JULIUS CAESAR

Who Was Julius Caesar?

Gaius Julius Caesar was a leader of ancient Rome who significantly transformed what became known as
the Roman Empire. By age 31, Caesar had fought in several wars and become involved in Roman
politics. After several alliances and military victories, he became dictator of the Roman Empire, a rule
that lasted for just one year before his death.
Early Life
While Caesar was from Roman aristocrats, his family was far from rich. At age 16, his father died, but
Caesar made a lot of effort to make friends with the noble and the politicians.
Political Career
Caesar became powerful when he put together a private army and fought the king of Pontus, who had
declared war on Rome. Caesar began an alliance with Pompey Magnus, a powerful military and political
leader. He was elected as an officer and went on to serve in several other key government positions.
Caesar served as governor of the Roman province of Spain. Caesar maintained his alliance with Pompey,
which enabled him to get elected as consul, a powerful government position.

Alliance of the powerful three

At the same time, Caesar aligned himself with the wealthy military leader Marcus Licinius Crassus. The
strategic political alliance among Caesar, Pompey and Crassus came to be known as the First Triumvirate
(when three people rule together). Crassus, a leader known as the richest man in Roman history, was
Caesar’s great support. He earned the trust of both Crassus and Pompey.

Early Rule
In a controversial move, Caesar tried to pay off Pompey's soldiers by granting them public lands. Caesar
hired some of Pompey's soldiers to stage a riot. Also he built a bigger military and began the kind of
campaigns that would cement his status as one of Rome's all-time great leaders. Caesar was ruthless with
his enemies. In one instance he waited until his opponent's water supply had dried up, then ordered the
hands of all the remaining survivors be cut off. He was mindful of the political scene back home in
Rome, and hired key political agents to act on his behalf.

Civil War against Pompey

As Julius Caesar’s power and prestige grew, Pompey grew envious of his political partner. Meanwhile,
Crassus still had never completely overcome his disdain (hatred) for Pompey. The three leaders patched
things up temporarily. Three years later, however, Crassus was killed in a battle in Syria. Around this
time, Pompey—his old suspicions about Caesar's rise reignited—commanded that Caesar disband his
army and return to Rome as a private citizen.

Victory
Civil war between the two leaders proved to be inevitable. Pompey and his troops, however, were no
match for Caesar’s military prowess. Pompey fled Rome and eventually landed in Greece, where his
troops were defeated by Caesar's legions, and was later killed.

Dictatorship
Upon his return to Rome, Caesar became dictator for life. Although he would serve just a year's term,
Caesar’s rule was important in reforming Rome. Caesar relieved people’s debt and reformed the Senate
by increasing its size and opening it up so that it better represented all Romans. He altered the Roman
calendar. Caesar also developed two city-states, Carthage and Corinth, which had been destroyed earlier.
He granted citizenship to a number of foreigners. Caesar even invited some of his defeated rivals to join
him in the government. He stuffed the Senate with allies and required it to grant him honors and titles. He
spoke first at assembly meetings, and Roman coins bore his face.

Death
While Caesar's reforms made him popular amongst Rome's lower- and middle-class, his increasing power
was met with concern in the Roman Senate. A number of politicians saw Caesar as an aspiring king and
were against it. Caesar was assassinated by political rivals.

Who Killed Julius Caesar?

Marcus Junius Brutus, former rival of Caesar who'd joined the Roman Senate, led Caesar’s assassination.
Brutus' involvement in the killing packed the most complicated backstory. During Rome's earlier civil
war, he had originally sided with Caesar’s opponent, Pompey. But after Caesar's victory over Pompey,
Brutus was encouraged to join the government.

After Caesar’s Death

After his death, Caesar quickly became a martyr in the new Roman Empire. A mob of Romans gathered
at Caesar's funeral, and attacked the homes of Cassius and Brutus. Just two years after his death, Caesar
became the first Roman figure to be deified. The Senate also gave him the title "The Divine Julius.”
Caesar’s great-grandnephew Gaius Octavian played on the late ruler's popularity, assembling an army to
fight back the military troops defending Cassius and Brutus. His victory over Caesar's assassins allowed
Octavian, who assumed the name Augustus, to take power in 27 B.C. and become the first Roman
emperor.
 SPARTACUS
Early Life
Not a lot is known about Spartacus' early life. He was a Thracian who joined the Roman army as
a young man. However, things didn't work out. He tried to leave the army. When he was caught
leaving, he was sold into slavery as a gladiator.

Life as a Gladiator
Spartacus lived the life of a gladiator. He was basically a slave who was forced to fight for the
entertainment of the Romans. He was sent to a gladiator school where he constantly trained to
fight. He was then put into the arena to fight animals or other gladiators. Some of the fights were
to the death. He must have been both a good fighter and lucky to survive.
His life as a gladiator was difficult. He became tired of risking his life for the entertainment of
others. He wanted to escape and go home.

Escape
In 73 BC, seventy gladiators, with Spartacus as their leader, escaped from the gladiator school.
They were able to steal their weapons and armor and fight their way free. They fled to Mount
Vesuvius near the city of Pompeii gathering more slaves to their small army as they went.

Fighting Rome
Rome sent an army of 3,000 men under the leadership of Claudius Glaber. Glaber surrounded the
slaves at Mount Vesuvius and decided to wait them out. He figured they would eventually starve.
Spartacus, however, had a different idea. He and the gladiators used the vines from local trees to
repel down the side of the mountain and sneak up behind the Roman forces. They killed nearly
all 3,000 of the Roman soldiers.
Rome sent another army of around 6,000 soldiers. Spartacus and the slaves again defeated them.

More Slaves Join

As Spartacus continued to have success against the Roman army, more and more slaves began to
desert their owners and join up with Spartacus. Soon Spartacus' forces had grown to over 70,000
slaves! The gladiators used their fighting experience to train the slaves how to fight. They also
had lots of weapons and armor from defeating the Roman troops.
Over the winter of that year, Spartacus and his 70,000 slaves camped in northern Italy. They
raided Roman towns for food and supplies and trained for the battles they knew would come.

Final Battle
The Romans became increasingly scared and worried about this large force of slaves and
gladiators moving about the country. They gathered a large army of around 50,000 soldiers under
the leadership of Crassus. At the same time Pompey the Great was returning from another war.
The two generals defeated the slave revolt and killed Spartacus.