Where Caesar reigned. Brief biography of Julius Caesar. Family and personal life

Gaius Julius Caesar (born July 12, 100 BC, death March 15, 44 BC) - great commander, politician, writer, dictator, high priest of Ancient Rome. He began his political activities as a supporter of the democratic group, holding the positions of military tribune in 73, aedile in 65, praetor in 62. Wanting to achieve a consulate, in 60 he entered into an alliance with Gnaeus Pompey and Crassus (1st triumvirate).
Consul in 59, then governor of Gaul; in 58-51 was able to subjugate all of Trans-Alpine Gaul to Rome. 49 - relying on the army, he began to fight for autocracy. Having defeated Pompey and his allies in 49-45. (Crassus died in 53), concentrated in his hands a number of important republican positions (dictator, consul, etc.) and essentially became a monarch.
With his conquest of Gaul, Caesar expanded the Roman Empire to the shores of the North Atlantic and was able to bring modern France under Roman influence, and also launched an invasion of the British Isles. Caesar's activities radically changed the cultural and political face of Western Europe, leaving an indelible mark on the lives of subsequent generations of Europeans. He was killed as a result of a Republican conspiracy.
Origin. early years
Gaius Julius Caesar was born in Rome. As a child, he studied Greek, literature, and rhetoric at home. He also did physical activities: swimming, horse riding. Among the teachers of the young Caesar was the famous great rhetorician Gniphon, who was also one of the teachers of Marcus Tullius Cicero.
As a representative of the old patrician Julian family, Caesar began to engage in politics from a young age. In Ancient Rome, politics was closely intertwined with family relationships: Caesar's aunt, Julia, was the wife of Gaius Maria, who was the ruler of Rome at that time, and Caesar's first wife, Cornelia, was the daughter of Cinna, the successor of the same Maria.
The antiquity of the Caesar family itself is difficult to establish (the first known one dates back to the end of the 3rd century BC). The father of the future dictator, also Gaius Julius Caesar the Elder (proconsul of Asia), stopped in his career as a praetor. Guy's mother, Aurelia Cotta, was from the noble and wealthy Aurelius family. My paternal grandmother came from the ancient Roman family of Marcius. Around 85 BC. e. Guy lost his father.

Carier start
The young Caesar showed particular interest in the art of eloquence. On his 16th birthday, Caesar donned a one-color toga, symbolizing his maturity.
The young Caesar began his career by becoming a priest of the supreme god of Rome, Jupiter, and asked for Cornelia's hand in marriage. The girl’s consent made it possible for the aspiring politician to receive the necessary support in power, which would be one of the starting points that predetermined his great future.
But his political career was not destined to take off too quickly - power in Rome was seized by Sulla (82 BC). He ordered the future dictator to divorce his wife, but upon hearing a categorical refusal, he deprived him of the title of priest and all his property. Only the protective position of his relatives, who were in Sulla’s inner circle, saved his life.
And yet, this turn in fate did not break Guy, but only contributed to the development of his personality. Having lost his priestly privileges in 81 BC, Caesar began his military career, went to the East where he took part in his first military campaign under the leadership of Minucius (Marcus) Termus, the goal of which was to suppress pockets of resistance to power in the Roman province of Asia (Asia Minor). , Pergamon). During the campaign, Guy's first military glory came. 78 BC - during the assault on the city of Mytilene (Lesbos island), he was awarded the “oak wreath” badge for saving the life of a Roman citizen.
But Julius Caesar did not devote himself only to military affairs. He began to pursue a career as a politician, returning to Rome after the death of Sulla. Caesar began speaking at trials. The young speaker’s speech was so captivating and temperamental that crowds of people gathered to listen to him. This is how Caesar replenished the ranks of his supporters. His speeches were recorded, and his phrases were divided into quotes. Guy was truly passionate about oratory and was constantly improving in this matter. To develop his oratorical abilities, he went to the island of Rhodes to study the art of eloquence from the famous rhetorician Apollonius Molon.

