Caesar Essay

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Veni, Vidi, Vici
Julius Caesar was a man born with aspirations to be as great as Alexander, during one of the most tumultuous time periods in all of Roman history, and determined to enact his reform on the world. This all culminated to produce of the most influential and legendary men the world ever known. Caesar was born in Rome around July 12 in 44 BC. Not much is known of his early life save for the fact that his father was a senator and had aristocratic standing but was not particularly wealthy (Knight, McConnell). The society in which he grew up in was one of great corruption, fed simply by the spoils of all the wars Rome was winning. The Roman Republic was slowly crumbling away, the richer were getting richer and the poor were getting poorer. There was no longer allegiance to the Republic or the betterment of the people but instead the power was in the hands of the military generals, who now paid their soldiers in land and gold (ushistory.org). The most influential moment in young Caesar’s life was the marriage of his aunt to Marius, a consul. This alliance secured him political power but at the same time pitted him against Sulla, Marius’ rival. This rivalry led to Sulla kicking Caesar out of Rome and forcing him into hiding. Caesar was eventually pardoned back into Rome and allowed to join the army. He quickly moved up in the ranks, winning many victories for Rome and proving himself as a formidable military general. Not being satisfied with military power alone, Caesar defeated Mithradates of Pontus without being

2 commanded to do so and soon after earned his first elected office as the military tribune (Knight, McConnell). Soon after his election as tribune, he made one of the most important alliances in all of Rome’s history, The First Triumvirate. This political alliance included himself, Crassus, and Pompey. These three men basically controlled Rome and formed the alliance to further advance themselves both politically and financially. But this pact was short-lived, by 53 BC it had almost completely collapsed (Plutarch). Crassus had died in battle and Caesar and Pompey were now at odds. Pompey ultimately met his demise after he fled to Egypt after a battle with Caesar. Caesar’s journey to Egypt led to his well-known affair with Queen Cleopatra and his aid in helping her take back the Egyptian throne for herself. The following years became his greatest and most successful, on his return from Egypt he declared himself the dictator for life of Rome. This move overthrew the republic that Rome had been ruled by for hundreds of years and replaced it entirely. Caesar’s demise ultimately came from his ambition for more and more power because those around him became increasingly distrustful of him and believed he was taking his power way too far. It all culminated on the 15th of March, the Ides of March, when a group of 60 influential Roman men stabbed him to death on the Senate floor. Their plan ultimately back-fired on them because his assassination started another civil war and led his grand-nephew Augustus, heir to the throne, to avenge his death and kill all those involved in the assassination plot. “Although his own rule was unremarkable, his victory in the civil war replaced a republic, ruled by the consuls and the Senate, with an empire, reigned over by
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