Chapter 8

Caesar!

Special thanks to Emilee Whitley

The First Triumvirate

Three men with big political ambitions

Pompey • Brilliant general• Supporter of Sulla

and the Optimates• Arrogant• His goal was to

obtain a large portion of land for his retired soldiers

Crassus• Greedy• Crushed the slave revolt led

by Spartacus• Bought necklace for his eel• Set fire to a block of

tenements so he could buy the land

• His goal was to get tax concessions (cuts) for himself

Caesar• He was born 100

B.C.E nephew of Marius

• He studied Greek and Latin literature, philosophy, and rhetoric (study of persuasive argument)

• He was very ambitious politically – he wanted power!

Beginning of a Political Career

*Caesar found his name on a list of bad men in Rome

*He talked to Sulla about this issue

*Sulla said unless you divorce your wife you will stay on the list

*Caesar said no and fled to Bithynia

Beginning of a Political Career

*Once Sulla died, Caesar returned to Rome

* When he came back he got himself elected military tribune

*In 69 B.C.E he became quaestor of Spain

*Later he saw a statue of Alexander the Great and wanted to do more with his life

Political Life*He was elected Aedile in 65 B.C.E

*The next year he was elected Pontifex Maximus

*He was elected praetor, and then governor of the province of Spain in 61 B.C.E

Political Life• After becoming part of the

First Triumvirate, Caesar married again this time to Calpurnia

• Caesar showed no respect for the laws

• He then became governor of Gaul in 58 B.C.E.

Gaul• Vast territory of warring tribes made

up of modern France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and parts of Switzerland and Germany

• Gaul had been an enemy of Rome since their army invaded Italy in 390 B.C.E.

• Caesar believed that conquering Gaul would help him achieve power. And it did!

Caesar wins over the military!

• He was a decisive leader• Called his men “comrades”• Shared the spoils of war with

them• Gave elegant gold and silver

weapons to his bravest officers• Doubled the pay of veterans• Set an example of courage and

tenacity• He was good at rallying the

troops

Vercingetorix

• Fiery leader and hero of the Gauls

• Caesar forced him to retreat with his 80,000 warriors to Alesia, a fortified hilltop town

• There, he made his last stand

Vercingetorix, continued

• Caesar laid siege to Alesia• Built a nine-mile wall with towers for

catapults and archers• Dug ditches filled with booby traps• Second wall was built to protect

Caesar’s soldiers from being attacked from behind

• Vercingetorix could not get supplies• People were starving

Vercingetorix, continued

• Relief army arrived to help, but they could not get in. Vercingetorix sent men out to distract the Romans but they were caught by the booby traps and killed by archers

• Vercingetorix surrendered and was taken to Rome, paraded before the people, then killed

Surrendering to Caesar

Crossing the Rubicon• Crassus was killed in Asia in 53

B.C.E.• Pompey was worried about

Caesar’s growing power• Persuaded the Senate to send

for him• Caesar knows he’s in trouble,

so he brings his new friends – the army

“The die is cast.” Julius Caesar

He said this because he knew it was considered an aggressive act to return to Rome with his army. It was considered an act of treason. Caesar decided to either take the city by force…or die trying. He had made his decision. Now it was in the hands of fate.

In the end, it turned out fine for Caesar. Pompey fled to Greece and the Senate made him dictator!

Cleopatra • Sister to Ptolomy XIII• Together, they ruled

Egypt but both wished to rule alone

• Cleopatra had him drowned

• Caesar became infatuated!

Caesar reforms the calendar

• While visiting Cleopatra, Caesar learned of the inaccuracy of the Roman calendar

• He instructed Latin scholars to reform the Roman calendar based off of the Egyptian model

• 365 days with a new day added every four years

• It was called the “Julian” calendar

• Aligned with the seasons

Caesar’s social reforms• Reduced Senate to an advisory

consul• Gave plebeians land to farm• Set up government departments to

improve traffic and transportation• Drained marshes• Deepened harbor at Ostia• Built museums• Revised the tax structure

Still, the senate decided Caesar was

dangerous! Caesar was so popular and had so much power, the Senate worried the Republic was in danger.

They invited him to the Senate to explain himself, but it was a trick. He was stabbed 23

times.

“Et tu, Brute?”His “friend,” Brutus was the last to stab him. He staggered to the foot of the statue of Pompey and fell dead.

The great irony is that in their efforts to save the Republic, they condemned it. Caesar was very popular with the middle and lower classes, so after his death at the hands of aristocrats, civil war broke out. The death of Caesar marked the end of the Republic and the beginning of the Empire.

Octavian and Antony try to restore order

* Octavian

didn’t carefor

military matters and ran the government. He was a good politician

*Marc Antony was bored with politics so he sailed east to deal with the uprisings in

that part of the empire. He was a goodgeneral

Antony falls for Cleopatra!

• Cleopatra sees Antony as the key to her empire

• They began to plan a new, vast kingdom made up of Egypt and two Roman provinces

• Octavian doesn’t trust Antony and talks the Senate into declaring war on Cleopatra

It could be a Shakespearean tragedy! (Oh wait, it is one.)• Antony hears a

rumor that Cleopatra is dead

• He kills himself• She rushes to his

side but he dies in her arms

• She’s captured by Octavian’s men

• Takes her own life by allowing herself to be bitten by an asp

New Emperor of Rome – Octavian (AKA Caesar Augustus)

…And so ends the Republic and begins the Empire period