter of Marius's associate, Cinna,
further confirmed that he was a radical. When Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Marius's enemy and leader of the
Optimates, took power in 82 BC, he issued a list of political enemies he wished executed. Caesar was not
on the list, but Sulla gave an order forcing him to separate from Cornelia. He refused the order, and felt that
it would be best to leave Rome. He would not return until Sulla's resignation in 78 B.C. Since he was
unable to gain office, he left Rome again and went to study in Rhodes. During his trip there, he was
captured by pirates. While he was a prisoner, he promised the pirates that he would hunt them down and
kill them. They laughed at him for that. After Caesar was released, he borrowed a ship from the governor
of a nearby island and hunted down his captors. After he defeated them, he had them crucified, and left
them there to die. He then returned to Rome in 73 BC.
In 71 BC Pompey, returned to Rome, having defeated the rebellious Populares general Sertorius in
Spain. At the same time Marcus Licinius Crassus defeated the slave revolution led by Spartacus. All of the
slaves were then crucified along the Appian Way. In 69 BC, Caesar was elected
quaestor and in 65 BC he became a curule aedile, gaining great popularity for his
gladiatorial games. To pay for these games, he had borrowed money from rich Crassus. This brought
the two men together, and formed a common ground with Pompey. When Caesar returned to Rome in 60
BC after having been governor of Spain for a year, he joined forces with Crassus and Pompey in the First
Triumvirate. To improve their relationship even more, Caesar married his daughter Julia to Pompey. Thus,
Caesar was elected consul for 59 BC, and the year after (58 BC) he was appointed governor of Roman Gaul.
At that time Celtic Gaul, to the north, was still independent, but the Aedui, a tribe of Roman allies,
appealed to Caesar for help against another Gallic people, the Helvetii, during the first year of his
governorship. Caesar then marched into Celtic Gaul with six legions, defeated the Helvetii, and forced them
to return to their home. By 57 BC he had defeated all other rebellious tribes and became ruler of northern
Gaul as well.
While Caesar was in Gaul, his agents attempted to dominate politics in Rome. This, however,
threatened Pompey's position. This caused the three eladers to get together for a meeting at Luca in 56 BC
to help them smoothe out their problems. They decided that Caesar should continue in Gaul for another five
years, while Pompey and Crassus would both be consuls. After that, each would have proconsular control
of provinces. Caesar then went off to raid Britain and put down a revolt in Gaul. Crassus, who wanted to
prove himself greater than Caesar went to Syria and provoked a war with the Parthian Empire, who were
expert bowmen. He was killed at Carrhae in 53 BC by a Parthian arrow. This allowed Caesar and Pompey
to get at eachothers throats because Julia had been dead for somewhile..
Jealous of his younger rival, Pompey was determined to break Caesar's power. In order to protect
himself, Caesar suggested that he and Pompey both lay down their commands simultaneously, but this was
rejected. Persuaded by Pompey, the Senate called upon Caesar to resign his command and disband his
army, or else be considered a public enemy. The tribunes though, vetoed this motion, but they were driven
out of the Senate chamber. The Senate then ordered Pompey to get rid of Caesar. Even though Pompey's
army was larger than Caesar's, his forces were spread out all over the place, and his troops in Rome were
not prepared for war. Early in 49 BC Caesar entered Italy and moved swiftly southward. Pompey then fled
to Greece. In three months Caesar was master of all Rome. Caesar then became dictator until he was
elected consul in 48 BC. At the beginning of that year he landed in Greece and destroyed Pompey's forces
at Pharsalus. Pompey then fled to Egypt, only to be killed by Ptolemy XI and Cleopatra.
As a ruler Caesar, instituted various reforms. He eliminated the highly corrupt tax system, sponsored
colonies of veterans, and extended Roman citizenship to even more people. At home he reconstituted the
courts and increased the number of senators. His reform of the calendar gave Rome a rational means of
recording time. But even though he was helping the people, some Senate members, felt that Caesar
threatened their position and they feared that he may become a king. So, in 44 BC, these senators decide
that Caesar had to be removed from power. On March 15, 44 BC, while Caesar was in the Senate, the group
assassinated him.
Mark Antony then took over the army and defeated the conspirators at the battle of Philippi.
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