However, on the way there he was captured by pirates, from where he was later ransomed by Asian ambassadors for 50 talents. Wanting revenge, Caesar equipped several ships and himself took the pirates prisoner, executing them by crucifixion. 73 BC e. — Caesar was included in the collegial governing body of the pontiffs, where his uncle Gaius Aurelius Cotta had previously ruled.
69 BC e. - his wife Cornelia died during the birth of her second child, the baby also did not survive. At the same time, Caesar’s aunt, Julia Maria, also died. Caesar soon became a Roman magistrate, which gave him the opportunity to enter the Senate. He was sent to Far Spain, where he had to take upon himself the resolution of financial issues and the execution of orders from the propraetor Antistius Veta. 67 BC e. - Gaius Julius married Pompey Sulla, granddaughter of Sulla.
Political career
65 BC e. — Caesar was elected magistrate of Rome. His responsibilities included expanding construction in the city, maintaining trade and public events.
64 BC e. - Caesar becomes the head of the judicial commission on criminal trials, which gave him the opportunity to bring to account and punish many of Sulla’s supporters. 63 BC e. — Quintus Metellus Pius died, vacating his lifelong position as Pontifex Maximus. Gaius Julius decided to nominate his candidacy for her. Caesar's opponents were the consul Quintus Catulus Capitolinus and the commander Publius Vatia Isauricus. After many bribes, Gaius Julius Caesar won the election by a large margin and moved to live on the Sacred Road in the state housing of the pontiff.

Military career
In order to strengthen his own political position and existing power, Gaius Julius entered into a secret conspiracy with Pompey and Crassus, thereby uniting two influential politicians with opposing views. As a result of the conspiracy, a powerful alliance of military leaders and politicians emerged, called the First Triumvirate.
The beginning of the military leadership of Gaius Julius was his Gallic proconsulate, when large military forces came under his jurisdiction, which enabled him to begin his invasion of Transalpine Gaul in 58 BC. After victories over the Celts and Germans in 58-57 BC. Guy began to conquer the Gallic tribes. Already in 56 BC. e. vast territories between the Alps, Pyrenees and the Rhine came under Roman rule.
Guy Julius rapidly developed his success: having crossed the Rhine, he inflicted a number of defeats on the German tribes. His next dizzying success was two campaigns in Britain and its complete subjugation to Rome.
53 BC e. - a fateful event for Rome occurred: Crassus died in the Parthian campaign. After which the fate of the triumvirate was sealed. Pompey did not want to comply with previous agreements with Caesar and began to pursue an independent policy. The Roman Republic was on the verge of collapse. The dispute between Caesar and Pompey for power began to take on the character of an armed confrontation.

Civil War
The capture of Gaul made Caesar, who was already an outstanding political figure, a popular hero in Rome - too popular and powerful, according to his opponents. When his military command ended, he was ordered to return to Rome as a private citizen - that is, without his troops. Caesar was afraid - and, apparently, rightly so - that if he returned to Rome without an army, his opponents might take the opportunity to destroy him.
On the night of January 10-11, 49 BC. e. He openly challenges the Roman Senate - he crossed the Rubicon River in northern Italy with his army and marched his troops to Rome. This clearly illegal action caused a civil war between Caesar's legions and the forces of the Senate. It lasted for 4 years and ended with the complete victory of Caesar. The last battle took place near the city of Munda in Spain on March 7, 45 BC. e.
Dictatorship
Gaius Julius already understood that the effective, enlightened despotism required by Rome could only be provided by himself. He returned to Rome in October 45 BC. e. and soon became dictator for life. 44 BC e., February - he was offered the throne, but Caesar refused.
All the power of Gaius Julius Caesar rested on the army, therefore his election to all subsequent positions was a formality. During his reign, Caesar and his associates carried out many reforms. But it is quite difficult to determine which of them date back to his reign. The most famous is the reform of the Roman calendar. Citizens had to switch to the solar calendar, which was developed by a scientist from Alexandria Sosingen. So, from 45 BC. The Julian calendar, known to everyone today, appeared.

Assassination of Caesar
Caesar was killed on March 15, 44 BC. e., on the way to a Senate meeting. When friends once advised Caesar to beware of his enemies and surround himself with guards, the dictator replied: “It is better to die once than to constantly expect death.” During the attack, the dictator had a stylus in his hands - a writing stick, and he somehow resisted - in particular, after the first blow, he pierced the hand of one of the conspirators with it. One of his killers was Marcus Junius Brutus, one of his close friends. Seeing him among the conspirators, Caesar cried out: “And you, my child?” and stopped resisting.
Most of the wounds inflicted on him were not deep, although many were inflicted: 23 puncture wounds were counted on his body; The frightened conspirators themselves wounded each other, trying to reach Caesar. There are two different versions of his death: that he died from a fatal blow and that death occurred after great blood loss.

