Midterm 3 History Essay

Antony- Caesar's biggest follower. After Caesar's death; Antony claims to be join the conspiracy in order to save his life and say his speech about Caesar to the crowd. After Brutus leaves, Antony persuades the crowd that the conspiracy killed Caesar out of hate and not for Rome. Antony makes the crowd go on a rampage. Later Antony meets up with Caesar's adopted son Octavius and kills the conspiracy.

In the determination of whether Julius Caesar was an intelligent, political hero or an egocentric, dictating villain, it is important to look at all of the facts. Born in 100 B.C.E. and assassinated in 44 B.C.E., Julius Caesar was legendary. He along Pompey, and Crassus created the first unofficial Triumvirate which was negotiated to appease both the Roman citizens and the power hungry rivals. Still, this agreement would not last long. After Pompey’s wife, Julia Caesar and daughter of Caesar’s daughter given to Pompey to establish the Trimvirate, dies in childbirth, civil war breaks out as Caesar leads his army against Rome. He fights until Pompey is murdered in Egypt. As Rome is “shattered,” Julius Caesar one person should rule. He

Once in power, Crassus and Pompey extended Caesar's time as governor of Gaul, and then chose for themselves long-term governorships, (Crassus in Syria and Pompey in Spain). However, at the end of 55BC, Pompey did not leave for Spain, instead remaining as the only Triumvir in Rome, while Caesar and Crassus took the heads of powerful armies.

Though Pompey sought power by manipulating the political system to his own advantage, the fact that the Senate was already weak and hence gave him this power.This shows that although Pompey’s actions were detrimental to the fall of the Republic, he was not the sole contributor. Pompey was both underage and had held none of the required offices, yet the Senate passed decrees exempting him from these traditional prerequisites, thus allowing for him to be joint consul with Crassus in 70 BC. According to Cicero, “absolute power” was what he had sought, and thus this ambition had nothing to do with “the happiness and honour of the community.” This reveals a callously ruthless dimension to Pompey, in that he would undertake any measure to achieve his own goals. However, it should also be noted that Cicero’s interest areas are sometimes narrow and deliberately, or accidentally selective. By reaching the top without any previously held positions of consequence, Pompey the Great had manipulated the political system to his own advantage. Thus, by doing so he undermined the Senate, reiterating its insignificance and weakness.

Julius created a calender with 365 days, and named the month of July after himself. He also planned to attack the Parthians. In 44 B.C, Julius was elected dictator for life. The Senate agreed that Julius was acting as king, and plotted to assainate him. On March 15, 44 B.C, Julius Caesar was assaninated by the Senate, led by Pompey.

Caesar possessed too much power. They said he was becoming a threat to the Roman Republic,

The assassination of Julius Caesar in 44BC by conspiring members of the Roman senate was an effort to remove a dictator whose power had grown to extraordinary levels and to revive the Republic government. Caesar’s power span throughout the entire Roman Empire, which during his reign extended from present day Syria, down into parts of Africa, over to Spain, most of France and all of Italy. He had the favor of the people, military and most of the Roman government. Caesar’s death at the hand of conspirators did remove him from power; however, it did not restore the Republic government as the Senate had anticipated, on-the-other hand it gave rise to yet a more powerful dictator that was beyond what Caesar

During this campaign, Pompey effectively extended Roman assets to the Euphrates River and considerably increased Rome’s annual revenues. Because of his success, many people called him Pompey the Great. However, when he returned back to Rome, he was betrayed. The Senate refused to allocate land to his soldiers in fear of Pompey becoming a dictator (Dutton, 141).

In the victory over the battle of Pompey, supporters that sided with Pompey, Caesar still forgave them, “Surely not his former opponents, the defeated Pompey supporters like Cicero himself, who had been allowed to return to Rome and the Senate with their properties intact, and who were now his staunchest and most appreciative friends” (Parenti 172). Caesars concerns wasn’t to be biased and was only in favor of returning to the prosperous, content Rome. The aristocrats then decided to mastermind a plan with the senators in order to take Caesar’s life and remove his reign of reforms. Upon arrival, Caesar would be gathered around his senators and hear about Tillius Climber’s petition about allowing his brother to be return from being exiled. Delivering the first assault would be led by Casca, followed by a slash from Cassius, and after encountering twenty-three stab wounds, Caesar would bleed to death and lay motionless.

