who is Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar was a soldier and politician from the last stage of the Roman Republic. Currently, he is one of the most famous characters in the history of Rome.

Julius Caesar was born in Rome in July 100 B.C. He died in the same city in 44 BC, killed by several men in the Senate.

EARLY YEARS

Julius Caesar was born into a patrician family, the Iulia gens, who claimed to be a descendant of Iulus. This, according to Roman mythology, was the grandson of the goddess Venus.

The first years of the Roman were dedicated to learning Greek and Roman literature from a specialized teacher. It is believed that, also during this period, he began to develop his oratorical skills.

Julius Caesar's ancestors had not reached the top of the cursus honorum. It was through the marriage of his aunt Julia with the leader of the popular party, Gaius Mario, that César and his family began to rub shoulders with the politicians of Rome.

When the Roman was 15 years old, in 85 BC, he took Cornelia as his wife, the daughter of one of the leaders of the popular party. With this union, Julius Caesar ended up entering the Roman political nucleus.

In that year, the Roman was appointed flamen dialis, or what is the same, priest of the god Jupiter. A short time later, his father died.

Around the year 84 BC, General Sulla, leader of the conservatives, returned to Rome. He ended part of the popular politicians and threatened Julius Caesar. Rather than give in to his threats, he opted to go into exile in Asia.

After a few years that were not safe for Caesar in Asia, he obtained Sulla's pardon through intermediaries. He returned to Rome in 78 BC, when Sulla died.

POLITICAL AND MILITARY CAREER

Upon his return to Rome, Julius Caesar, a born politician, developed as a lawyer until 71 BC. approximately. It was from then on that he began his cursus honorum by being appointed military tribune and, shortly after, pontifex or pontiff.

In 65 BC, he became an aedile. Two years later, the position of pontifex maximus was vacated and assigned to Caesar. In 62 BC, he was named praetor and preconsul in Hispania.

It was in 60 B.C. when Julius Caesar joined forces with two very powerful men in Rome: Pompey and Crassus. From this union was born what is known as the triumvirate.

In 59 BC, Julius Caesar was named consul along with another Roman politician, Bibulus, who was relegated to the background. Political decisions in Rome were made by the triumvirate.

The early years of the triumvirate were made even stronger by Caesar's marriage to Pompeii, Pompey's daughter. However, shortly after he disowned her for believing that he had been unfaithful, something that has never been proven. Despite not condemning his wife for adultery, he left her with the famous phrase "Caesar's wife not only has to be faithful, but also appear to be."

Julius Caesar is believed to have admired Alexander the Great. He wanted to expand the power of Rome as the Macedonian did with Greece. The first territory that he wanted to submit to Rome was the Gauls.

The so-called Gallic War, led by the Romans, took place between 58 B.C. and 51 B.C. He subdued what are now France, Belgium, and parts of the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland.

With these conquests, Julius Caesar ensured the creation of an army that would be faithful to him. This was how he tried to strengthen his military and political position. All this expedition was recounted in De bello gallico, one of the two works that are preserved by the Roman.

CIVIL WAR

 From 53 B.C. the triumvirate began to weaken. While Caesar was fighting in Gaul, Crassus was killed in battle in the Parthian war, and Pompey ruled alone.

Upon his return from Gaul, Pompey began a battle against him that sparked the civil war in Rome. This event took place on land and sea, from Hispania to Egypt.

In Egypt another war was fought for the reign between Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra. Pompey soon took part for the first, while Julius Caesar did for Cleopatra, with whom he had a son: Caesarion.

Later, Ptolemy XIII betrayed his Roman ally and killed him in an ambush. He sent his head to Julius Caesar in the hope of bringing positions closer, something that did not happen.

The Roman civil war ended around 46 BC, with the victory of Julius Caesar after defeating Pompey's last supporters in Spain. That was how the Roman Senate named him dictator.

MURDER

Julius Caesar assassinated, During his tenure as dictator, Julius Caesar reorganized the Roman state. Some of the reforms he promoted were greater vigilance to prevent abuse of power in the provinces and increased construction of public works. In addition, he established the Julian calendar, in which he established that a year had 365 days and 6 hours. It was the one used in Europe until the 16th century.

Despite the reforms, not everyone viewed Julius Caesar favorably. Many were those who believed that he would become a tyrant king and that, influenced by Cleopatra, he would establish Alexandria as a new capital.

Knowing the hatred he aroused and the conspiracies that existed around him, he always refused to be king. However, the rumor soon spread that he would accept the position.

So that this would not happen, a group of people, including his adoptive son Brutus, assassinated him in the Senate on the Ides of March 44 BC. It was here that Julius Caesar uttered the famous phrase "You too, Brutus, my son!".

Julio César was fired by the population on March 20 of that same year. Immediately after, a new civil war broke out that ended the Republic and gave way to the Empire.