Transcript Julius Caesar - Mr. Harris English Class

Background Information

Rome before Republic (8th century BC)
◦ Led by Etruscan kings during this time
◦ The rape of Lucretia: an Etruscan king’s son rapes
a Roman lady of exceptional virtue. She makes this
public and then stabs herself.
◦ There is an uprising, and this pushes the Etruscans
out of Rome.


510 BC: founding of Roman Republic
Dictator (or Emperor)
◦ he overlooks the senate
◦ elected for six months

The Roman Senate
◦ consists of 300 members
◦ This position is for life
◦ They select those who will take their place if they
die.
◦ They choose two people to become heads of state
(known as praetors or consuls)

Praetors/Consuls
◦ elected for one year only
◦ They govern Rome.
◦ They must agree on every decision.

Tribunes
◦ They make sure the rights of the people are being
considered.

Plebs
◦ The citizens of Rome (divided into two classes)
 Proletarians: urban poor freed slaves
 Patricians: wealthy citizens

Triumvirs: power shared between three rulers
◦ The First Triumvirate: Julius Caesar, Crassus,
Pompey

Caesar: military leader
◦ led military victories against Gaul (now France and
Belgium) and Britain.

Pompey feared his military strength and
popularity.
◦ Ordered Caesar to give up his army.
◦ Caesar refused, led army to Italy.

Civil War against Pompey
◦ Caesar forced Pompey and rivals to flee to the
Balkans. He pursued Pompey to Egypt, where he
discovered Pompey had been murdered.

Pompey’s forces reorganized

Caesar vs. Pompey’s sons
◦ final battle in Spain
◦ Caesar won.
◦ The beginning of Shakespeare’s play – Caesar
returning from this battle

Caesar was seen as a possible end to Roman
Republic and its democratic ideals.