A courageous man and seducer of women, Gaius Julius Caesar is a great Roman commander and emperor, famous for his military exploits, as well as for his character, because of which the name of the ruler became a household name. Julius is one of the most famous rulers who was in power in Ancient Rome.

The exact date of birth of this man is unknown; historians generally believe that Gaius Julius Caesar was born in 100 BC. At least, this is the date used by historians in most countries, although in France it is generally accepted that Julius was born in 101. A German historian who lived in the early 19th century was confident that Caesar was born in 102 BC, but Theodor Mommsen's assumptions are not used in modern historical literature.

Such disagreements among biographers are caused by ancient primary sources: ancient Roman scholars also disagreed about the true date of Caesar’s birth.

The Roman emperor and commander came from a noble family of patrician Julians. Legends say that this dynasty began with Aeneas, who, according to ancient Greek mythology, became famous in the Trojan War. And Aeneas’s parents are Anchises, a descendant of the Dardanian kings, and Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love (according to Roman mythology, Venus). The story of the divine origin of Julius was known to the Roman nobility, because this legend was successfully spread by the relatives of the ruler. Caesar himself, whenever the opportunity presented itself, liked to remember that there were Gods in his family. Scientists hypothesize that the Roman ruler comes from the Julian family, who were the ruling class at the beginning of the founding of the Roman Republic in the 5th-4th centuries BC.

Scientists also put forward various assumptions about the emperor's nickname “Caesar”. Perhaps one of the Julius dynasty was born by caesarean section. The name of the procedure comes from the word caesarea, which means “royal”. According to another opinion, someone from a Roman family was born with long and unkempt hair, which was denoted by the word “caeserius”.

The family of the future politician lived in prosperity. Caesar's father Gaius Julius served in a government position, and his mother came from the noble Cotta family.

Although the commander's family was wealthy, Caesar spent his childhood in the Roman region of Subura. This area was full of women of easy virtue, and also mostly poor people lived there. Ancient historians describe Suburu as a dirty and damp area, devoid of intelligentsia.

Caesar's parents sought to give their son an excellent education: the boy studied philosophy, poetry, oratory, and also developed physically and learned equestrianism. The learned Gaul Mark Antony Gniphon taught the young Caesar literature and etiquette. Whether the young man studied serious and exact sciences, such as mathematics and geometry, or history and jurisprudence, biographers do not know. Guy Julius Caesar received a Roman education; from childhood, the future ruler was a patriot and was not influenced by fashionable Greek culture.

Around 85 BC. Julius lost his father, so Caesar, as the only man, became the main breadwinner.

Policy

When the boy was 13 years old, the future commander was elected priest of the main God in Roman mythology, Jupiter - this title was one of the main posts of the then hierarchy. However, this fact cannot be called the pure merits of the young man, because Caesar’s sister, Julia, was married to Marius, an ancient Roman commander and politician.

But in order to become a flamen, according to the law, Julius had to get married, and the military commander Cornelius Cinna (he offered the boy the role of priest) chose Caesar’s chosen one - his own daughter Cornelia Cinilla.

In 82, Caesar had to flee Rome. The reason for this was the inauguration of Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix, who began a dictatorial and bloody policy. Sulla Felix asked Caesar to divorce his wife Cornelia, but the future emperor refused, which provoked the anger of the current commander. Also, Gaius Julius was expelled from Rome because he was a relative of Lucius Cornelius' opponent.

Caesar was deprived of the title of flamen, as well as his wife and his own property. Julius, dressed in poor clothes, had to escape from the Great Empire.

Friends and relatives asked Sulla to have mercy on Julius, and because of their petition, Caesar was returned to his homeland. In addition, the Roman emperor did not see the danger in the person of Julius and said that Caesar was the same as Mari.

But life under the leadership of Sulla Felix was unbearable for the Romans, so Gaius Julius Caesar went to the Roman province located in Asia Minor to learn military skills. There he became an ally of Marcus Minucius Thermus, lived in Bithynia and Cilicia, and also participated in the war against the Greek city of Metilene. Participating in the capture of the city, Caesar saved the soldier, for which he received the second most important award - the civil crown (oak wreath).

In 78 BC. Residents of Italy who disagreed with Sulla’s activities tried to organize a rebellion against the bloody dictator. The initiator was the military leader and consul Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Mark invited Caesar to take part in the uprising against the emperor, but Julius refused.

After the death of the Roman dictator, in 77 BC, Caesar tries to bring to justice two of Felix's henchmen: Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella and Gaius Antonius Gabrida. Julius appeared before the judges with a brilliant oratorical speech, but the Sullans managed to avoid punishment. Caesar's accusations were written down in manuscripts and circulated throughout Ancient Rome. However, Julius considered it necessary to improve his oratory skills and went to Rhodes: A teacher, rhetorician Apollonius Molon lived on the island.

On his way to Rhodes, Caesar was captured by local pirates who demanded a ransom for the future emperor. While in captivity, Julius was not afraid of the robbers, but, on the contrary, joked with them and told poems. After freeing the hostages, Julius equipped a squadron and set off to capture the pirates. Caesar was unable to bring the robbers to trial, so he decided to execute the offenders. But due to the gentleness of their character, Julius initially ordered them to be killed, and then crucified on the cross, so that the robbers would not suffer.

In 73 BC. Julius became a member of the highest college of priests, which was previously ruled by the brother of Caesar's mother, Gaius Aurelius Cotta.

In 68 BC, Caesar married Pompey, a relative of Gaius Julius Caesar's comrade-in-arms and then bitter enemy, Gnaeus Pompey. Two years later, the future emperor receives the position of Roman magistrate and is engaged in the improvement of the capital of Italy, organizing celebrations, and helping the poor. And also, having received the title of senator, he appears at political intrigues, which is how he gains popularity. Caesar participated in the Leges frumentariae ("corn laws"), under which the population purchased grain at a reduced price or received it for free, and also in 49-44 BC. Julius carried out a number of reforms

Wars

The Gallic War is the most famous event in the history of Ancient Rome and the biography of Gaius Julius Caesar.

Caesar became proconsul, by this time Italy owned the province of Narbonese Gaul (the territory of present-day France). Julius went to negotiate with the leader of the Celtic tribe in Geneva, since the Helvetii began to move due to the invasion of the Germans.

Thanks to his oratory, Caesar managed to persuade the leader of the tribe not to set foot on the territory of the Roman Empire. However, the Helvetii went to Central Gaul, where the Aedui, allies of Rome, lived. Caesar, who was pursuing the Celtic tribe, defeated their army. At the same time, Julius defeated the German Suevi, who attacked the Gallic lands located on the territory of the Rhine River. After the war, the emperor wrote an essay on the conquest of Gaul, “Notes on the Gallic War.”

In 55 BC, the Roman military commander defeated the incoming Germanic tribes, and later Caesar himself decided to visit the territory of the Germans.

Caesar was the first commander of Ancient Rome who made a military campaign on the territory of the Rhine: Julius’s detachment moved along a specially built 400-meter bridge. However, the army of the Roman commander did not stay on the territory of Germany, and he attempted to make a campaign against the possessions of Britain. There, the military leader won a series of crushing victories, but the position of the Roman army was unstable, and Caesar had to retreat. Moreover, in 54 BC. Julius is forced to return to Gaul in order to suppress the uprising: the Gauls outnumbered the Roman army, but were defeated. By 50 BC, Gaius Julius Caesar had restored territories belonging to the Roman Empire.

During military operations, Caesar showed both strategic qualities and diplomatic skill; he knew how to manipulate the Gallic leaders and instill contradictions in them.

Dictatorship

After seizing Roman power, Julius became a dictator and took advantage of his position. Caesar changed the composition of the Senate, and also transformed the social structure of the empire: the lower classes stopped being driven to Rome, because the dictator canceled subsidies and reduced bread distributions.

Also, while in office, Caesar was engaged in construction: a new building named after Caesar was erected in Rome, where the Senate meeting was held, and an idol of the patroness of love and the Julian family, the Goddess of Venus, was erected in the central square of the capital of Italy. Caesar was named emperor, and his images and sculptures adorned the temples and streets of Rome. Every word of the Roman commander was equated to law.

