Julius Caesar - The Last Dictator

Sources variously describe the year of Gaius Julius Caesar's birth as 102 or 100 BC, in the month of Quinctilis (July 13). Later Quinctilis was renamed "July" (from Julius) in his honor. He was born into the most turbulent age in Rome since the early decades of its founding as a Republic.

Later Roman historians like Velleius would struggle to find just what went horribly wrong in the Roman world in the mid-second century BC. They could pinpoint some of the causes of the decline and fall of the Roman Republic but often failed in full understanding. The history of roughly 130-30 BC was simply too full of awful "firsts" that made it unlike any period in Rome's history. There was the fall of Carthage, which removed a great unifying force from the Roman people; the challenges to the Senate of the Gracchi and others; the rise in luxury caused by the corrupt spoils of empire; the rise of the knight class and the constant tension between the nobles and the plebs, all of whom wanted either to maintain or to increase their political power; the decline of the small farmer, the rise of rich slave-run estates; the greed of provincial tax farmers, the increasing inability of the Senate to maintain its place in the unwritten constitution of Rome. The violence offered from politicians to each other; the rise of great armies loyal to an individual who paid them, and not to the idea of the Roman Republic. The net result was that Caesar was born into troubled times which would shortly become bloody civil chaos.

Descended from an impoverished patrician family which had long been attached to the senatorial clique, Caesar's immediate forbears had fallen from prominence in the decades before his birth. There had been no

Consuls in his immediate family for generations. The office of Consul - one of two men who, each year and only for a year, held supreme power in the Roman Republic - was dearly sought by all noble families. It seems likely that, from an early age, Caesar was determined to return the Julii to the top ranks of power. From his early 20's, Caesar turned from the established senatorial party (the Optimates) and sought out the Populares or popular party. Caesar's father, C. Julius Caesar, was something of a pleasant nonentity, dying in the office of praetor when Caesar was only 15. Little is known about him and, in any case, the biggest parental influence on Caesar was apparently his remarkable mother, Aurelia. Aurelia was of the prominent Cottae family. She was an example of the highly disciplined, self-denying, intelligent Roman matrona of her time. Unusually, even for down-at-luck patricians, the family did not live on the fashionable Palatine Hill, but in the poorest and most polyglot suburb in central Rome, the Subura. It was considered significant enough, as a bizarre trait of an aristocratic family, to be mentioned by ancient historians. It is all to easy to wonder if Caesar acquired his common touch from having grown up outside the rigid class structure of fellow aristocrats.

Political clout returned to the Caesars when Julia, Caesar's paternal aunt, married Gaius Marius, renowned general and six times Consul between 107 and 100 BC. Sometimes called the "Third Founder of Rome ", Marius was, until Caesar surpassed him, one of the most successful generals in Roman history. He fought and destroyed armies in Africa before taking on the combined armies of Celts from Gaul and Germania and smashing the invading peoples in two great battles. Although a "new man " (one without prestigious family), Marius had made significant reforms in the structure of the Roman army. For the first time in Republican history, men without property were allowed to serve in the legions. In creating an army of poor men who followed their generals for plunder and advancement, Marius added a necessary element to Rome's defenses, but one which would be twisted by future generals. It is also probable that Marius' wealth and prominence were invaluable on setting Caesar's family fortunes back on track.

Marius was a powerful, ruthless, often inept politician. From the time Caesar was about ten, Marius and his party became increasingly involved in bloody struggles with other parties, including that of Marius' younger protégé, Sulla. It is impossible to overestimate the effect on the young Caesar of the turbulent degeneration of the Roman Republic in which he grew up. From the time of the Gracchi 30 years before his birth, Republican politics had slid step by step into riot and chaos; the young Caesar had never known a time when the Republic appeared stable until he reached manhood. As the historian Appian noted in the 2nd century A.D.:

	"...the Romans openly took sides against each other, and often carried daggers; from time to time some magistrate would be murdered in a temple, or in the assembly, or in the forum - a tribune or praetor or consul, or a candidate for these offices . . . undisciplined arrogance soon became the rule, along with a shameful contempt for law and justice. As the evil grew, open revolts took place against the government and large armies were led with violence against their native land by men who had been exiled, or condemned in the courts, or were feuding among themselves over some office or command. There were now many cases of individuals who would not relinquish power, and faction leaders who aspired to sole rule. Some refused to give up control of the armies entrusted to them by the people, and others even recruited foreigners on their own account, without public authority, to fight against their rivals. If one side took possession of Rome first, the other made war in theory against the rival faction, but in fact against their own country; they attacked it as though it were enemy soil, mercilessly slaughtered those who stood in their way, and proscribed, banished, and confiscated the property of the rest, some of whom they even tortured horribly. No sort of atrocity was left undone . . ."
	Appian, The Civil War, 2-3. 191.

