The early life and reign of Julius Caesar - Essay Example

Early Life and Reign of Julius Caesar Julius Caesars' early life and the beginning of his reign as leader of Rome was a very long, yet fulfilling journey. Where Julius Caesar was born and his upbringing influenced him greatly to become the leader of Rome. His accomplishments in his early reign were of extreme importance. Caesar was born in Rome into a well-known patrician family (gens Julia), which supposedly traced its ancestry to Julus, the son of the Trojan prince Aeneas (who according to myth was the son of Venus). A well-documented legend that exists is that, Caesar was born by Caesarian section and is therefore named that way, though it is considered improbable because at that time, it was only performed on dead women, and Julius Caesar's mother lived long after he was born. This legend is more likely a more recent creation, as the origin of the Caesarian section is in the Latin word for to cut, caedo, -ere, caesus sum. Caesar was raised in a modest apartment building (insula) in the Subura, a lower-class neighborhood of Rome. His family was not rich and by the then prevalent nobility at that time, there was not any wealthy or prominent family member in his family. However, they were socially distinguished since its members were patrician, and claimed descent from Venus and Aeneas. They had influential political connections and these were useful connections for his political aspirations. Caesar's aunt was married to the popular leader Marius, and he himself married Cornelia, the daughter of Cinna (a follower of Marius), refusing to divorce her when ordered to by the dictator Sulla. He was deeply in love with his wife and mourned her long and hard when Cornelia died in 69 BC. After that, he married for political gains though his choice of wife, Sulla's granddaughter Pompeia, who was also the daughter of Quintas Pompey, surprised quite a few in 67 BC. When Sulla died, Caesar began his political career in the Forum at Rome as an advocate, and his reputation as an orator grew in leaps and bounds. He was also known for his ruthless prosecution of former governors notorious for extortion and corruption. The great orator Cicero even commented, "Does anyone have the ability to speak better than Caesar" He had built solid relationships with Rome's great general and this was a point in his favor. He leaned more towards the populares side rather than the conservatives. The rivalry between Pompey and Caesar's benefactor, Crassus, seemed to have little effect on Caesar. Crassus continued to support Caesar's enormous debts over the next few years. Massive bribery with money borrowed from the rich and influential ex-consul Crassus also procured for him the politically important office of Pontifex Maximus in 63 BC. His personal life had a setback with the ending of his marriage. In 62 BC, Clodius, a Roman politician and Caesar's second wife, Pompeia, were involved in a scandal that took place at a religious festival at his house, concerning the violation of the secret rites of Bona Dea, and Caesar obtained a divorce, saying, "Caesar's wife must be above suspicion." Having served in Farther Spain as proconsul in 61 BC, he returned to Rome in 60 BC, ambitious for the consulate. He organized a coalition, known as the First Triumvirate, against a very strong opposing group, and was made up of made up of Pompey, commander in chief of the army; Crassus, who was powerful being the wealthiest man in Rome and Caesar himself. Pompey and Crassus had a strained relationship going but Caesar cleverly manipulated them to keep the arrangement in operation. Back in Rome in 60, he used force to pass legislation and took up the governorship of Gaul. He married Calpurnia, whose father Piso was made consul, and Pompey married Julia, daughter of Caesar and Cornelia. Caesar continued in Gaul, for eight long years and annexed the whole of modern France and Belgium to the Roman Empire, and making Rome safe from the possibility of Gallic invasions. Pompey and Crauss were constantly at each other's throat and Caesar kept patching the differences bonded to Pompey by his daughter Julia being Pompey's wife. Caesar is reputed to have been a military hero as well as a champion of the people and very popular and this caused the senate to envy him. It is also said that he used his regions to annexed personal wealth and glory and paid off all his debts, but gave no money to the Roman treasury. His daughter Julia died in 54 BC and Crassus was killed in Parthia in 53 BC. The common factor that bonded Caesar and Pompey was down, Pompey's jealously of Caesar surfaced, and he started siding with the senate. The First Triumvirate had ended. Caesar was now very powerful and therefore the senate feared him and wanted him to give up his army, perceptive that he hoped to be consul when his term in Gaul expired. In Dec. 50 BC, Caesar wrote the senate that he would give up his army if Pompey would give up his. The senate was angry and passed an illegal bill that demanded that Caesar disband his army at once or be declared an enemy of the people although he was still in term. In 50 BC, Caesar's command expired but, fearing trial for his actions in 49 BC, he refused to disarm. In the meantime, two tribunes faithful to Caesar, Marc Antony and Quintus Cassius Longinus vetoed the bill and were expelled from the senate. They fled to Caesar, and Caesar used this opportunity to gather his army and lead them against the workings of the senate. Then in 49 BC, he crossed the Rubicon, the stream bounding his province, to enter Italy. Civil war had begun. Caesar's march to Rome was a triumphal progress. He marched into Brundisium, and he besieged Pompey until Pompey fled (Mar. 49 BC) with his fleet to Greece. In the civil war that ensued, he defeated the republican forces in Greece, Africa and Spain. Pompey in the meanwhile had escaped to Egypt but was killed on his arrival at Alexandria. Caesar, following him to Egypt, became involved with Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt. He lived there for a while and was drawn into the workings of the politics prevailing in the Egyptian court. While living with Cleopatra, he assisted her in claiming her place on the throne against her brother and husband Ptolemy XII. From Egypt he went to Syria and Pontus, where he defeated (47 BC) Pharnaces II with such ease that he reported his victory in the words "Veni, vidi, vici" [I came, I saw, I conquered]. In the same year, he personally put down a mutiny of his army and then set out for Africa, where the followers of Pompey had fled, to end their opposition led by Cato. He was now undisputed in almost all of Rome, Caesar made himself consul and dictator. He put down any remaining opposition in Spain and Parthia, making himself a powerful dictator for life. He drew up visionary plans that were astute and elaborate, for consolidating the empire, and was used later by Augustus after his death. Caesar was now a popular tribune of the people and focused his energies into reforming the living conditions of the people and passing legislations that ensured their well-being. He used his power well and his strength lay in carrying out much-needed reorganization, reducing debt and improving overall quality of life of the people. These added to his popularity but also immensely built up the resentment among his enemies who were alarmed by his growing power. However, his enemies, accused him on all petty charges, criticized him and waited for an opportunity, many of them republicans whom he had spared out of kindness. A plot was hatched and a conspiracy devised to assassinate Caesar, and ironically was made up of his friends and protgs, including Cimber, Casca, Cassius, and Brutus. On Mar. 15, he was stabbed to death in the senate house. It ended the life of a man who was loved as much as was hated, who was a highly gifted orator and political leader, and an ambitious military leader but at the same time cared for his people. The assassination of Caesar was shocking and sparked anger amongst his people who worshipped him. The civil war continued for 14 long years of civil war, until Caesar's heir, Octavian (the first emperor Augustus), established monarchy and resumed the reforms initiated by the great Caesar. Source "Julius Caesar" Wikipedia.Com 27 Jan 2006 "Julius Caesar (100-44BC)" Historic Figures BBC.Co.UK 27 Jan 2006 "Caesar, Julius" Enclyopedia.com 27 Jan 2006 "Julius Caesar: Historical Background" Vroma.org 27 Jan 2006 "Julius Caesar" Mr.Dowling.com 27 Jan 2006 Read More