The History Book

62

slave labor from the provinces,

driving many Roman farm workers

and smallholders off the land and

into the city in search of work.

The rise of Julius Caesar

Meanwhile, a handful of military

leaders in Rome’s provinces had

begun to use their armies to jockey

for political prominence. Among

them was Julius Caesar, a highly

intelligent and ambitious general

from a patrician family who had

aligned himself with the Populares

and risen swiftly through the

political ranks. Caesar was intent

on making the reforms necessary

to meet the challenges of the

republic, and so he maneuvered

himself into a position that would

allow him to achieve his goal.

In 60 bce, Caesar became

consul, and two years later he was

appointed governor of the province

of Gaul, a role which enabled him

to remain abreast of developments

in the Senate while also offering a

springboard to military glory. In a

series of masterful campaigns over

the next eight years, he conquered

Gaul, bringing the whole of what

is now France, along with parts of

Germany and Belgium, under his

rule. He also led two expeditions to

Britain, in 55 and 54 bce. Caesar’s

heroic military exploits left him

immensely rich and increased his

personal prestige; he enjoyed the

loyalty of his armies and the love

of the Roman mob, upon whom he

could now afford to lavish feasts,

games, and money.

Buoyed by his achievements,

Caesar attempted to dictate the

terms on which he would return

to Roman politics, demanding to

be allowed to stand for a second

consulship while remaining in

command at Gaul. This put him

on a collision course with the

Optimates in the Senate, since

Roman law required military

leaders to relinquish control of their

armies before entering Rome, a

prerequisite for running for office.

Caesar knew that if he agreed to

enter the city as a private citizen,

without his armies, his political

opponents would most likely

attempt to try him for abuse of

power during his first consulship.

Back in Rome, the Optimates,

alarmed by the implications of

Caesar’s meteoric rise, allied

themselves to one of his main

political rivals, the renowned

THE ASSASSINATION OF JULIUS CAESAR

general Pompey. The Senate passed

laws intending to strip Caesar of

his command when he returned

from Gaul, and in 49 bce they

declared him hostis, or public

enemy. In response to this direct

threat, Caesar did the unthinkable:

he marched his army on Rome.

En route, he paused at the border

between the Gallic provinces

and Italy proper: a small river called

the Rubicon. Caesar was acutely

aware that crossing the river would

constitute a declaration of war

against the Senate but, quoting the

Even yet we may draw back,

but once across that little

bridge, and the whole issue

is with the sword.

Julius Caesar

Speaking to his army before

crossing the Rubicon

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar was born in

Rome in 100 bce, to a patrician

family of distinguished ancestry.

From an early age, he grasped

that money was the key to power

in a political system that had

become hopelessly corrupt. He

also quickly learned that forging a

network of alliance and patronage

would be crucial to his success.

After serving in the war to

crush the slave revolt led by

Spartacus in 72 bce, Caesar was

briefly taken hostage by pirates.

Once he returned to Rome in

60 bce, Caesar spent vast sums

on buying influence and positions,

eventually teaming up with the

two other leading men in Rome,

Crassus and Pompey, to form

the so-called First Triumvirate.

Between 58 and 50 bce, he

formed a provincial power base

in Gaul where, without the

sanction of the Senate, he

launched a series of campaigns

that made him master of

Western Europe, with fabulous

wealth and powerful armies.

However, these campaigns also

earned him many opponents

among the governing classes,

who would eventually cut short

both his career and his life.

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63

Athenian poet Menander, he

announced alea iacta est (“let the

dice roll”) and led his men onward.

Caesar’s new order

In the ensuing civil war, Caesar

finally triumphed over Pompey’s

forces at the Battle of Pharsalus

in northern Greece in 48 bce.

The defeated Pompey fled to Egypt

for sanctuary, where he was later

assassinated. After crushing the

remaining pockets of resistance,

Caesar finally returned to Rome in

45 bce, to consolidate his political

position. In 46 bce he accepted the

dictatorship for 10 years; two years

later, he was granted the office for

life. Now in a position to begin the

monumental task of reconstructing

the Roman state and restoring

stability to the empire, Caesar

initiated far-reaching social and

political reforms. He extended

Roman citizenship; he enlarged

the Senate, bringing in allies from

among the provincial aristocracy;

he established colonies outside

Italy, to help spread Roman culture

and knit the empire together; he

spent lavishly on grandiose public

works and buildings; he cut taxes;

and he even reformed the Roman

calendar, introducing the system of

leap years that is still in use today.

A murder plot

Caesar’s pragmatic solutions for

re-establishing unity in the empire

after years of chaos found favor

with many parts of society, yet

at the same time, his increasingly

autocratic attitude to power was

alienating fellow members of the

ruling class. They felt that Caesar

was trying to destroy the cherished

traditions of the Roman state, and

to undermine the prestige of the

nobility, and spread the rumor that

he was planning to make himself

king. Unfortunately, Caesar failed to

quell the suspicions. He accepted

unprecedented honors, such as

assuming the title “Imperator”

(“Victorious General”) as a family

name; he also allowed temples and

statues to be erected in his honor,

and had coins minted bearing his

image. And when he adopted his

grand-nephew, Octavian, there

were fears that he was trying to

establish a dynastic succession.

Some members of the Senate

concluded that the only solution

to the problem was to assassinate

Caesar, and so they hatched a

conspiracy to carry it out.

ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

Representing those opposed to the

dictator’s reforms—and the leading

agent in the plot to murder him—

Gaius Cassius Longinus was a

general who had risen to political

prominence during a largely

disastrous campaign in Persia.

Ancient Roman historians argued

that Cassius’s involvement was

prompted by a combination of

jealousy and greed. He is also said to

have recruited the most important

conspirator, Marcus Junius Brutus, a

trusted colleague and confidante of

Caesar, opposed to the dictator’s

presumed monarchic ambitions. ❯❯

Consuls

were chief

judges, who

chaired the

Senate and

commanded

t he a r my.

Praetors

acted as judges

and commanded

armies in Rome

in the consuls’

absence.

XX

X

Aediles had

responsibility for

maintaining the public

buildings and temples,

and for ensuring the

city’s grain supply.

Quaestor was the

first elected office.

They supervised the

use of state finances.

Plebeian

aediles

had a lower

status than

patrician

aediles.

Tribunes

protected

plebs from

abuses of

power by

vetoing

legislation or

judgments.

Senators directed other

magistrates and controlled

the granting of public money.

The Cursus Honorum was

the sequence of offices through

which Roman patricians aspiring

to power had to progress as they

aged in order to reach the

highest rank: consul.

A separate series of ranks

governed offices for plebeians

(those not of noble birth). The

rank of aedile was the highest

plebeians could hope to achieve.

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