In the midst of factional strife, sources suggest that, in 87 BC, the teenage Caesar was named Flamen Dialis (high priest of Jupiter) by either Marius or his ally in the consulship, L. Cornelius Cinna. The Flamen Dialis, a lifetime appointment, held a taboo-rich ritualistic priesthood. Obviously, history might have been different if Caesar had stayed in the job. The Flamen Dialis could never touch metal, see a corpse, or ride a horse, among many other taboos; self-evidently, he could not serve in the army. Whether Caesar ever served in the position is disputed; at some point during this turbulent decade, Sulla apparently rescinded his appointment. It was apparently Sulla who thus gave Caesar his chance for military glory.

Rome in Caesar's Time

As the violence between the parties of Marius and Sulla accelerated after the chaos of the "Social War," Caesar became dangerously embroiled with Sulla. In 84, he had married Cornelia, daughter of Cinna, Sulla's bitter enemy. In 81, after Sulla overthrew the Marian party and assumed the dictatorship, Caesar was proscribed. Remarkably, sources suggest that Sulla was ready to spare Caesar, but insisted that he divorce his wife, Cornelia (daughter of Sulla's dead enemy, Cinna). Caesar allegedly defied the Dictator, who by now had a fearful reputation for political and personal violence. In great danger, Caesar left his mother and young wife and, disguised, went into hiding outside Rome. Some sources suggest he barely escaped Sulla's thugs with his life, following payment of a hefty bribe. Caesar remained married to Cornelia until she died a few years later, bearing him his sole legitimate child, his daughter, Julia. In revenge, Sulla confiscated Cornelia's dowry.

Caesar's relatives and the College of Vestal Virgins eventually persuaded Sulla not to kill the young Julian (although Sulla allegedly warned that, in setting Caesar free, the world would find there were "many Mariuses" in the boy). Although pardoned, Caesar thought it prudent to leave Italy for Asia in 80. Hardly 20, he joined the governor's staff and did not return to Rome until after Sulla's death in 78 BC.

Thus in his late 'teens, Caesar had grown up in one of the most violent periods in the Republic's history, with riotous factions literally and repeatedly slaughtering each other, mass proscriptions and enemy lists, the heads of conquered faction leaders placed on the Rostra, and informers working everywhere for and against the leading men of Rome. He had fled for his life, defied a dictator, and paid the political price. These horrors must have permanently altered his conception of the Roman Republic.

JOURNEY TO BITHYNIA

In the course of his campaigns in the East, Caesar provided history with an evergreen bit of gossip:

	" He served his first campaign in Asia on the personal staff of Marcus Thermus, governor of the province. On being sent by Thermus to Bithynia, to fetch a fleet, he dawdled so long at the court of Nicomedes that he was suspected of improper relations with the king . . . during the rest of the campaign he enjoyed a better reputation and, at the storming of Mytilene [80 BC] Thermus awarded him the civic crown... "
	Suetonius, De Vita Caesarum, Divus Iulius (Life).

This calumny would be delightedly used by Caesar's enemies throughout his life to imply his homosexuality. Romans frowned upon homosexuality, but particularly upon the passive or feminine partner - in which category they gleefully placed Caesar (hence later references to his being 'Queen of Bithynia'). Caesar's later, legendary seduction of so many Roman wives may or may not have something to do with disproving the story.

Caesar served on the staff of the Governor of Asia before transferring in 78 to military service with P. Servilius Isauricus in Cilicia. Along the way, in the Roman siege of Mytilene off the coast of Asia Minor, Caesar won the first of his extraordinary honors - the Civil Crown for saving the life of a fellow Roman soldier. This award would entitle him to notice and honor for the rest of his life (it may be compared to the American Medal of Honor, or the British Victoria Cross).

After Sulla's death in 78 BC, Caesar returned to Rome. Thus, in his early 20's, Caesar had won high military honors, made diplomatic contacts, and gained valuable experience in provincial warfare and administration. Politically, he had a leg up on the ladder of Roman success, just now beginning.

Caesar returned to Rome and soon gained a reputation as an legal advocate and popular sympathizer, prosecuting several prominent Romans for corruption and carefully developing a grateful clientela (clients, men and women who accepted his protection and help, and from whom he could expect political support). He was considered in his own time to be an superb advocate and orator, second only to Cicero for skill and eloquence. Caesar spoke Greek fluently, sign of the educated upper-class Roman of his day; he was knowledgeable and discerning about Greek philosophy, literature and art. He was apparently possessed of great magnetism, personal charm, and a vibrant sense of humor and wit. There are hints he was something of a dandy and liked outraging conservatives by new styles of dress or lifestyle. He knew everyone in the tightly knit Roman centers of power and quickly gained a reputation for being extravagant with money, somewhat rebellious in dress and attitude, and determined to make a name for himself. After a sensational trial in 77 in which he successfully and tactlessly prosecuted Dolabella, the ex-consul, for extortion during his governorship, Caesar left Rome to study rhetoric at Rhodes. Skill in rhetoric, or persuasive speaking, was considered to be essential for a political career. He also managed to prove himself useful to the state in the opening stages of what would become the Third Mithradatic War in 74-73.

On the way to Rhodes in 75, Caesar was captured by pirates. This famous story reveals, in miniature, the man he was becoming. At the time, the eastern end of the Mediterranean was swarming with pirates and Roman trade was suffering. Roman citizens (the higher rank, the better) were tempting prey for ransom. Caesar's ship was captured and he was held captive for 40 days. At first, the pirate chieftain demanded 25 talents in ransom - a small fortune. Caesar allegedly insisted that he was worth 50 talents. Sending away his staff to borrow the increased ransom (some 12,000 gold pieces), Caesar joked easily with his captors, ordering them about with amused disdain. He "had often smilingly sworn, while still in their power, that he would soon capture and crucify them; and this is exactly what he did." [Suetonius]. As soon as he was released, Caesar begged forces from local officials and, returning, neatly captured all the pirates and arranged for their prompt crucifixion. Other sources suggest that, with a hint of his later mercy to opponents, he had them killed before the full horrors of crucifixion could be felt. The blend of mercy, self-confidence, and ruthlessness was typical.

Returning to Rome in 73 BC, Caesar was elected to the College of Pontiffs, another acute political step. He then returned to the life of social gaiety out of all proportion to his slender financial means. He was alleged to have built an expensive country house on Lake Nemi, only to find it disappointing: he had it pulled down. He was an avid collector of fine art and fine slaves. His debts were rumored to approach over 8 million denarii, a fabulous sum for a young man without means (at a later time, he famously remarked that he would have to find 25,000,000 denarii just to own nothing). He also began acquiring the reputation for another form of art, the alleged seductions of wives of men in his own social class. Rumors hint that several of his most bitter later political enemies, including Bibulus and Cato, had been cuckolded by him at one time or another. From this time, until he became governor of Gaul 15 years later, Caesar's debts in pursuit of his political aims range from prodigious to staggering. It apparently did not affect his behavior. Plutarch claims that, in 59 BC, he gave his favorite mistress, Servilia (the mother of Brutus) a pearl worth 1 1/2 million denarii.

Whether because of or in spite of his extravagant reputation, Caesar was elected Military Tribune in 72, the first office assigned him by popular vote of the people. He served quaestor in 69 under the governor of Further Spain , an unsettled area only recently brought under Rome's authority. Suetonius recounts that, in Gades (modern Cadiz), Caesar wept when he saw a statue of Alexander the Great; Caesar said Alexander's deeds had far outstripped his own at the same age. Soon thereafter, his aunt Julia died. Caesar delivered the funeral oration, not only praising his aunt's descent from gods and kings (the same as his own) but illegally carrying prohibited images of his uncle Marius in the funeral procession. Soon thereafter his wife, Cornelia, died and he was left with an infant daughter. While serving in Spain, Caesar championed the cause of citizenship rights of northern Italians (a cause he would support all his life). As a quaestor, he was also able to attend meetings of the Senate beginning in 67.

In 67, Caesar also remarried, choosing Pompeia, Quintus Pompey's daughter and Sulla's granddaughter. His first marriage had aligned him with the popular, Marian party; his second with the conservative Optimates. While in the Senate, Caesar voted for the Lex Gabinia, which sought unprecedented powers for Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus to destroy the pirates terrorizing Roman trade in the eastern Mediterranean; as Pompey's command was extremely controversial, Caesar thus showed himself a supporter of the "great man." He was also named Curator of the Appian Way, a post in which good administration could win significant popularity. In spite of his enormous debts, Caesar paid for visible improvements to this Roman artery out of his own funds and borrowed even more heavily.

In 66, Caesar again supported Pompey (together with Cicero) in the Lex Manilia, which sought to give Pompey unprecedented powers to conclude the unsuccessful eastern war against Mithridates, securing political capital with Pompey (although not with his opponent Optimates). In 65, Caesar (with Bibulus) was elected as curule aedile, an urban magistracy involving police control of market trade, care of temples and public buildings, and the additional duty of holding public games on holidays. This was a popular position for crowd-pleasing; Caesar threw spectacular public entertainments and funded lavish building projects, meanwhile strengthening his clients among the northern Italian Latin colonies. He honored his father with spectacular gladiatorial games in which 320 pairs of gladiators fought, clad in silver armor. Supposedly he threw a dinner for all citizens in the Forum and draped the buildings with silken awnings. The growing dislike between him and Bibulus led to Bibulus complaining that Caesar got all the credit for their aedile year, as "The joint liberality of Caesar and myself is credited to Caesar alone." [Suetonius].

In 63, Caesar staged a stunning electoral upset, being elected Pontifex Maximus [highest of all priests] against several elder members of the Optimates who had complacently expected the honor. The position was for life. Allegedly Caesar's debts were so extreme that, when he left home on the morning of the election, he told his mother, Aurelia, that he would either return as Pontifex or not return at all.

When the conspiracy of Catiline was detected in late 63 BC, Caesar strongly opposed Cicero, who wished to execute several conspirators without trial, strictly against the laws of Rome. Others had swayed much of the Senate to agree before Caesar spoke, but he managed to persuade the Senators to choose imprisonment, rather than immediate execution. Then a young Senator named Marcus Porcius Cato took the floor. Cato, first revealed in this crisis as Caesar's inveterate foe, managed to change the vote back to execution. Caesar's speech earned him Cicero's resentment which smoldered intermittently for the rest of his life. The fact that Caesar was now prominent enough to earn political enemies probably accounts for rumors put about at the time that Caesar himself was part of Catiline's conspiracy, seeking like other prominent debtors to secure a remission of debts.

From this time forward, Caesar more overtly pitted himself against the established Senatorial leadership, including Cicero, Cato, Bibulus, and other Optimates that Cicero called the "honest men" or "Boni." Cicero later wrote that he had known from 63 BC of Caesar's intention to destroy the Roman Republic.

In 62, Caesar was serving as Urban Praetor when one of Rome's greatest scandals erupted. As Pontifex Maximus, the annual rites of Bona Dea [the "good Goddess," at which men were strictly forbidden] were to be held in Caesar's residence in the Forum. A wild young patrician, Publius Clodius, was found at this all-female affair, dressed as a woman. Rumors flashed about Rome that Clodius was in Caesar's house because he was having an affair with Caesar's wife, Pompeia. His presence at the rites was sacrilege. In the ensuing uproar, Caesar calmly divorced Pompeia, claiming that it was not enough that he knew her to be guiltless of adultery: Caesar's wife and family must be above even suspicion.

After serving Rome as praetor, Caesar returned to Spain in 61 as propraetor where he won a considerable military reputation with a victorious campaign against the warlike Lusitanians. At age 39, he was now in position to seek the Consulship, the highest and most revered office in the Roman Republic.

For some time Caesar had maneuvered politically closer to Pompey. He had also been supportive of the aims of Pompey's rival, Marcus Crassus. Both these famous men, several years his elder, had fallen afoul of the "Boni" in the Senate, who were deeply suspicious of their ambitions. Each was persuaded to join with Caesar in the infamous (and informal) "First Triumvirate " (known in Caesar's time as the "Domination" or the "Three-Headed Beast"). In forming the triumvirate, each of the three men agreed to support the political aims of the others and map Roman policy from behind the scenes. By its very existence, it made obvious the fact that powerful men could simply go around the Senate if their political ambitions were blocked. Caesar, with substantial enemies, needed the clout of both men to win the Consulship. Pompey had been unsuccessful in obtaining land for his veterans; Crassus, bound by a promise to help negotiate new tax rates in Asia, also needed help from the top to deliver. With the promise to support their programs, Caesar was elected to the Consulship in 59 (once again, serving with the hostile Bibulus). Cato later said bitterly that forcing Crassus, Pompey, and Caesar into each other's arms - a step for which he stands largely responsible - was the worst mistake in the many that would soon bring down the Roman Republic.

Caesar's Consular year was a disaster in many ways and laid the seeds for future problems. His first action as Consul was to bring before the Senate a carefully thought-out land reform bill which would help provide state land for Rome's retiring legionaries. The problem of how to provide for Rome's soldiers upon their retirement had dogged the late Republic since the days of Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus 70 years before, and particularly since Gaius Marius had started using soldiers without private means. Apparently indifferent to the merits of the bill, Cato, Cicero and the Boni leaders used every political trick to prevent it coming to a vote. On the last day that the bill could be considered, Cato filibustered until night fell and the bill was no longer actionable. In fury, Caesar followed earlier precedents and took his laws straight to the Plebeian Assembly, where (with the support of Pompey and Crassus) the bill was passed. Although this procedural dodge had been used before, it was deeply un-traditional and threatened the tradition by which the Senate should approve all legislation before submitting it to the Assemblies. It made Caesar many enemies. From then on, Caesar was at daggers drawn with the Senatorial 'rump,' which vetoed his every law. He soon simply stopped consulting the Senate, dealing strictly with laws in the Assembly. Caesar was able to get not only his land reform bill, but in so doing, won Pompey's veterans what they sought as well as persuading the Assembly to accept Crassus' tax proposals.

The cost was extreme. Hostility between the Caesarian and the Boni parties became so raw that there were mini-riots in the Senate and the Forum and attacks on opposing Senators. At one point Caesar, enraged, ordered the recalcitrant Cato to jail, only to have many of the Senators leave with him. Bibulus, in a rare public appearance to defy Caesar, had dung dumped on his head by Caesar's supporters. The violence alienated many moderate Senators, who could not stomach Caesar's methods to get his legislation passed. Although there was no formal, written Roman constitution, centuries of law and upper-class action had created a climate in which any change was viewed with deep suspicion as being against tradition (the mos maoirum). It may be difficult for us, now, to comprehend why reforms were viewed with such violence, but Caesar showed in his consulship the same lack of patience with the Senate that would doom his dictatorship. Many intelligent senators deeply believed that the unwritten Roman constitution was perfection and that no changes or reforms could be made to it without deeply damaging the fabric of the Republic itself. It was the methods by which Caesar got his legislation through, as much as the nature of his laws, that led to later demands that he be prosecuted for illegal acts. This would have a tragic impact on decisions made later in Caesar's career.

Early in 59, Bibulus (hand and glove with Cato and the conservative Senators) attempted to invalidate Caesar's laws by using an obscure procedural device: he claimed that hostile omens in the skies invalidated those laws he disliked, and actually withdrew to his home to watch the skies. Any day in which Caesar attempted to pass laws was a day Bibulus claimed was nefasti, too ill-omened to legislate. (Bibulus, like Caesar, was an augur and trained in watching the skies). The more the Optimates tried to stop Caesar, the more determined he became. Caesar passed so many new measures in his consular year that it was jokingly referred to as the joint Consulship of "Julius and Caesar " rather than " Caesar and Bibulus. "

Also in this annus horribilis, Caesar married for the third and final time to the daughter of Lucius Calpurnius Piso, Calpurnia. Sadly, they had no children. To cement his alliance with Pompey, Caesar also gave his only daughter, Julia (who was in her late 'teens) to the middle-aged "Magnus." (Interestingly, at least one contemporary source says that Julia was supposed to marry Brutus, Caesar's later assassin). The marriage tied Pompey firmly to Caesar's policies for the foreseeable future.

At the end of his Consulship, with the added clout of Pompey and Crassus, Caesar obtained his deepest desire; a governorship with proconsular imperium (command and authority) over Illyricum and Cisalpine Gaul. He would thus rule throughout northern Italy and eastward on the Dalmatian Coast and beyond. Caesar thus intended his field of military glory to be in what is now the Balkans. Ironically, before Caesar's year ended, the designated governor for Transalpine Gaul (Gaul beyond the Alps) died. Caesar was able to secure this governorship as well - thus the location for Caesar's famous "Gallic Wars" was his by mere chance. Again in an extra-legal decision, Caesar was given governance of the province for five full years, rather than the normal one or two.

The possibilities for military action, profit, and fame were nearly infinite. At roughly 40 years of age, Caesar had already received the highest political honors the Roman state could offer. In history's eyes, however, his career was just beginning. Leaving behind in Rome a mass of adamant political enemies, his actions supremely controversial, his supporters in some disarray, Caesar moved quickly towards the possibilities of proconsular command:X

Image of Roman priests (including the Pontifex Maximus) from the Ara Pacis, courtesy of Bill Thayer's Lacus Curtius.