Transcript 3.8 Julius Caesar

Caesar’s Rome
CHW 3M
Caesar in Charge
After returning to Rome
• popularity soars
• elected dictator for life
• consolidates power and decreases senates role
Although he was pressured to return
Rome to it’s Republican roots Caesar
had no intention to give up what he
had fought for. He saw
• the republic as chaotic, corrupt and
dysfunctional
• the central government as being weak
• an army that he replaced the constitution
Caesar Reforms
Caesar was very ambitions and sought
to make many reforms to help the
poor and improve the way Rome’s
lands were run.
Pardons
• any citizen that took up arms against him in
the civil war  avoid the mistakes of Sulla
Citizenship
• granted partial citizenship to many allies
• granted full citizenship to desired non-Romans
• allowed Rome to attract many intellectuals
Economic Reforms
A census was taken of Rome and the amount of individuals receiving
free grain was reduced by 150000. To provide for these individuals
Caesar look to create jobs through:
• building projects
• agriculture reforms  1/3 of labour force must be free men
• new colonies  800000 citizen sent to more productive lands
• help spread Roman culture
Caesar also looked to alleviate the
problem of debt. He issued new coins,
allowed people to pay off their debt with
land at a fair price, cancelled interest on
debt not paid since 49BC and reformed
tax laws.
Administrative Reforms
Caesar also reformed the way Rome’s government and provinces
were run.
• new public servants
• governors had to have high moral standard, limited term
• provinces looked after their own taxes
The Julian Calendar
Replaced the old roman lunar calendar with solar calendar.
Gregorian calendar which is what we use is based on the Julian
Calendar
• July = Julius
The Ides of March
Many of Rome senators were threatened by Caesar’s position, honour and power. They
feared that he would become a king of Rome.
In 44 BC, an assassination plot was hatched by a group of 60 senators. On March 15 of that
year, when Caesar entered the Senate house, he was stabbed to death.