Julius Caesar By Ashley Cortez

A Dictator Was Born  Born Gaius Julius Caesar in 100 BC.  Parents were Aurelia and Gaius Julius Caesar, a praetor.  The month in which Caesar was born was called Quintilis but was renamed July in his honor.  Born into a senatorial, patrician family.  Nephew of Gaius Marius, a famous Roman general.  He was part of a very influential family.

Julius Caesar Grew Up  His father died when he was around 16.  He was said to marry Cossutia, who was part of an equestrian family, but after his fathers death the wedding was called off because she would have been to no particular asset.  Immediately after he married Cornelia, the daughter of Cinna.  The marriage angered the Roman dictator, Sulla. He ordered Caesar to divorce her and marry someone of his choosing or he would lose all his property.  Much to everyone's surprise he refused. After Caesar went into hiding where he lived his life as a fugitive.

Military Life and Return to Rome  He left Rome and joined the army.  He served in the first province of Asia and then in Cilicia.  After he heard the news of Sulla’s death, Caesar felt it was safe to return to Rome.  He began his career in politics as a prosecuting advocate.

Political Career  The first case he took on was prosecuting Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella.  He lost the case but it gave credit as orator.  Greek clients were impressed with his performance.  The following year he was entrusted with a case against another Sullan.  He lost that case as well, but it had greatly bummed up his reputation.  This helped lay the foundation of his political career.

Caesar Gets Captured  Caesar traveled to Rhodes to study philosophy. During his travels he was captured by pirates.  They requested twenty talents for his ransom. Caesar laughed at this and told them to raise it fifty talents.  After his ransom was paid and Caesar was released, he organized an attack on the pirates. Took back the fifty talents, as well as other belongings, and had the pirates executed.

Back to Rome  He was elected military tribune.  In 69 BC he was elected quaestor.  He then served in other government positions under Pompey.  In that same year his wife, Cornelia, died.  He remarried two years later to Pompeia, a distant relative of Pompey. However, in 62 BC, they divorced.  In 61 BC – 60 BC he served as the governor of the Roman province of Spain.  He continued his close alliance with Pompey. This enabled him to get elected as consul in 59 BC.

The First Triumvirate  Crassus and Pompey were intense rivals, but Caesar managed to convince the men they were better off being allies.  Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus formed the First Triumvirate.  The three of them had enough money and political influence to control public business.

Governorship of Gaul and Civil War  Caesar governed Gaul. This allowed him to build a bigger military and begin campaigns.  Between 58 BC – 50 BC he conquered Gaul.  In 49 BC Caesar has crossed the Rubicon river with only one legion and ignited civil war.  Caesar pursued Pompey hoping to capture him but he escaped.  Caesar left Italy under the control of Mark Antony.  In Rome Caesar was appointed dictator. After eleven days he resigned.  Caesar went to Egypt to pursue Pompey and arrived shortly after his murder.

Cleopatra, Dictatorship, and Assassination  While in Egypt he became involved with Cleopatra. They, however, never married. It is said that they had a son together, Caesarion.  In 48 BC, Caesar was again appointed dictator.  He fought in two more battles, one in North Africa and another in Spain.  Julius Caesar was assassinated by political rivals on the Ides of March in 44 BC.  It is said that he was stabbed to death.

Works of Julius Caesar List of his literary works:  Commentarii De Bello Gallico (The Gallic Wars) Books 1-8  Commentarii De Bello Civili (The Civil Wars) Books 1-3  De Bello Alexandrino (On the Alexandrian War)  De Bello Africo (On the African War)  De Bello Hispaniensi (On the Spanish War)

Works Cited Bradford, Ernie Dusgate Selby. Julius Caesar: The Pursuit of Power. 1 st ed. New York: Morrow, Print. “Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus Augustus.” Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, Web. 02 Dec “Julius Caesar-Crystalinks.” Julius Caesar-Crystalinks. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec “Julius Caesar.” –Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec “Julius Caesar.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 02 Dec “When Julius Caesar Was Kidnapped By Pirates, He Demanded They Increase His Ransom.” Mental Floss. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec “The Works of Julius Caesar.” Works of Julius Caesar Index. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec