Julius Caesar

(100 BC-44 BC)

BIRTH

100 BC

PLACE

Rome, Italy

NAME

Gaius Julius Caesar

DEATH

44 BC

PLACE

Rome, Italy

FAMILY

FATHER

Gaius Julius Caesar

(died c. 85 BCE)

MOTHER

Aurelia Cotta

(c. 120–54 BCE)

WIFE

Cornelia, wife of Julius Caesar

(c. 97, possibly 100–69 BC)

CHILDREN

Julia

(c. 73 BCE-54 BCE)

WIFE

Pompeia, wife of Julius Caesar

(b. c. 87 BC (?); fl. 1st century BC)

WIFE

Calpurnia, wife of Julius Caesar

(b. c. 76 BC; alive after Caesar’s death in 44 BC)

HOMES

NICKNAMES

Queen of Bithynia

RELIGIOUS VIEWS

ROMAN POLYTHEIST

MEMBERSHIPS

AWARDS

ROMAN TRIUMPH

Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman who conquered Gaul, won a civil war to become dictator of Rome, and was assassinated in 44 BC; his rise marked the end of the Roman Republic. His aunt Julia was married to the general Gaius Marius. Caesar rose through the offices of Roman government and was elected pontifex maximus in 63 BC. As governor of Gaul from 58 to 50 BC, he conquered the region, defeating Vercingetorix at Alesia in 52 BC.

EARLY LIFE

Gaius Julius Caesar was born in July 100 BC in Rome, into the patrician Julian family, which claimed descent from the goddess Venus. His father, also named Gaius Julius Caesar, was a magistrate who died when Caesar was about sixteen, and his mother was Aurelia Cotta. His aunt Julia was married to the general Gaius Marius. As a young man Caesar married Cornelia, the daughter of Marius's ally Cinna, and refused the dictator Sulla's order to divorce her, forcing him to leave Rome for a time. While traveling to Rhodes to study, he was captured by pirates and ransomed.

Subura District

Piazza della Suburra, Rome, RM, Lazio, Italy

Little of the ancient Subura survives above ground beyond scattered wall fragments and vaulted substructures embedded in later buildings, with most knowledge of the quarter coming from ancient literary sources rather than standing remains.

PARK

General_George_Washington_at_Trenton_by_John_Trumbull_edited_edited.jpg

Julius Caesar advanced through the competitive offices of the Roman Republic while building a reputation for political ambition, military ability and generosity to supporters. Elected pontifex maximus in 63 BCE, he later governed in Spain before returning to seek the consulship. His alliance with Pompey and Crassus, arranged around 60, helped overcome senatorial opposition and secured political opportunities for all three. As consul in 59 he pushed through legislation by contentious methods, then obtained provincial commands that supplied an army and the prospect of wealth and prestige.

From 58 to 50 Caesar campaigned in Gaul, extending Roman control through conquest, alliances and repeated suppression of resistance. Expeditions across the Rhine and to Britain broadened his reputation without producing lasting occupation there. The defeat of Vercingetorix at Alesia in 52 broke a major coalition. The campaigns killed and enslaved large numbers of people and cannot be treated simply as demonstrations of tactical brilliance. Caesar's own commentaries are important evidence, but also a presentation of events intended to justify his conduct and shape readers' assessment of his leadership.

The deaths of Crassus and Caesar's daughter Julia weakened the political arrangements connecting him to Pompey. Disputes over his command and immunity from prosecution contributed to a confrontation with the Senate. Crossing the Rubicon in January 49 with troops began civil war. Caesar defeated Pompey at Pharsalus in 48 and continued campaigning after Pompey's murder in Egypt. Intervention there supported Cleopatra's position. Victories at Thapsus in 46 and Munda in 45 defeated major remaining opponents, but victory did not restore a consensual republican settlement.

Holding repeated dictatorships and eventually the title dictator for life, Caesar concentrated power while retaining many familiar institutions in altered form. He expanded the Senate, established colonies, addressed debt and citizenship questions and introduced the Julian calendar. Clemency toward some defeated opponents coexisted with the coercive authority acquired through war. Honours and uncertainty over monarchical ambitions alarmed senators who saw their political independence threatened. On 15 March 44 conspirators, including Brutus and Cassius, killed him at a meeting of the Senate. The assassination produced renewed warfare rather than a durable republican restoration.

CAREER

DEATH

Forum of Caesar & Temple of Venus Genetrix

Rome, RM, Lazio, Italy

These events can be more readily associated with cardiovascular complications from a stroke episode or lethal heart attack. Caesar possibly had a genetic predisposition for cardiovascular disease. News of his imminent departure forced the conspirators to move up their plans; the Senate meeting on the 15th would be the last before his departure. They had decided that a Senate meeting was the best place to frame the killing as political, rejecting the alternatives at games, elections, or on the road. That only the conspirators would be armed at the Senate meeting, per Dio, also would have been an advantage. The day, 15 March, was also symbolically important as it was the day on which consuls took office until the mid-2nd century BC. Various stories purport that Caesar was on the cusp of not attending or otherwise being warned about the plot. Nevertheless, he attended the Senate meeting that day, held in the Curia of Pompey. Approached on his golden chair at the foot of the statue of Pompey, the conspirators attacked him with daggers. Whether he fell in silence, per Suetonius, or after reply to Brutus' appearance – kai su teknon? ("you too, child?") – is variantly recorded. He was stabbed at least twenty-three times and died at once.

Temple of Divus Julius (Temple of Caesar)

Rome, RM, Lazio, Italy

GRAVE