Personal life

In addition to Cornelia Zinilla and Pompeii Sulla, the Roman emperor had other women. Julia's third wife was Calpurnia Pizonis, who came from a noble plebeian family and was a distant relative of Caesar's mother. The girl was married to the commander in 59 BC, the reason for this marriage is explained by political goals, after the marriage of his daughter, Calpurnia’s father becomes consul.

If we talk about Caesar’s sex life, the Roman dictator was loving and had relationships with women on the side.

Women of Gaius Julius Caesar: Cornelia Cinilla, Calpurnia Pisonis and Servilia

There are also rumors that Julius Caesar was bisexual and engaged in carnal pleasures with men, for example, historians recall his youthful relationship with Nicomedes. Perhaps such stories took place only because they tried to slander Caesar.

If we talk about the famous mistresses of the politician, then one of the women on the side of the military leader was Servilia - the wife of Marcus Junius Brutus and the second bride of the consul Junius Silanus.

Caesar was condescending towards Servilia's love, so he tried to fulfill the wishes of her son Brutus, making him one of the first persons in Rome.

But the most famous woman of the Roman emperor is the Egyptian queen. At the time of the meeting with the ruler, who was 21 years old, Caesar was over fifty: a laurel wreath covered his bald head, and there were wrinkles on his face. Despite his age, the Roman emperor conquered the young beauty, the happy existence of the lovers lasted 2.5 years and ended when Caesar was killed.

It is known that Julius Caesar had two children: a daughter from his first marriage, Julia, and a son, born from Cleopatra, Ptolemy Caesarion.

Death

The Roman emperor died on March 15, 44 BC. The cause of death was a conspiracy of senators who were indignant over the dictator's four-year rule. 14 people took part in the conspiracy, but the main one is considered to be Marcus Junius Brutus, the son of Servilia, the emperor’s mistress. Caesar loved Brutus infinitely and trusted him, placing the young man in a superior position and protecting him from difficulties. However, the devoted republican Marcus Junius, for the sake of political goals, was ready to kill the one who endlessly supported him.

Some ancient historians believed that Brutus was the son of Caesar, since Servilia had a love relationship with the commander at the time of the future conspirator’s conception, but this theory cannot be confirmed by reliable sources.

According to legend, the day before the conspiracy against Caesar, his wife Calpurnia had a terrible dream, but the Roman emperor was too trusting, and also recognized himself as a fatalist - he believed in the predetermination of events.

The conspirators gathered in the building where the Senate meetings were held, near the Theater of Pompeii. No one wanted to become the sole killer of Julius, so the criminals decided that each would inflict one single blow on the dictator.

The ancient Roman historian Suetonius wrote that when Julius Caesar saw Brutus, he asked: “And you, my child?”, and in his book he writes the famous quote: “And you, Brutus?”

Caesar's death hastened the fall of the Roman Empire: the people of Italy, who valued Caesar's government, were furious that a group of Romans had killed the great emperor. To the surprise of the conspirators, the only heir was named Caesar - Guy Octavian.

The life of Julius Caesar, as well as stories about the commander, are replete with interesting facts and mysteries:

• The month of July is named after the Roman emperor;
• Caesar's contemporaries claimed that the emperor suffered from epileptic seizures;
• During gladiator fights, Caesar constantly wrote something on pieces of paper. One day the ruler was asked how he manages to do two things at once? To which he replied: “Caesar can do three things at the same time: write, watch, and listen.”. This expression has become popular; sometimes Caesar is jokingly called a person who takes on several tasks at the same time;
• In almost all photographic portraits, Gaius Julius Caesar appears before the audience wearing a laurel wreath. Indeed, in life the commander often wore this triumphal headdress, because he began to go bald early;

• About 10 films were made about the great commander, but not all are biographical in nature. For example, in the series "Rome" the ruler remembers the uprising of Spartacus, but some scholars believe that the only connection between the two commanders is that they were contemporaries;
• Phrase "I came, I saw, I conquered" belongs to Gaius Julius Caesar: the commander pronounced it after the capture of Turkey;
• Caesar used a code for secret correspondence with generals. Although the “Caesar cipher” is primitive: the letter in the word was replaced by the symbol that was to the left or to the right in the alphabet;
• The famous Caesar salad is named not after the Roman ruler, but after the chef who came up with the recipe.

