Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar crossed one small river with a single legion, and Rome’s republic never recovered. He went on to conquer Gaul, rewrite the calendar, and rule as dictator for life. His own allies killed him for it, in the Senate house he had come to dominate.

One River, One Republic’s End

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100 BC

Born in Rome

Patrician family, modest means

60 BC

First Triumvirate

Alliance with Pompey, Crassus

58–51 BC

Gallic Wars

Conquers Gaul, invades Britain

Jan 49 BC

Crosses the Rubicon

Declares war on the Senate

46 BC

Julian Calendar

Reforms the Roman calendar

15 Mar 44 BC

Assassinated

Ides of March, in the Senate

Less than a year apart: Caesar was declared dictator for life in early 44 BC, and assassinated within weeks, on 15 March that same year.

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Timeline

• 100 BC: Born in Rome, into the patrician Julii family, which was old but not especially wealthy or powerful.
• 61–60 BC: Serves as governor of Farther Spain, then returns to Rome and forms the First Triumvirate with Pompey and Crassus in 60 BC.
• 59 BC: Elected consul, the Roman Republic’s highest office.
• 58–51 BC: Conducts the Gallic Wars as proconsul, conquering Gaul and invading Britain in 55 and 54 BC.
• January 49 BC: Crosses the Rubicon River with his legion, an act of open rebellion that starts a civil war against Pompey.
• 48 BC: Defeats Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus. Pompey flees to Egypt and is killed there.
• 48–47 BC: Intervenes in Egypt’s civil war, backing Cleopatra and fathering her son, Caesarion.
• 46 BC: Introduces the Julian calendar as part of his reforms as dictator.
• 44 BC: Declared dictator for life. Assassinated on 15 March (the Ides of March), stabbed to death in the Senate by conspirators led by Brutus and Cassius.

Must Know

• Julius Caesar (100–44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman whose rise ended the Roman Republic.
• In 60 BC, he formed the First Triumvirate, an informal political alliance with Pompey and Crassus.
• His Gallic Wars (58–51 BC) conquered Gaul and made him hugely popular and powerful in Rome.
• In January 49 BC, he crossed the Rubicon River with his army, an irreversible act that triggered civil war against Pompey.
• He was declared dictator for life in 44 BC. He was then assassinated on the Ides of March (15 March 44 BC), by senators led by Brutus and Cassius.

Good to Know

• After defeating Pompey at Pharsalus in 48 BC, Caesar pursued him to Egypt, where Pompey was killed by courtiers of Ptolemy XIII before Caesar arrived.
• In Egypt, Caesar backed Cleopatra VII in her own civil war against her brother, became her lover, and fathered her son, Caesarion.
• As dictator, Caesar introduced the Julian calendar in 46 BC, a solar-based system that remained in wide use in the West for over 1,500 years.
• Caesar’s own written accounts of his campaigns, especially “Commentarii de Bello Gallico” on the Gallic Wars, remain major primary sources for Roman military history.
• His adopted heir, Octavian (later Augustus), used Caesar’s assassination and legacy to eventually become Rome’s first emperor.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. In 60 BC, Julius Caesar formed a powerful political alliance known as the First Triumvirate with which two other Roman leaders?

Pompey and Crassus

Brutus and Cassius

Mark Antony and Octavian

Cicero and Cato

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Great to Know

• “Crossing the Rubicon” survives today as an English idiom for any irreversible decision, directly because of this one 49 BC river crossing.
• Caesar’s assassins believed they were saving the Republic from one-man rule. Instead, the ensuing power struggle led directly to the Roman Empire under Augustus, the very outcome they feared.