Gaius Julius Caesar

1
Gaius Julius Caesar

• Who is this guy?

2
Who was Julius Caesar?

• The most powerful man in Rome
• An accomplished scholar and writer
• A gifted statesman
• A military strategist
• A soldier of remarkable ability

3
Early Life

• 100 BC Born on the 13th of Quintilis (July)
• Had many relatives with government influence
• Relatives got him some important assignments in
  his youth

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Military Man

• 80 BC Caesar honored for bravery in battle
• Captured by pirates while traveling
• Relatives paid for his ransom he was released
• Caesar recruited his own troops
• Captured the pirates
• Had the pirates executed
• 74 BC Participated in war against Mithradates
  VI
• Held a series of political offices afterwards

5
A Roman Consul

• Became a consul (one of two) in 59 BC
• 60 BC Formed an alliance with Pompey and
  Crassus to rule RomeCalled the First
  Triumvirate
• 49 BC Crassus died
• Pompey controlled Southern
• Italy and Rome
• Caesar controlled the
• North of Italy

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Conflict

• Relations between Pompey and Caesar deteriorate
  after Crassus died
• Caesar appointed Dictator of Rome
• Crossed the Rubicon, river that divided Italy
• Civil War begins
• 48 BC Caesar defeats Pompey at Pharsalus
• Pompey is later murdered in Egypt
• Caesar reappointed Dictator of Rome

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The Roman Dictator

• 48 BC Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, gives birth to
  Caesars son, Caesarion
• 46 BC Caesar reappointed as Dictator
• 44 BC Caesar named Dictator for Life
• 44 BC Caesar assassinated by conspirators on the
  15th of March (The Ides of March)

8
Caesar as a Person

• Caesar wanted to win the favor of the people
• Threw lavish parties for influential people
• His military prowess made him popular

9
Mr. Nice Guy?

• Felt he was the one to make a change in the
  existing, corrupt government
• Sometimes resorted to political bullying
• Increasingly used physical intimidation and
  violence
• Said to have a short fuse and disliked people who
  disagreed with him.

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Earliest Biographer said he

• Was an imposing, energetic man
• Had a magnetic personality
• Had a remarkably alert mind
• Was tall and good-looking, liked to dress well
• Didnt like to show weakness
• Premature baldness
• Migraines
• Epileptic siezures

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Trivia

• His life was brief, just 56 years
• In 85 BC, when Caesar was just sixteen, he became
  the head of the family when his father died
  suddenly while putting on his shoes one morning,
  without any apparent cause.
• Caesar and Cleopatra were romantically involved
  for 14 years but could not marry, because she was
  Queen of Egypt and under Roman law, marriage was
  only allowed between two Roman citizens.
• His reign of Rome was just five years, from 49 BC
  to 44 BC
• Caesar is considered to be one of the greatest
  military strategists and tacticians in history,
  along with Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan,
  Napoleon, General George S. Patton, General
  George Washington, and Field Marshall Erich von
  Manstein.