Julius Caesar and the Gallic Wars

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Julius Caesar and the Gallic Wars
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Caesars early years

• 102/100 BCE Gaius Julius Caesar was born
• c. 82 BCE age 18 he married Cornelia
• she later bore him his only legitimate child, a
  daughter, Julia
• Sulla proscribed him and Caesar went into hiding
• Caesar's influential friends and relatives
  eventually got him a pardon

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Caesars early career

• c. 79 BCE Caesar, on the staff of a military
  legate, was awarded the civic crown
• sent him on an embassy to Nicomedes, the king of
  Bithynia, to obtain a fleet of ships

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Caesar back in Rome

• When Sulla died in 78, Caesar returned to Rome
  and began a career as a orator/lawyer
• 75 BCE While sailing to Greece for further
  study, Caesar was kidnaped by Cilician pirates
  and held for ransom

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Caesars Life contd

• 72 BCE Caesar was elected military tribune.
• 68/67 BCE Caesar was elected quaestor and
  obtained a seat in the Senate
• he married Pompeia, a granddaughter of Sulla

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Caesar and Pompey

• Caesar supported Gnaeus Pompey and helped him get
  an extraordinary generalship against the
  Mediterranean pirates, later extended to command
  of the war against King Mithridates in Asia
  Minor.

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Other Offices

• 65 BCE He was elected curule aedile and spent
  lavishly on games
• 63 BCE Caesar spent heavily in a successful
  effort to get elected pontifex maximus (chief
  priest)
• in 62 he was elected praetor
• 61 he was sent to the province of Further Spain
  as propraetor.

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Commemorative coin of Julius Caesar, Late
Republican era, ca. 43 BC

• 60 BCE He returned from Spain and joined with
  Pompey and Crassus in a loose coalition called by
  modern historians The First Triumvirate

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Julius Caesar AV Aureus. 46BC, issue of Aulus
Hirtius. C CAESAR COS TER, veiled head of Vesta
right / A HIRTIVS PR, lituus, jug and axe.

• 59 BCE Caesar was elected consul against heavy
  Optimate opposition led by Marcus Porcius Cato
• Caesar married his only daughter, Julia, to
  Pompey to consolidate their alliance he himself
  married Calpurnia

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58 BCE Caesar left Rome for Gaul conquer most
of what is now central Europe, opening up these
lands to Mediterranean civilization
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Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic War (De
Bellum Gallico)

• Caesar's personal record of the Gallic War
  included seven books on the campaigns from 58 to
  52 BC.
• the only report by a military commander of
  antiquity describing his own campaigns.
• ending with the defeat of Vercingetorix.
• an eighth book was later added by Aulus Hirtius
  after Caesar's death, linking events of the
  Gallic War to those of the Civil War (50-48 BC).

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De Bellum Gallico

• provide a uniquely in-depth account of Gaul and
  its people.
• cultural descriptions are secondary to military
  matters in Caesar's campaigns
• However, the reader gains a familiarity with
  settings, tribes, and personalities unavailable
  in Strabo, Tacitus, or other ancient writers.
• the only primary source on the Celts of Gaul,
  Germany and Britain during the 1st century BC
• compares with Tacitus' account Germania, written
  in AD 98.

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coin issued by Caesar depicting military trophy

• 56 BCE Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus met in
  Caesar's province to renew their coalition.
  Pompey and Crassus were to be consuls again, and
  Caesar's command in Gaul was extended until 49
  BCE.

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Julius Caesar Denarius. 46-45 BC, Spanish mint.
Diademed head of Venus right, Cupid on her
shoulder / CAESAR below Gallia Gaulish captive
seated beneath trophy of Gallic arms.
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Caesar in Britain

• Caesar led a three-month expedition to Britain
  but he did not establish a permanent base there.
• Julia died in childbirth in 54 Crassus killed in
  Parthia in 53 BCE

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Triumphal Arch, Reims, France

• Caesar set up an efficient provincial
  administration to govern the vast territories he
  published his history The Gallic Wars.
• Optimates in Rome attempted to cut short Caesar's
  term as governor of Gaul

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49 BCE Caesar led his armies across the Rubicon
River (the border of his province), which was
automatic civil war.
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The Rubicon River
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Julius Caesar Denarius. 47-46 BC, mint in Africa.
Diademed head of Venus right / CAESAR, Aeneas
walking left, carrying Anchises and the
Palladium.
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Battle of Pharsalus

• 48 BCE Caesar defeats Pompey at Pharsalus
• - it is estimated that Pompey had 46,000 men to
  Caesar's 21,000
• -by brilliant generalship, Caesar was victorious,
  though the toll was great on both sides
• -Caesar arrives in Egypt to find Pompey slain

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Bust of Cleopatra
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Julius Caesar AV Aureus. 46BC, issue of Aulus
Hirtius. C CAESAR COS TER, veiled head of Vesta
right / A HIRTIVS PR, lituus, jug and axe.

• July 25, 46 BCE The victorious and now
  unchallenged Caesar arrived back in Rome and
  celebrated four splendid triumphs
• Holding the position of dictator, Caesar governed
  autocratically within Republican forms

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Julius Caesar denarius. January to February 44
BC, CAESAR IMP M Laureate head right, crescent
moon behind / L AEMILIVS BVCA, Venus standing
left.

• Program involved resolution of the worst of the
  debt crisis, resettlement of veterans abroad
  without dispossessing others, reform of the Roman
  calendar, regulation of the grain dole,
  strengthening of the middle class, enlargement of
  the Senate to 900

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Coin of Caesars fourth dictatorship, emphasizes
his age
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Julius Caesar denarius. April 44 BC, PARENS
PATRIAE . . . Veiled head right. / C COS SVTIVS
AARDIANVS across fields, A A A FF around

• October, 45 BCE Caesar, back in Rome, celebrated
  a triumph over Gnaeus Pompey
• Caesar was virtually appointing all major
  magistrates
• borrowing some of the customs of the ruler cults
  of the eastern Hellenistic monarchies

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Caesar the dictator

• February, 44 BCE Caesar was named dictator
  perpetuus
• On February 15, at the feast of Lupercalia,
  Caesar wore his purple garb for the first time in
  public
• Antony offered him a diadem (symbol of the
  Hellenistic monarchs), but Caesar refused it

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Theatre built by Pompey the Great scene of
Caesars assassination
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coin of Marcus Junius Brutus of the Ides of
March with a pair of daggers and a cap of liberty
(the type of headgear that was given to slaves
when they were freed) the front of the coin
depicts the head of Brutus.