Between 58 and 50 BCE, Caesar conquered the rest of Gaul up to the river Rhine.Īs he expanded his reach, Caesar was ruthless with his enemies. This allowed him to build a bigger military and begin the kind of campaigns that would cement his status as one of Rome’s all-time great leaders. Not long after, Caesar secured the governorship of Gaul (modern-day France and Belgium).
In the midst of all the chaos, he got his way. Caesar hired some of Pompey’s soldiers to stage a riot. In a controversial move, Caesar tried to pay off Pompey’s soldiers by granting them public lands. Once again, Caesar displayed his abilities as a negotiator, earning the trust of both Crassus and Pompey and convincing them they’d be better suited as allies than as enemies. Crassus, a leader known as the richest man in Roman history, offered Caesar financial and political support that proved to be instrumental in his rise to power.Ĭrassus and Pompey, however, were intense rivals.
The strategic political alliance among Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus came to be known as the First Triumvirate.įor Caesar, the First Triumvirate partnership was the perfect springboard to greater domination. (He also had several mistresses, including Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt, with whom he had a son, Caesarion.) First TriumvirateĪt the same time Caesar was governing under Pompey, he aligned himself with the wealthy military leader Marcus Licinius Crassus. The same year, Caesar wed Calpurnia, a teenager to whom he remained married for the rest of his life. Caesar maintained his alliance with Pompey, which enabled him to get elected as consul, a powerful government position, in 59 BCE. In 61 to 60 BCE, Caesar served as governor of the Roman province of Spain. Their marriage lasted just a few years, and in 62 BCE, the couple divorced. In 67 BCE, Caesar married Pompeia, the granddaughter of Sulla. Caesar went on to serve in several other key government positions. Soon after, in 68 or 69 BCE, he was elected quaestor (a minor political office). The pirates were captured and executed.Ĭaesar further enhanced his stature in 74 BCE when he put together a private army and combated Mithradates VI Eupator, king of Pontus, who had declared war on Rome.Ĭaesar began an alliance with Gnaeus Pompey Magnus, a powerful military and political leader. In a daring display of his negotiation skills and counter-insurgency tactics, he convinced his captors to raise his ransom, then organized a naval force to attack them. He relocated temporarily to Rhodes to study philosophy.ĭuring his travels he was kidnapped by pirates. In 69 BCE, Cornelia passed away.Īfter Sulla’s death, Caesar began his career in politics as a prosecuting advocate. Caesar likely returned to Rome after Sulla’s death circa 79 BCE (another account states Caesar, with the help of his influential friends, eventually convinced Sulla to be allowed to return).īack in Rome, Caesar and Cornelia had a daughter, Julia Caesaris, in 76 BCE. The young Roman refused and escaped by serving in the military, first in the province of Asia and then in Cilicia.
Sulla ordered Caesar to divorce his wife or risk losing his property. Caesar’s marriage to Cornelia drew the ire of the Roman dictator Sulla, as Cornelia’s father was Sulla’s political rival. In 84 BCE, Caesar married Cornelia, the daughter of a nobleman. Around the time of his father’s death, Caesar made a concerted effort to establish key alliances with the country’s nobility, with whom he was well-connected. He remained close to his mother, Aurelia.
When he was 16, his father, an important regional governor in Asia also named Gaius Julius Caesar, died. Little is known of Caesar’s early years, but during his youth an element of instability dominated the Roman Republic, which had discredited its nobility and seemed unable to handle its considerable size and influence. SPOUSE: Cornelia (84–69 BCE), Pompeia (67–62 BCE), Calpurnia (59–44 BCE)īorn Gaius Julius Caesar on July 12, 100 BCE, Caesar hailed from Roman aristocrats, though his family was far from rich. After several alliances and military victories, he became dictator of the Roman Empire, a rule that lasted for just one year before his death in 44 BCE. By age 31, Caesar had fought in several wars and become involved in Roman politics. Allegedly a descendant of Trojan prince Aeneas, Caesar’s birth marked the beginning of a new chapter in Roman history. Julius Caesar was a leader of ancient Rome who significantly transformed what became known as the Roman Empire by greatly expanding its geographic reach and establishing its imperial system.
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