Quotes

• "Victory depends on the valor of the legions."
• “When one loves, call it what you want: slavery, affection, respect... But this is not love - love is always reciprocated!”
• “Live in such a way that your friends will be bored when you die.”
• “No victory can bring as much as one defeat can take away.”
• “War gives the conquerors the right to dictate any conditions to the conquered.”

The content of the article

CAESAR, GAI JULIUS(Gaius Iulius Caesar) (100–44 BC), Roman statesman and commander whose dictatorship marked the decisive turn from republicanism to empire. Caesar was born on July 12, 100 BC. (the year of his birth cannot be considered definitively established; there are arguments in favor of 102 or 101 BC). Caesar was the only son in the family (he had a younger sister Julia), he was 15 years old when his father, also Gaius, died. Caesar's mother Aurelius, who died in 54 BC, when he was already 46, supervised his education and retained a significant influence on her son throughout his life. Aunt Julia, my father’s sister, was married to Gaius Marius, who in the year of Caesar’s birth served as consul for the sixth time.

The beginning of a political career.

Caesar's youth came during one of the most turbulent decades in Roman history. Roman armies captured the city twice, first in 87 BC, and the triumphant popularists were led by Caesar's uncle, Marius (d. 86 BC), and Lucius Cornelius Cinna, who was killed by his own soldiers in 84 BC, just the same year that Caesar married his daughter Cornelia. Another time, the city was attacked in 82 BC by the enemy Maria Sulla, the leader of the Optimates, upon returning from a campaign in the East. In both cases, the capture of the city was followed by massacres of political opponents, accompanied by the confiscation of their property. Sulla's proscriptions were especially cruel.

Caesar refused, risking his life, to Sulla’s demand to divorce his wife, who had given birth to a daughter, Julia, and after some time, in 81 BC, he left for the province of Asia. The praetor who ruled it sent Caesar as an ambassador to the court of the king of Bithynia, Nicomedes.

Upon receiving news of Sulla's death, Caesar returned to Rome in 78 BC. and gained fame here for bringing prominent politicians to trial. Caesar then went to Rhodes, as Cicero had done a few years earlier, to study rhetoric under the renowned Molon. Winter 75–74 BC In the Aegean Sea, Caesar fell into the hands of pirates. While in their captivity, waiting for the money that the pirates demanded as a ransom to arrive, Caesar, as if jokingly, promised to crucify them and, as soon as he was free, he carried out his threat. In 73 BC Caesar was elected pontiff, after which he returned to Rome to begin his normal political career. Caesar served as a quaestor (financial magistrate) from 69–68 BC. in the province of Farther Spain.

In the political life of Rome in the 60s, the dominance of the optimates was contested by Pompey and Crassus. Among the optimates, led by Quintus Lutatius Catulus (consul of 78 BC) and Lucius Licinius Lucullus (consul of 74 BC, whose campaign in Asia Minor against Mithridates began very successfully, but did not end in final victory), belonged mainly to people who made a career under Sulla. In contrast, Pompey and Crassus, as consuls in 70 BC, repealed the most reactionary sections of Sulla's constitution.

In the absence of Pompey, who spent from 67 to 62 BC. a brilliant campaign first against the Mediterranean pirates and then against Mithridates, Crassus, his ever-zealous rival, discovered Caesar's promising talents and provided him with a significant loan. Caesar, who entered into a new marriage with Pompeia (granddaughter of Sulla and relative of Pompey) after the death of Cornelia (in 68 BC), became in 65 BC. curule aedile. Being an aedile, i.e. the person responsible for the condition of public buildings, Caesar returned the trophies of Marius to their former place of honor in the Capitol, thereby making a bid for the role of leader of the popularists.

But what really caused a sensation in Rome was the election of Caesar, an aspiring politician, as high priest (pontifex maximus). This took place in 63 BC, when Cicero was consul. Using funds provided by Crassus, Caesar secured votes for himself in the election of the high priest, beating out the oldest members of the priestly college. All of Caesar's rivals (chief among them was Catulus) were former supporters of Sulla's regime. December 5, 63 BC Caesar spoke in the Senate against Marcus Cato, his most implacable opponent on the issue of punishing Catiline's accomplices, whose arrest marked the failure of the famous conspiracy. Cato insisted on the immediate execution of all attackers, and he managed to carry out the appropriate decision, and Caesar, showing magnanimity, spoke in favor of life imprisonment.

