Transcript Julius Caesar

100 B.C. to 44 B.C.
 Born in 100 B.C. to a patrician family
 In 85 B.C., Caesar’s father dies suddenly
 At 16 years old Caesar becomes the head of the family
 Caesar is also named the “high priest of Jupiter” by his uncle
Marius.
 In 72 B.C., Caesar marries Cornelia
 He was 18 years old
 Daughter Julia
 Shortly after the death of his father there was a civil war in
Rome between Caesars uncle Marius and Marius’s rival
Sulla
 Following Sulla's final victory, Caesar's connections to his
uncle made him a target to Sulla.
 He was stripped of his inheritance, his wife's money and his
priesthood, but he refused to divorce Cornelia.
 To protect his family, Caesar decides to leave Rome and
joins the army.
 Hearing of Sulla's death, Caesar felt safe enough to return to
Rome.
 On the way across the Aegean Sea,Caesar was kidnapped by
pirates and held prisoner.
 He maintained an attitude of superiority throughout his
captivity.
 When the pirates thought to demand a ransom of twenty talents
of silver, he insisted they ask for fifty.
 After the ransom was paid, Caesar raised a fleet, pursued and
captured the pirates, and imprisoned them.
 He had them crucified on his own authority, as he had promised
while in captivity a promise the pirates had taken as a joke.
 On his return to Rome, he was elected
military tribune, a first step in a political
career.
 In 69 B.C., Caesars wife Cornelia dies
 Caesar marries Pompeia in 67 B.C.
 Rome was ruled by a “Triumvirate” (a coalition of three men) in
60 B.C.
 Pompey
 A great politician & Caesar’s son-in-law (married Julia)
 Caesar
 The famous general
 Crassus
 The wealthiest man in Rome
 In 59 B.C. Caesar is elected consul to Rome.
 Caesar had four legions under his command, two of his provinces
bordered on unconquered territory, and parts of Gaul were known to
be unstable
 The Romans feared these tribes were preparing to migrate south,
closer to Italy, and that they had warlike intent.
 Caesar raised two new legions and defeated these tribes
55 B.C.
 In 54 B.C. Caesar’s daughter, Julia, dies. Because she was the only real personal tie
between Pompey and Caesar, tension flared between the two men.
 In 53 B.C., Crassus dies. This ends the First Triumvirate and sets Pompey and
Caesar against one another.
 The Senate supported Pompey and he becomes sole consul (like a president) in 52
B.C.
 Caesar, on the other hand, becomes a military hero and a champion of the people.
He was the commander in Gaul and had planned on becoming consul on his return
 In 50 BC, the Senate, led by Pompey, ordered
Caesar to disband his army and return to Rome
because his term as governor had finished.
 Caesar thought he would be prosecuted or killed
if he entered Rome unprotected
 Pompey accused Caesar of insubordination and
treason.
 In January 49 BC, Caesar crossed the Rubicon
river (the frontier boundary of Italy) with only one
legion and ignited civil war
 Pompey flees to Greece and Caesar goes after him
hoping to capture him
 Caesar puts Marc Antony in control of Rome while he is
gone
 Pompey regroups in Greece and after several
defeats he then retreats to Egypt
 Hoping to find support from the Egyptians, Pompey
instead is assassinated in 48 B.C.
 When Caesar arrived in Egypt he was presented
with Pompey's head
 He then had Pompey's assassins put to death
 Caesar then became involved with an Egyptian civil war
between the child pharaoh and his sister, wife, and co-regent
queen, Cleopatra.
 He withstood the Siege of Alexandria and later he defeated
the pharaoh's forces at the Battle of the Nile in 47 BC and
installed Cleopatra as ruler.
 Caesar and Cleopatra celebrated their victory with a
triumphal procession on the Nile. The royal barge was
accompanied by 400 additional ships, and Caesar was
introduced to the luxurious lifestyle of the Egyptian
pharaohs.
 Caesar and Cleopatra never married, as Roman law
recognized marriages only between two Roman citizens.
 When he returns to Rome, he is now the “tribune of the people” and
declares himself “dictator for life.”
 Expanded Senate to 900, making it more representative of the Empire
 Granted citizenship to people in provinces outside Italy
 Set up public works programs for jobs
 Created the “Julian Calendar”
 Based off the Egyptian Calendar
 “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar” was written by and
English writer named William Shakespeare
 The English knew a lot about the Romans back then.
They were conquered by Caesar and believed that
they were descendants of early Romans.
 Shakespeare’s audience was also fascinated by
Caesar’s life and death (a “dictator” becoming corrupt
and ignoring the other branches of government, then
being assassinated by his own friends) because in the
1400’s in England the people experienced civil war
and the result was the Tudor family (Queen Elizabeth’s
family line) taking over.
 His main source for the play was Plutarch
 a Greek philosopher who lived around 45-130 A.D.
 Julius Caesar: Roman general and political leader
 Marc Antony: Friend of Caesar and
military/political leader
 Cassius: Roman general and political leader
 Brutus: A noble Roman and senator
 Portia: The wife of Brutus
 A group of senators led by Brutus and Cassius fears that Caesar is
becoming too powerful and will become king
 Together they devise a plot to kill Julius Caesar
 Caesar is warned by a “soothsayer” to beware the “Ides of March”
 Ides: the fifteenth of March, May, July or October or the thirteenth day of any
other month in the ancient Roman calendar
 On March 15, 44 B.C., Julius Caesar is stabbed to death by a group of senators
 He was stabbed 23 times!
 Unlike in the Shakespeare play, Caesar's last words were not "Et tu, Brute?" ("And you,
Brutus?"). Instead they were reported as "You, too, my child?"
 Angry about Caesars death, Marc Antony wants Brutus and
Cassius to pay for their crime.
 In a speech at Caesars funeral, Antony turns the crowd
against Brutus and Cassius.
 The Second Triumvirate forms:
 Octavian (Caesars grand-nephew and adopted son)
 Marc Antony – Caesars friend and military leader
 Lepidus – A powerful politician
 Later they also disband and become rivals creating the third Civil
War.
 Octavian vs. Marc Antony
 Marc Antony flees to Egypt where becomes allies with Cleopatra
 Octavian's forces defeats Antony’s at the Battle of Actium
 After their defeat both Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide in 30 B.C.
 With his victory, Octavian becomes Emperor of the now Roman
Empire in 27 B.C.
 Julian Calendar
 Roman Empire!
 Modern References
 Caesarian Section (C-Section)
 Food (Little Caesars Pizza, Orange Julius )
 Places: Caesars Palace