

There were several wars from 91 BC to 82 BC, although from 82 BC to 80 BC, the dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla was purging Rome of his political enemies. Caesar's formative years were a time of turmoil. Little is recorded of Caesar's childhood. Caesar's father, also called Gaius Julius Caesar, governed the province of Asia, while his mother, Aurelia Cotta, came from an influential family. Despite their ancient pedigree, the Julii Caesares were not especially politically influential. Caesar issued coins featuring images of elephants, suggesting that he favoured this interpretation of his name. The Historia Augusta suggests three alternative explanations: that the first Caesar had a thick head of hair (Latin caesaries) that he had bright grey eyes (Latin oculis caesiis) or that he killed an elephant ( caesai in Moorish) in battle.

The cognomen "Caesar" originated, according to Pliny the Elder, with an ancestor who was born by caesarean section (from the Latin verb to cut, caedere, caes-). The later biographies of Caesar by Suetonius and Plutarch are also major sources.Ĭaesar was born into a patrician family, the gens Julia, which claimed descent from Iulus, son of the legendary Trojan prince Aeneas, supposedly the son of the goddess Venus. Much of Caesar's life is known from his own accounts of his military campaigns, and other contemporary sources, mainly the letters and speeches of Cicero and the historical writings of Sallust.
Julius caesar quotes 75 v. chr. series#
However, the result was a series of civil wars, which ultimately led to the establishment of the permanent Roman Empire by Caesar's adopted heir Octavius (later known as Augustus). A group of senators, led by Marcus Junius Brutus, assassinated the dictator on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC, hoping to restore the constitutional government of the Republic. He centralised the bureaucracy of the Republic and was eventually proclaimed " dictator in perpetuity". This sparked a civil war from which he emerged as the unrivaled leader of the Roman world.Īfter assuming control of government, he began extensive reforms of Roman society and government.
Julius caesar quotes 75 v. chr. trial#
Ordered by the senate to stand trial in Rome for various charges, Caesar marched from Gaul to Italy with his legions, crossing the Rubicon in 49 BC. Political realignments in Rome finally led to a standoff between Caesar and Pompey, the latter having taken up the cause of the Senate. The balance of power was further upset by the death of Crassus in 53 BC.

These achievements granted him unmatched military power and threatened to eclipse Pompey's standing. Caesar became the first Roman general to cross both when he built a bridge across the Rhine and conducted the first invasion of Britain. Caesar's conquest of Gaul, completed by 51 BC, extended Rome's territory to the English Channel and the Rhine. Their attempts to amass power through populist tactics were opposed within the Roman Senate by the conservative elite, among them Cato the Younger with the frequent support of Cicero. In 60 BC, Caesar formed a political alliance with Crassus and Pompey that was to dominate Roman politics for several years. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Gaius Julius Caesar (July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. The "Tusculum portrait", possibly the only surviving bust of Caesar made during his lifetimeġ5 March 44 BC (as dictator and/or consul)Īugustus 63 BC – 14 AD (grand-nephew, posthumously adopted as Caesar's son in 44 BC)
