Julius Caesar Julius Caesar was born in 100 BCE to a family that was neither rich nor noble. He worked his was into power by being a fine speaker that was devoted to the cause of the people. At the young age of 37 he was elected pontifex maximus, a highly regarded position given for life. During his rise in politics, Caesar understood the advantages of allies and created a very strong alliance between himself and Pompey and Crassus, two influential political figures. The allies supported each other greatly until a power struggle emerged between Pompey and Caesar, which resulted in a civil war between Pompey, who defended the republic, and Caesar in 49 BCE. The war ended in 46 BCE with Caesar beating Pompey and establishing himself as dictator. During his time as dictator, he filled the senate with his allies that he wished to reward. The other senate members found that Caesar was acting too much like a king and murdered him in March of 44 BCE in support of the republic’s liberty. The largest debates surrounding Julius Caesar is whether he was acting as a tyrant and if his death was justified. The members of the senate who killed him, the two front men being Brutus and Cassius, said that they did it for the republic and in many ways they were right. Caesar was ruling over Rome in a way that the republic was created to prevent, as a king. The republic was supposed to be the anti-monarchy so when Caesar’s rule threaten that, his enemies needed to act