Gaius Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar was a Roman general. He had an adopted son called Octavian

(known as Augustus) who later participated n a plot to kill him. “Veni,

vidi, vici” I came I saw, I conquered this was Caesar’s motto as he had

succeeded to conquer new provinces for Rome when he was a soldier. He was

the precursor of the imperial system in Rome.

His young life

He was born in Rome on July 12 or 13, 100bc, He was a member of the

honourable Julian club. He knew since his early childhood what controversy

was. His uncle was by marriage Gaius Marius who was the leader of the

Populares which was supporting agrarian reform and the enemy was the

reactionary optimates. Julius Caesar was appointed flamen dialis.

When Caesar was 22 years of age he refused to divorce his first wife when

Sulla, when she demanded it. The reason for this was that she was the

daughter of Sulla’s enemy Cinna. Caesar did not divorce her since he could

no longer be flamen dialis. (The flamen dialis didn’t fight wars). While

at Rhodes, he studied rhetoric. He returned to Rome in 73 bC. He had

become a convincing speaker. A year earlier, in his absence, he was

elected to the Pontificate, which was an important college of Roman

priests. He returned to Rome once Sulla had died

The Gallic wars

At the time Celtic Gaul was still independent to the north. A tribe there

was an ally of the Romans who had asked for help against another tribe

there who were the Helvetica while in his first year of governorship.

Caesar marched with six legions into Celtic Gaul and he defeated the

Helvetica and then he obliged them to return to their own land. He later

conquered the Germanic forces under Ariovistus (developed 71 bc-58 bC. The

defeat of the Nervii in 57 bC meant that the Romans controlled all of

Northern Gaul.