2. CAESAR HAD MORE THAN A MERE NAME AND MILITARY REPUTATION: HIS ENERGY COULD NEVER REST AND HIS ONE DISGRACE WAS TO CONQUER WITHOUT WAR. HE WAS ALERT AND HEADSTRONG; HIS ARMS ANSWERED EVERY SUMMONS OF AMBITION OR RESENTMENT; HE NEVER SHRANK FROM USING THE SWORD LIGHTLY; HE FOLLOWED UP EACH SUCCESS AND SNATCHED AT THE FAVOR OF FORTUNE, OVERTHROWING EVERY OBSTACLE ON HIS PATH TO SUPREME POWER, AND REJOICING TO CLEAR THE WAY BEFORE HIM BY DESTRUCTION. --LUCAN, BELLUM CIVILE I, 143-150

3. THE EARLY YEARS Born to a not-so-well-off patrician family in 100 BC in a plebeian neighborhood of Rome After a civil war, Caesar was left penniless and almost lost his life while still a teenager. He joined the army at age 18 and served for four years.

4. THE (LEGAL) RUNGS OF POWER He was elected a Senator at age 30 At age 34 he was put in charge of public entertainments. He spent lavishly and won great popularity. He was elected Pontifex Maximus at age 36. This post was for life and brought power, wealth, and prestige (plus a big house in the Forum!) At age 39 he became military governor in Spain where he earned his reputation as a general. He was elected Consul, the highest office in Rome, at age 41.

5. THE FIRST TRIUMVIRATE New and great opportunities for personal power were created as well as wealth, popularity, and military command. Marcus Licinius Crassus: the Richest man in Rome Cnaeus Pompeius Magnus: the most successful General of the time Caesar: up-and-coming, popular, and Consul

6. GAUL After his Consulship, Caesar made sure he was appointed governor of Illyricum, Italian Gaul, and then Gaul-across-the-Alps. This gave him the opportunity to command troops again and to conquer territory. This also gave him the opportunity for great wealth. Through his Commentaries of the war, published back in Rome, he gained even greater celebrity.

7. RISKING ALL Crassus died in battle in Parthia. The Senate convinced Pompey to oppose Caesar rather than work with him. Caesar, after eight years in Gaul, is ordered to surrender his armies and return to Rome (to stand trial!). Caesar invaded Italy with his Legions.

8. CIVIL WAR—AGAIN! Pompey and the leading Senators fled to Greece to ready their army. Caesar easily overtake Italy, Rome, and Spain. Outnumbered two to one, Caesar faced Pompey in Greece, and crushed him. Pompey fled to Egypt.

9. CAESAR’S COINS Caesar was the first Roman to have his face put on a coin while he was still alive. The Romans believed only ancestors and gods could be pictured. Caesar was equating himself with gods and Eastern kings.

10. EGO SUM CAESAR He had himself appointed Dictator-for-Life. Caesar now ruled alone, using friends, freedmen, and slaves to govern—ignoring the Senate. Was Caesar a KING? He started wearing an all-purple toga: the garment of a triumphal general representing the god Jupiter. Was Caesar a GOD?

11. CLEOPATRA She became Queen of Egypt at the age of 17. She was the joint ruler of Egypt with her brother Ptolomy XII. Egyptian custom meant that she had to marry him. Ptolomy was 12 years old and died at age 18.

12. PTOLOMY Ptolomy and Cleopatra did not get along. Ptolomy’s advisors drove Cleopatra out into the desert so Ptolomy XIII could rule alone. Pompey fled to Egypt after being defeated by Julius Caesar. Ptolomy had Pompey beheaded and presented his head to Julius Caesar.

13. PTOLOMY’S MISTAKE Pompey was still Consul of Rome and Julius Caesar’s son-in-law Julius Caesar demanded that Pompey’s assassins be handed over to him. Ptolomy refused. Julius Caesar fought against Ptolomy’s army. Ptolomy, weighted by his armor of gold, drowned in the River Nile. Cleopatra’s third brother, Ptolomy XIV, became joint ruler.

14. JULIUS AND CLEOPATRA Julius Caesar had Cleopatra restored to the throne of Egypt. Cleopatra became Caesar’s mistress. Cleopatra’s son Caesarean was probably Caesar’s son. She and Caesarean lived in Rome with Julius. Caesar refused to recognize Caesarean as his heir.

15. THE JULIAN FORUM Julius Caesar created the Julian Forum, which he named after himself. The Forum was needed because the old forum had become too small to deal with the amount of people.

16. THE IDES OF MARCH A group of over fifty Senators decided that enough is enough. They are not ready to relinquish power and control of Rome to one man. They conspired to murder Caesar on March 15, 44 BC. They invited him to be crowned and declared King of Rome. He arrived to find 50 Senators with knives hidden in their togas. They promptly stabbed him to death. This coin, issued by Brutus, commemorates Caesar’s assassination. Brutus had hoped he and the other conspirators would be seen as heroes liberating the Republic from a tyrant.

17. CAESAR’S LASTING IMPACT Caesar provided a blueprint for rising to absolute power in Rome. His name became one of the titles for the Roman emperors. The more modern “Czar” and “Kaiser” derive from his name too. Caesar began the practice of granting Roman citizenship to conquered peoples. This helped to prolong the expansion and maintenance of the Roman Empire.

18. CAESAR’S LASTING IMPACT His Commentaries are one of the great pieces of Latin literature. He inspired one of Shakespeare’s most celebrated plays. His reform of the calendar has been changed very little over the past two millenia. The month July is named for him.