Gaius Julius Caesar; July
13, 100 BC– March 15, 44 BC),
was a Roman military and
political leader. He played a
critical role in the
transformation of the Roman
Republic into the
Roman Empire.A
politician of the
populares tradition, he
formed an unofficial
triumvirate with
Marcus Licinius Crassus and
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus which
dominated Roman politics for
several years, opposed in the
Roman Senate by
optimates like
Marcus Porcius Cato and
Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus
His conquest of
Gaul extended the Roman
world all the way to the
Atlantic Ocean, and he also
conducted the first
Roman invasion of Britain in
55 BC; the collapse of the
triumvirate, however, led to a
stand-off with Pompey and the
Senate. Leading his legions
across the
Rubicon, Caesar began a
civil war in
49 BC from which he became
the undisputed master of the
Roman world.After assuming control of
government, he began extensive
reforms of Roman society and
government. He was proclaimed
dictator for life (dictator
perpetuus), and heavily
centralised the bureaucracy of
the Republic. However, a group
of senators, led by Caesar's
former friend
Marcus Junius Brutus,
assassinated the dictator on the
Ides of March (March 15) in
44 BC, hoping to restore the
normal running of the Republic.
However, the result was another
Roman civil war, which
ultimately led to the
establishment of a permanent
autocracy by Caesar's adopted
heir,
Gaius Octavianus. In 42 BC,
two years after his
assassination, the Senate
officially sanctified Caesar as
one of the
Roman deities.Much of Caesar's life is known
from his own
Commentaries (Commentarii)
on his military campaigns, and
other contemporary sources such
as the letters and speeches of
his political rival
Cicero, the historical
writings of
Sallust, and the poetry of
Catullus. Many more details
of his life are recorded by
later historians, such as
Appian,
Suetonius,
>
Plutarch,
Cassius Dio and
Strabo.
