Julius Caesar: Military and Political Strength
Perhaps no other man in the history of the world symbolizes military and political strength as much as does Gaius Julius Caesar. This man became a legend for his military exploits and an almost global setting, his political manipulations which covered decades of cycles which covered power and loss of power, and his personal life which to have been played in the most melodramatic and theatrical manner. It is Caesar whose life, betrayal , and death which have been immortalized in history and in literature. Caesar who is the focal point of Shakespeare's most famous history play the life cycle of Julius Caesar falls into an obvious organizational scheme. His early life was spent the training period for his rise to political power; his middle life was devoted to the obtaining and consolidation of power, and his death was the final contribution to studies of power and its affect on man kind.
The Early Life of Julius Caesar is a classical study of the history of power and wealth in early Rome. Caesar was born on July 12, 100 BC. His father belonged to the prestigious Julian clan. His uncle by marriage was Gaius Marius, leader of the Populares which supported agrarian reform and was opposed by the reactionary Optimates. Marius saw to it that Julius Caesar was appointed flamen dialis which is a archaic priesthood with no power. Caesar marriage in 84 BC to
Cornelia, the daughter of Marius's associate was a political match. When Lucius
Cornelius Sulla, Marius's enemy and leader of the Optimates, was made dictator in 82 BC, he issued a list of enemies to be executed. Caesar was not harmed but he was ordered by Sulla to divorce Cornelia. Caesar refused that order and left
Rome he did not return until Sulla's resignation in 78 BC. At the age of 22
Caesar was unable to gain office and went to Rhodes where he studied rhetoric.
In 73 BC he returned to Rome as very persuasive speaker. The year before, while still absent, he had been elected pontificate, an important college of
Roman priests.
Julius Caesar's Middle Life was full of wars, political intrigue and shifting of fortunes. Caesar's first and one of the biggest political moves was when he helped Pompey take office. In 69 BC Caesar was elected quaestor and in
65 BC curule aedile, gaining great popularity for his lavish gladiatorial games.
When Caesar returned to Rome in 60 BC after a year as governor of Spain, he
It is believed that Julius Caesar was born on July 12, 100 B.C. (biography). He obtained the position of consul around 60 B.C. and had an alliance with Pompey, who was a general, and Crassus, who was a patrician. The alliance was broken after Crassus died in battle and Caesar and Pompey had a disagreement that resulted in a civil war. After Pompey was defeated, there was no one to compete against Caesar and he named himself dictator of Rome in 46 B.C. (Ushistory).
Julius Caesar elected himself as the dictator of Rome. He became a favorite to many of the people of the lower classes. Unlike many leaders, Caesar valued the poor. Most people agreed with his decisions, but some of the higher classes’ did not. On March 15 44 BCE, now called the Ides of March, a few of Caesars’ closest peers decided to murder Caesar. Marcus Brutus killed Julius Caesar, on March 15.
Julius Caesar (July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general, statesman, Consul, and author of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. On March 15 44 B.C.E, the Roman dictator Julius Caesar was murdered. There are multiple accounts of this incident, while all accounts came after the death of Caesar, the writing on the incident portray Julius Caesar to have been a selfish dictator.
Honor and power is what drives the conspirators to assassinate Julius Caesar in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar. Caesar is now the single leader of Rome, and members of the Senate have concerns that he will abuse his sole power. Therefore, they plot and accomplish the assassination of Caesar in an attempt to rebuild the balance of Rome. Rome falls into chaos with an unknown future with no central leader for the people to follow. In Act I, Scene 2, Cassius, a member of the Senate, explains to his friend, Brutus, that Caesar is not the god he makes himself out to be. Instead, he argues both he and Brutus are equal to Caesar and are just as deserving of the throne. Cassius’ speech to Brutus diminishes Caesar’s godly demeanor through
Over the course of Julius Caesars life, he gained both political and social popularity due in fact to the multiple positions he had in Rome. In 69 BC Caesar was elected military tribune, after showing bravery when he was kidnapped by pirates while crossing the Aegean Sea. Being military tribune was the first step in having a political career at the time. Julius entered the course of advancement in the Roman political system as quaestor in 69 B.C. In the Roman Republic, a quaestor was a public official who supervised the financial affairs of the state and conducted audits. In 65 B.C., Julius Caesar was appointed to the position of Pontifex Maximus, this was much to people's disbelief because Caesar was so young. Pontifex Maximus gave Caesar the position of high priest in the College of Pontiffs, which was the most important position in the ancient Roman church. Caesar won against two powerful senators that had greater experience and power. Despite much uproar, Caesar was chosen to be...
Caesar reformed Rome and prevented Rome from demolition. For instance, Caesar "reorganized the town governments in Italy, reformed the courts, planned to codify the law to improve administration. Besides that, Caesar brought peace and stability to Rome. Evidently, Caesar successfully stopped the civil war in 45 BC. This allowed the Romans to live in harmony and collaborate on improving their country.
July 13, 100 B.C, marked a beginning of a new part in Roman history. This day marked the birth of the greatest political figure in Rome, Julius Caesar. Caesar’s rise throughout Rome’s political levels of Rome came fast and it was that many people in the Senate believed that Julius Caesar was becoming too powerful to quickly and that Caesar was becoming a threat for the Republic. Caesar
Following his military action, he returned to Rome. In 71BC, Caesar was elected as a military tribune (the first step of a sequential order of public offices in the political hierarchy of the Romans). In 69 BC, Caesar was earned quaetorship- essentially becoming a public official. However, it seemed that Caesar’s life was going ‘3 steps forward and then 1 step backwards’- as in 69 BC his wife Cornelia and aunt Julia tragically passed away. His funeral orations included pictures of Marius, unseen of ever since Sulla’s dictatorship. I believe Caesar displayed such photos to highlight his audacity to the aristocracy and also to highlight his Populares Ideology- winning the hearts of the commoners and cementing his position as a quaestor. Caesar
Julius Caesar was born either on July 12th or July 13th of July 100 BC in Rome, Italy. Nobody knows for sure which day. He was born into the Julian clan. His full name is Gaius Julius Caesar. Although Caesar's family was closely associated with the Marian faction in Roman politics, his family would be considered middle class of today’s standards. Caesar married Cornelia around the age of 18. Cornelia was the only woman in Caesar's life to give birth to a legitimate child. While married to Cornelia, the dictator Sulla ordered Caesar to divorce Cornelia, Caesar refused, so Sulla put Caesar on the list of people to be executed. For this Caesar went into hiding. Caesar was eventually pardoned for the action. (McManus, 2011)
Gaius Julius Caesar was born in Rome in July 100 BC. Rome was a Republic at this time. He was a statesman, Roman general, Consul, and notable author of Latin prose. He played a significant role in the events that led to the collapse of the Roman Republic and rise of the Roman Empire. He was a leader in a nation where the people were not involved in the government decision-making process. Thus, he had majority of the power in the Republic and was able to form a huge army. He was able to triumph, conquer new lands with the army at his grasp and command. As Caesar acquired more power over the years, som...
After marching to Rome, Sulla became dictator in 82 BC. After Sulla, the First Triumvirate: Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar, owned virtually all power in Rome, yet each had his own desire to defeat the other two and become Emperor. When Crassus died in battle, Caesar had his chance. He defeated Pompey and marched to Rome, victorious. After declaring himself Dictator for Life, Caesar was assassinated, and another Civil War ensued.... ...
Julius Caesar was born on the 13th day of the month Quintilis (now July) in the year of 100 B.C. His full name was Gaius Julius Caesar, the same as his father's name. Gaius was his given name and Julius was his surname. Caesar was the name of one branch of the Julian family. Its original meaning was "hairy.” Caesar's family was not prominent, but they claimed to be descended from Venus as well as the kings of Alba Langa. In spite of that fiction, Caesar was well connected through his relatives and received some important government assignments during his youth. Julius Caesar was the dictator of Rome from 61-44 BC. At the time of his birth, Rome was still a republic and the empire was only beginning. Caesar made his way to be considered a head of Rome by 62 BC, but many of the senate felt him a dangerous, ambitious man. The senate did their best to keep him out of consulship. He finally became consul in 59 BC. In Caesar, they saw only the threat of a king, a word that was linked with the word “tyrant” that is cruel or unjust rule.
July 13, 100 B.C., to the Romans this day was the thirteenth of Quintillus. In the year 653, on this day, Rome had been founded. This date would soon have another meaning to the Romans, because this day was the day that Gaius Julius Caesar was born. He was born into a family that was very proud in being patrician. For centuries his family had had a role in politics and military, so it was natural that he would, one day, be involved in the Roman government or army. At a young age he ran for Pontifex Maximus (“chief priest”), so he could go into other politics later in his life.
Power is how much control and support one has. Power can be controversial because the people who want it sometimes don't know how to handle it. In Julius Caesar, written by Shakespeare, many different people possess power. They gain the power in varied ways and react to having it differently. Since there are so many situations in Julius Caesar, power shifts are very common because diverse times call for the amounts of power to vary between different people.
After he returned to Rome in 80 B.C. Caesar was presented with the oak wreath for his inordinate courage in the captivating of a Greek city (Julius Caesar, 1994). He continued his honorable work as a soldier in the military in 78 B.C., where he wanted to become a great leader. Julius Caesar headed back to Rome in 77 B.C. when he heard of Sulla’s; his overall goal for returning was to further prepare for his political career. Caesar never gave up on being a priest, in 73 B.C., the college of priests in Rome reached out to him letting Caesar know that he had been co-opted into the college. After hearing about of this, Caesar was devoted to his political career (Julius Caesar, 1994). Later that year was when Rome designated Caesar as one of the 24 military tribunes (Julius Caesar, 1994). Cornelia who was Caesar's first wife died in 69 B.C., after being unmarried for only two years, Caesar married the granddaughter of Sulla; Pompeia. To further his political career, Caesar was elected as Curule Aedile along with Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus in 65 B.C. (Julius Caesar, 1994). After using a substantial amount bribery, in 63 B.C. Caesar was voted Pontifex Maximus (head of the college of the priest). During the period of time where “Caesar was chosen to hold the positions of a tribune and