While occupying the position of praetor in 62 BC, Caesar supported the people's tribune Quintus Metellus Nepos, who demanded that Pompey be recalled to Rome and given powers to restore order. As a result, Caesar was temporarily removed from office and once again incurred the hostility of Catulus.

In early 61 BC, leaving Rome to rule Further Spain for a year, Caesar divorced Pompeia over suspicions that she was involved in the sacrilege of Publius Clodius. Clodius was awaiting trial for the fact that in December of the previous year he, disguised as a woman, entered Caesar's house, where the festival of the Good Goddess was being celebrated, at which men were not allowed to attend. On this occasion, Caesar is reported to have stated: "Caesar's wife must be above suspicion."

The first triumvirate.

Returning to Rome after successfully ruling Spain for a year, Caesar was elected consul for 59 BC. thanks to a political alliance with Pompey and Crassus (both of whom failed in their political aspirations due to the resistance they received from Cato and his followers). Their union, the so-called The “first triumvirate” (named by analogy with the triumvirate of Octavian, Antony and Lepidus, enshrined in law in 43 BC), made it possible to unite the voices of the adherents (clients) of these political figures. Caesar wanted to command a large army. Pompey sought approval of the activities that he carried out in the East, and land plots for his retired veterans. Crassus, defending the interests of his followers, insisted on revising the contract for collecting taxes in the province of Asia (a company of farmers, friends of Crassus, acquired the right to collect taxes in this province in 61 BC, at a price that they now considered unrealistic).

A law for the purchase of land for distribution among Pompey's veterans was passed in January 59 BC. at a stormy public meeting, Caesar’s colleague in office, optimate Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, who, like his father-in-law Cato, opposed the adoption of this decree, was thrown off the stage, breaking the fasces - signs of consular dignity. Bibulus responded by attempting to prevent Caesar and his followers from making any new laws. To do this, he maliciously took advantage of the traditional practice, according to which the consideration of business in the popular assembly of Rome did not begin until the presiding consul announced, after observing the sky, that the heavenly signs were favorable. Now Bibulus has announced that he is making appropriate observations. In earlier times this would have brought all public life to a standstill. However, Caesar, with his characteristic determination and equanimity, ignored Bibulus's antics, after which he retired from business, locking himself in his home, which brought him a lot of ridicule. As a result, Caesar remained virtually the sole consul, so that the legislative program of the “troika” was carried out throughout the year. The strong-willed actions, which greatly embarrassed Pompey, brought upon Caesar and his associates a lot of sharp criticism. Their political opponents argued for years that all laws passed in 59 BC were unconstitutional and therefore invalid.

Gallic Wars.

The law, proposed by the tribune of the people Publius Vatinius and ratified by decree of the Senate, placed at Caesar's disposal three provinces for a period of five years (Caesar's tenure as proconsul was then extended for another five years): Cisalpine Gaul (the region of Italy north of the Apennines, the border was the river Rubicon), Transalpine Gaul (modern Provence) on the other side of the Alps and Illyricum along the northeastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. In the spring of 58 BC. Caesar left Rome and remained in Gaul until his invasion of Italy in January 49 BC. Every summer, Caesar opened a military campaign north of the Alps, in the winter he withdrew the army to winter quarters, and he himself returned to the south in order to exercise civil administration of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum and, communicating with the politicians who visited him, not to lose contact with Rome. Every winter, Caesar wrote a report on his summer campaign, and in 51 BC. These diaries, magnificent in their clarity, cover the period from 58 to 52 BC. (i.e. the first 7 books that have come down to us Notes on the Gallic War, De bello Gallico) were published in Rome. Book VIII, covering the events of 51–50 BC, was compiled by Aulus Hirtius in 44 BC, after the death of Caesar.

Thus, the main source of information about Caesar's actions in Gaul is Caesar himself. Of course, he downplayed or even completely hid his own mistakes, but he had few mistakes, and therefore his reports can be trusted. Events 58–52 BC showed both Caesar himself and the Roman world that he was a brilliant commander. In addition, during these years he became fabulously rich (due to the robbery of Gaul) and acquired great strength: when Caesar took over the provinces, there were four legions (about 20 thousand soldiers), Caesar increased the number of troops to eleven legions, not counting the cavalry and auxiliary units.

