![]() Caesar in GaulĬaesar was appointed governor of the vast region of Gaul (north-central Europe) in 58 B.C., where he commanded a large army. They were right, and the triumvirate soon controlled Rome. The union terrified the Roman Senate who knew that a partnership between three such powerful men would prove unstoppable. A series of successful military and political maneuvers, along with the support of Pompey and Marcus Licinius Crassus (known as the richest man in Rome), helped Caesar get elected as senior Roman consul in 59 B.C.Ĭaesar, Crassus and Pompey soon formed an informal alliance (strengthened by the marriage of Caesar’s daughter Julia to Pompey) known as the First Triumvirate. One year later, Caesar became governor of Spain. after a politician incited a major scandal by disguising himself as a woman and making his way into a sacred women’s festival hosted by Pompeia. Two years later, he was elected Pontifex Maximus.Ĭaesar divorced Pompeia in 62 B.C. In 65 B.C., Caesar became aedile - an important Roman magistrate - and produced lavish games in the Circus Maximus which endeared him to the public but threw him heavily into debt. In 67 B.C., he married Pompeia, a granddaughter of Sulla and relative of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great), with whom he formed an important alliance. He became military tribune and then quaestor of a Roman province in 69 B.C., the same year his wife Cornelia died. Political RiseĬaesar soon began his political career in earnest. But Caesar hired a private fleet to hunt them down and had the pirates crucified for their crimes. Reportedly, Caesar acted more like a domineering leader with the pirates than their captive.Īfter his ransom was paid, the pirates let him go. ![]() In 75 B.C., as he crossed the Aegean Sea in route to Rhodes to study philosophy and oratory, murderous pirates captured Caesar. After Sulla’s death in 78 B.C., Caesar returned to Rome and became a successful prosecutor widely known for his oratory skills. His family intervened and convinced Sulla to spare Caesar’s life however, Sulla stripped Caesar of his inheritance.ĭespite the reprieve, Caesar left Rome, joined the army and earned the prestigious Civic Crown for his courage at the Siege of Mytilene in 80 B.C. New York: Penguin Classics, 2007.In 82 B.C., Sulla won the civil war and ordered Caesar to divorce Cornelia. The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius, translated by Robert Graves and edited by James B.Picture Attribution: (Julius Caesar “Crossing the Rubicon” from Abbott, Jacob, 1803-1879, via Creative Commons). ![]() Was it coincidence, or paraphrasing, or simply a later embellishment added by commentators? Julius Caesar’s own memoirs only add more questions to the conversation, as he did not deem whatever he said at the Rubicon to be worth recording in his war commentaries. Regardless, what Caesar said at the Rubicon is still debated. 342-291 BCE), who allegedly wrote over a hundred plays during his career. The line was a well-known saying because it had been coined centuries before Caesar by the Greek dramatist and comic playwright, Menander (c. Plutarch, representing the Greek tradition, instead wrote that Caesar proclaimed, “let the die be cast,” and commented that the phrase was actually a quite commonly-used quote by people who are about to expose their fortunes to peril ( Life of Caesar, 32). ![]() Suetonius, representing the Latin tradition, claimed that Julius Caesar crossed the river after stating, “the die is cast” ( The Twelve Caesars, Divius Julius 32). To honor the momentous occasion before plunging the Roman Republic into civil war, Julius Caesar reportedly delivered one of his greatest phrases. By crossing the Rubicon, he would be moving his forces without authorization from Gaul into Italy, officially igniting a rebellion against the Roman Senate and its champion, Pompey. In 49 BCE, Julius Caesar rested with his army on the Gaul side of the Rubicon River. ![]()
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