Julius Caesar
About Julius Caesar
Some facts about Julius Caesar
- Was born on July 12 or 13, 100 B.C. to Aurelia and Gaius
- His full name is Gaius Julius Caesar
- Was the nephew of famous Roman Emperor, Marius
- Married 3 different women
- Had 3 children
- Was a Roman general and then became a Roman emperor
- Died in Rome, Italy, in March 15, 44 B.C. by being stabbed to death
Early years
Julius Caesar importantly developed what was known as the Roman Empire by expanding its geography and settling its imperial system. While it has long been discussed, Caesar was born on July 12 or 13, 100 B.C. His family was far from being rich and his father had died when he was 16, so he lived a short part of his life with his father. During Caesar's youth, Rome was unstable. At around his father's death, Caesar focused on effort for his country's nobility. His marriage to Cornelia, the daughter of a noble, had drawn the anger pf Rome's dictator, Sulla, who demanded Caesar to divorce his wife or lose his property. Caesar refused and found escape in the military, serving first in the province of Asia and then in Cilicia.
Serving in Rome's government positions
After Sulla's death, Caesar returned to Rome and began his career in politics as a prosecuting advocate. He relocated temporarily to Rhodes to study about philosophy, during his travels there, he was kidnapped by pirates. Caesar thought about his situation and remembered some tactics. He convinced his captors to raise his ransom, he then organized a naval force t o attack them. The pirates were captured and executed. In 74 B.C. he put together a pirate army and combated Mithrates VI Eupator, king of Pontus, who had declared war on Rome. When Caesar returned to Rome, he began to work with Pompey, a former lieutenant under Sulla, who'd switch sides following the dictator's death. after, in 68 or 69 B.C., Caesar was elected quaestor( a base political office) and then went to serve in several key government positions under Pompey. Meanwhile, in his personal life, Cornelia, his wife, had passed away in 69 B.C. Two years later, he remarried Pomeia, one of Pompey's distant relatives. Their marriage lasted a few years and divorced in 62 B.C. In 61-60 B.C. he served as governor of the Roman province of Spain. He also continued his alliance with Pompey, which enabled him to get elected as consul, a powerful government position, in 59 B.C.
Becoming Dictator
Through a series of events, Caesar eventually went to war against Pompey leading troops across the river Rubicon on January 10-11, 49 B.C. With Pompey further aligning himself with nobility increasingly seeing Caesar as a national threat, civil war was proved to be inevitable. But Pompey and his troops were no match for Caesar and his military campaign. By the end of 48 B.C., Caesar had pushed his enemies out of Italy and pursued Pompey into Egypt, where he was made dictator for life and hailed as the Father of his country. For Caesar and his countrymen, his rule proved instrumental in reforming Rome.
Caesar's Assassination
Caesar's popularity was known very well by Rome's people, but began to be a problem with the senate. The senate thought that all this fame, popularity, and his winning of wars could make Caesar want to be king and change the way of the Romans. The senate remembered Rome's history and it showing Rome's desire for a monarchical rule. Caesar's wish to want former Roman enemies in the government showed a possible downfall. Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus were former enemies who would join the senate. Together the two of them lead to Caesar's assassination. Caesar was stabbed to death in a location adjacent to the Theater of Pompey on the ides of(March 15), 44 B.C. Long after Caesar's death, Caesar's great-grandnephew, Gaius Octavian, who would assume the name Augustus, became the first Roman Emperor.
Cornelia
Cornelia was Caesar's first wife, but she died in 69 B.C.
Pompeia
Pompeia was Caesar's second wife after Cornelia's death.
Pompeia and Caesar divorced after a few years in 62 B.C.
Calpurnia
Calpurnia was Caesar's 3rd and final wife.