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Julius Caesar (whose full name was Gaius Julius Caesar) was born in Rome in 100 BC. He was born to an aristocratic family who could trace their bloodline all the way back to the founding of Rome. His parents were wealthy, but not rich by Roman standards. Caesar’s father died when he was sixteen years old. He became the head of the family and was responsible for his mother Aurelia and sister Julia. At the age of 17, he married Cornelia, the daughter of a powerful politician in Rome.
Caesar found himself in the middle of a political power struggle between two branches of government. The current dictator of Rome, Sulla, was an enemy of his uncle, Marius, and father in law, Cinna. Caesar left Rome and joined the army to avoid Sulla and his allies. When Sulla died and Caesar returned to Rome, he was known as a military hero. He quickly became more and more powerful in the government and made alliances with powerful men such as the general Pompey the Great and a wealthy man named Crassus. The people of Rome loved Caesar; not only was he wealthy and powerful, but he was also an excellent speaker. At the age of 40, Julius Caesar was elected to be one of two Consuls to rule over Rome. At the end of the year, consul Caesar became the governor of a province called Gaul. He was a very effective governor and leader. He conquered all of Gaul, and gained respect and honor from his army. Soon he was considered to be the greatest general in the Roman army. While Caesar was so successful in Gaul, politics in Rome were becoming hostile. Many of the leaders in Rome were jealous of Caesar and his following of people. Even Pompey became jealous and was soon a rival of Caesar. Caesar had the support of the people, and Pompey had the support of the aristocrats. Caesar announced that he was going to return to Rome to run for consul a second time. The Senate replied that he must first give up command of his army. Caesar refused and the Senate claimed he was a traitor. Caesar marched his army into Rome in 49 BC and spent the next 18 months fighting Pompey. Pompey was finally defeated by Caesar, who chased him all the way to Egypt where an Egyptian Pharaoh ordered to have Pompey killed, and presented his head to Caesar as a gift. Caesar returned to Rome the most powerful man in the world. The senate made him dictator for life, and he ruled as a king. He made many changes to Rome. He put people who supported him in the senate. He built new buildings and temples in the city. He even changed the calendar to the now famous Julian calendar, which has 365 days and a leap year. Some people in Rome felt that Julius Caesar was too powerful and plotted to kill him. They were worried his rule would put an end to the Roman Republic. |