GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR
The rise and rule of Caesar’s dictatorship
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
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70's - spent avoiding the Sullans
60's- Cursus Honorum - Caesar is mainly a popularis. He is connected to
Marius through marriage of his aunt
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69 quaestor in Spain,
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65 curule aedile (spent lots of money on public spectacles/games),
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63 pontifex maximus,
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62 praetor,
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61 governor of Spain, where he goes on an improper offensive beyond the
provincial borders, so he needs to seek public office to avoid prosecution
60 - forms the first Triumvirate (with Pompey and Crassus)
50's - Consul in 59 BCE; then governor of Gaul: Gallic Wars, conquest
of Gaul
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40's - Dictatorship
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49-45 BCE - Civil War with Pompey after crossing the Rubicon river.
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44 BCE - named Dictator Perpetuus - Dictator for Life
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Ides of March, 44 BCE - stabbed to death by Senators weary of his power
THE CIVIL WAR OF 49-45 BCE
Crassus loses 40,000 men in battle against
Parthia, with only about 10,000 surviving.
 Break up of First Triumvirate: Pompey vs.
Caesar
 Julia, the daughter of Caesar and wife of
Pompey, dies in childbirth,
 Family tie between the two is therefore
severed.
 Caesar crosses the Rubicon river boundary
between Italy and province of Cisalpine Gaul
on January 10, 49 BCE. What other choices did
he have to preserve his dignity?
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BATTLE OF PHARSALUS, 48 BCE: A
CRUSHING DEFEAT FOR POMPEY
Pompey had 47,000 troops
 Caesar had 27,000
 15,000 of Pompey's troops killed, 24,000 captured
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Pompey fled to Egypt, hoping for asylum with
Ptolemaic King and Queen Cleopatra.
 He spent 7 months there, putting Cleopatra in power
over her brother.
 Pompey was murdered near Alexandria, Egypt.
 Cato the Younger was defeated in North Africa,
committing suicide rather than living under Caesar's
rule.
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CAESAR'S REFORMS
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The overall effect was to reduce the absolute
dominance of the city of Rome and to integrate Rome
with Italy and Italy with provinces.
Enlarged the Senate from 600 to 900; included
Romanized provincials (Gaul and Spain), increased
acceptance of Roman rule.
Socio-economic reforms:
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Public works projects: temples, libraries, theaters,
roads, and harbors
Colonies of Roman citizens in provinces
Roman citizenship for intellectuals - teachers, scholars,
doctors, and librarians
He even founded schools and public libraries in the
Western provinces.
Municipal reform in Italy, Julian Municipal Law greater uniformity of local civic administration
throughout Italy
Julian Calendar
FURTHER REFORMS AT THE HEIGHT OF POWER
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Increasing the criminal penalties.
Granting citizenship and all its benefits to doctors
and teachers, many of who were Greek.
Dealing with Rome’s uncompromising debt problems,
which have been troubling both debtors and creditors
alike, more effectively than any politicians before
him.
Re-regulating the free distribution of grain, which
halved the total number of people eating at state
expense.
Abolishing the tax system at that time, which was
exploited by corrupted tax collectors, who would
siphon tax money into their own pockets. It was
replaced by a tribune system instead.
Revising Roman laws to make them more
manageable. The laws were contradictory and
ungainly before he revised them.
IDES OF MARCH, 44 BCE
 Many
believed Caesar had aspirations to
monarchy - wearing purple, although he
famously refused the crown from Antony.
 He named a month after himself, put his
image on coins, and put up many statues
of himself.
 60-80 senators (of 900) were involved in
the plot, led by Brutus and Cassius.
 It occurred days before planned
campaigns would have taken him out of
Rome.
THE FAILURE OF THE LIBERATORS TO
RETURN TO THE PRE-CAESAR REPUBLIC
They did not have a plan for re-instituting the
Republic, but thought rather it would return
automatically.
 They did not account for Caesar's popularity with
the people.
 Caesar had powerful supporters, eg. Marc
Antony, with great power, who kept the
"liberators" from undoing Caesar's reforms.
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GLOSSARY
Populares- The people or the people’s party, in
ancient Rome, as opposed to the optimates.
 Plebeians- The common people of ancient Rome
 Optimates- The nobility or aristocracy of ancient
Rome, as opposed to the populares.
 Equities- Loosely translated as the knights and
the merchant class of ancient Rome
 Tribune- any of various administrative officers,
especially one of ten officers elected to protect the
interests and rights of the plebeians from the
patricians.
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REVIEW FOR CAESAR’S REFORMS
Please
review pages 387-393 in
Ancient Rome: Using Evidence,
Bradley