Julius caesar biography outline by paragraph diagram

The most famous Roman of them all was never himself Emperor.

Interesting facts about julius caesar

He was named Gaius Julius Caesar, like his father and grandfather before him. Caesar learned early that Roman politics was bloody and factional. Caesar lost his inheritance — he was often in debt throughout his life — and he headed for the distant safety of overseas military service. Once Sulla had resigned power, Caesar, who had proved himself a brave and ruthless soldier, began his political climb.

He moved up the bureaucratic ranks, becoming governor of part of Spain by BC. There is a story that in Spain and aged 33, Caesar saw a statue of Alexander the Great and wept because by a younger age, Alexander had conquered a vast empire. He made it to the top as part of a team, joining forces with the massively wealthy Crassus and the popular general Pompey to take power as the First Triumvirate, with Caesar at its head as consul.

After his term ended he was sent to Gaul. Recalling Alexander the Great, he set upon a bloody campaign of eight years of conquest, which made him fantastically wealthy and powerful. Pompey was now a rival, and his faction in the senate ordered Caesar to disarm and come home. The ensuing four-year civil war sprawled across Roman territory leaving Pompey dead, murdered in Egypt, and Caesar undisputed leader of Rome.

Caesar now set about putting right what he thought was wrong with a Rome that was struggling to control its provinces and was riddled with corruption. He knew that the vast territories Rome now controlled needed a strong central power, and he was it. Land reform particularly favoured military veterans, the backbone of Roman power.

His new Julian Calendar, based on the Egyptian solar model, lasted until the 16th century.