Western History 44: Who was Julius Caesar and how did Rome transcend to Empire?

Julius Caesar was a patrician Roman whose family was allied with the faction of Marius. In his younger days he had fallen foul of the Sulla and was forced to flee Rome but he returned following the death of the dictator. Like Pompey he waged war against the Mediterranean pirates and later worked his way up the Roman hierarchy by holding at different times the ranks of quaestor and praetor. 

However his greatest victories were achieved in the Gallic War that resulted in the annexation of Gaul, the great victory at Alesia (52 BCE) and victories over a host of tribes that included the Arverni, Belgae, Suebi, and Veneti amongst others. Casear also made inroads into the Rhine region and included in his campaigns two invasions of Britannia (the first was unsuccessful and the second achieved only nominal gains). The events of the Gallic War were chronicled in Caesar’s book Commentarii de Bello Gallico - a great work of Latin prose

Caesar’s successes threatened the Roman elite. In 50 BCE the Senate directed by Pompey ordered Caesar to lay down his arms and return to Rome. The Great Roman General refused and immortalized his position with the phrase Alea iacta est (the die is cast). Caesar crossed the Rubicon River and led his army into Northern Italy. Pompey and his senate support fled south. Although they outnumbered Caesar in military strength they chose not to fight. Caesar pursued Pompey forces in Spain and then chased them to Illyria defeating them at the Battle of Dyrrachium in 48 BCE before finally vanquishing his rival at Pharsalus in Greece. Pompey fled to Egypt and was assassinated. His head was given to Caesar as a reward.

The great general’s grip on power was at its height. He defeated the force’s of the Egyptian Pharaoh at the Battle of the Nile (47 BCE) and installed Cleopatra as that nation’s ruler (he would have a son with Cleopatra named Caesarion). Opposition to Caesar came from Pompey’s sons but Caesar defeated their forces at the Battle of Munda in 45 BCE.

Caesar proved to be a competent ruler whose prestige was upped by the triumphs granted to him by the Roman Senate. He reformed the army, lessened the power of the elites, introduced the Julian Calendar and ordered the rebuilding of Carthage and Corinthia. He attempted to deal with the problems that were particular to the Italian peninsula (the causes of the Social War).

In March of 44 BCE, a month after being appointed dictator-for-life, he was however assassinated by a cabal of senators that included the Cassius brothers, Brutus and Casca. Rome was immediately plunged into Civil War.