Cicero's basic viewpoint held that Rome was held together as a Republic because of the rule of the Senate, not the rule of one King or one Man. Cicero opposed the idea of Julius Caesar taking on more and more power and authority, because he saw this as diminishing the authority of the Senate. The Senate, Cicero thought, was the representative of the "people of Rome," and the discourse and disagreement during debate allowed for more egalitarian rule than that on a central figure. The rule of Rome, than, was based on "a man who is held worthy of defending"¦. Cannot be deemed unworthy of the constitution itself." This, and the idea of being born a common person, allowed Cicero to believe that it was the oratory and intellectual skills of the individual

Caesar's successes in Gaul, along with his growing power and wealth, drove Pompey. While Caesar was fighting in Gaul, Pompey proceeded with a legislative agenda for Rome, which revealed that he was now covertly allied with Caesar's enemies. Pompey also made it clear that Caesar would not be permitted to stand for Consul unless he turned over control of his armies. This would, of course, leave Caesar defenseless before his enemies. Pompey was elected consul without colleague in 52. The

Once Caesar’s wife, Cornelia, had died, he remarried to a woman named Pompeia who ironically was “a wealthy Optimate granddaughter of the Emperor Sulla.” Caesar went on to gain the support of Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey or Pompey the Great) and become friends with Marcus Licinius Crassus, the wealthiest man in Rome, which allowed him to run for generalship and Chief Priest in 63 BC. He divorced Pompeia after finding out she cheated with another man, and moved to Spain to serve as praetor of Hispania. Caesar served as consul in the year 59 BC and with his friends Pompey and Crassus, led as the first triumvirate for 10 years. From 58 BC to 50 BC, Caesar led his Roman army to conquer Gaul, modern day France, and making him loved by his soldiers and a hero to the Roman people. He prevented Germanic attacks in his conquered lands by building walls and making a spectacle of his armies, a message the German tribes understood clearly. To finalize the conquest of Gaul in 52 BC, Caesar killed the Gallic leader Vercingetorix in the Battle of Alesia. In 50 BC Pompey, who was running the senate in Rome, ordered for Caesar and his troops to return to the capital, but Caesar refused the senate’s orders and brought his army across the Rubicon River of Italy to Rome to fight Pompey’s army in 49 BC where Pompey and his army fled. Caesar then defeated Pompey’s armies in Greece, Egypt, Asia, and

While in Egypt, Caesar fought Pompey, his sons, and his troops and defeated them all. By winning this battle, Caesar made Cleopatra the ruler of all of Egypt. He gained great power and made himself the Roman dictator for as long as he lived. At this point, Caesar had practically become the master of the Roman world (Gruen 13). His power, though, would not last much longer.

Julius Caesar is perhaps the most well known in the history of Roman Emperors, yet there is no denying that his reign was filled with controversy, no reason more so than his devious rise to power and his mischievous ways of suppressing the senate. There is no doubt that in ruling as a Dictator; Caesar lost the support of the Roman people, who had fought for freedom against an Etruscan King, a role in which Caesar was playing. His death in 44BC coincided with what many believe to be the year in which the Republic completely its eventual ‘fall’ that it had been plummeting to since 133BC, and it is only by looking at the differences in the end of his reign to that of Augustus’ in 27BC that

Marcus Licinius Crassus, a popular Roman general and politician, was also a friend of Caesar, but Pompey and Crassus grew older just to become more and more of a rival to Julius than a friend or ally. Julius, with the brains, had convinced them that they would be in better hands as allies. This 3-man allied power became known as the First Triumvirate. With more power than before, Caesar conquered the area known as Gaul which today is known as France and Belgium. During this takeover, his hired political assistants controlled the government for him back home. (Julius Caesar: Historical Background, April 23, 2014)