The northern border of Transalpine Gaul ran approximately along the Cevennes Mountains and the Rhone River. The country located north of this line (according to Caesar, it was divided into three parts, inhabited respectively by the Belgae, Aquitani and Gauls), the Romans called “shaggy Gaul” (Gallia comata). Roman traders managed to penetrate this region; the Aedui, who lived near the border, became allies of Rome back in 121 BC. Caesar's campaigns in 58 BC, undertaken at the request and in the interests of the Aedui, were aimed at repelling two enemy invasions. The first attempt to seize these lands was made by the Gallic tribe of the Helvetii, numbering 368 thousand people and wishing to move from the northern coast of Leman (modern Lake Geneva) to the Santon region off the Atlantic coast. The second group of conquerors was led by Ariovistus, a leader from the Germanic Suebi tribe, with the help of whom the Sequani, another Gallic tribe, had already managed to inflict a heavy defeat on the Aedui in 61 BC. Ariovistus captured a third of the territory of the Sequani, and was joined by a large number of compatriots who came from the eastern banks of the Rhine. Now, under the command of Caesar, the Helvetii were defeated: one part on the banks of the Arar (now the Saone), and the other near the Aedui city of Bibracte (near the modern city of Autun). The Romans put Ariovistus and his Germans to flight east of Vesontion (modern Besançon) in eastern France: they were again driven across the Rhine, and Ariovistus himself soon died.

Now Caesar decided to conquer and turn into a province all of Gaul. In 57 BC he defeated the Belgae tribes in the north and conquered the coastal tribes along the Atlantic coast, after which he considered his task completed. The revolt of the coastal tribes in 56 BC, which was suppressed by one of Caesar's officers, Publius Licinius Crassus (son of Crassus), was an unexpected shock. In 55 BC Caesar undertook two short reconnaissance expeditions, one to the other side of the Rhine (which gave his engineers the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in the construction of the famous bridge over the Rhine), and the second across the English Channel to Britain. During the next, longer and better prepared invasion of Britain (54 BC), Caesar crossed the Thames and accepted submissions from the supreme ruler of the south-eastern Britons, Cassivellaunus, but Britain was not occupied this time either.

In the same winter, an attack was made on Caesar's camps in Gaul, one of them was taken, and one and a half legions stationed there were almost completely destroyed. There was also unrest in 53 BC, when Caesar crossed the Rhine for the second time, and in 52 BC, while he was still south of the Alps, the conquered tribes of Gaul broke away from Rome, and later that year even rebelled edui. The fragmentation of the Gallic tribes, which Caesar had skillfully exploited since 58 BC, was replaced by an alliance, so this time Caesar was dealing with a united Gallic army, led by the prudent and reasonable Vercingetorix from the Arverni tribe. At the beginning of the war, Caesar gained the upper hand, managing to break through to his legions through the snow-covered Cevennes. However, in the city of Gergovia (near modern Clermont-Ferrand) he suffered a setback. Having defeated Vercingetorix in an open battle, Caesar locked his opponents in Alesia, located on a hill (not far from modern Dijon), but fell into the ring of the Gallic army that arrived to the rescue. The victory won over this army by Caesar, and the subsequent capitulation of Alesia, were the most remarkable of his military achievements. All that remained was to suppress the last pockets of resistance (51 BC).

Resumption of the triumvirate.

After five years of power given to Caesar in 59 BC, he avoided being recalled to Rome by concluding a new agreement with Pompey and Crassus in Luca (modern Lucca), a border city on the border of Cisalpine Gaul and Roman Italy, in April 56 BC. As a result of this agreement, Pompey and Crassus secured the position of consuls in the elections of 55 BC. and achieved the adoption of the Pompey-Licinius law, which extended Caesar’s power over Gaul for another five years. However, the extension of Caesar's powers was balanced by the introduction of two more extraordinary appointments for a period of also five years: Crassus received Syria for this period, and Pompey received Spain.

The collapse of the union.

Nevertheless, the optimates who controlled the Senate, finally noticing the incredible growth of Caesar’s personal power, wealth and power, kept Pompey in Italy, allowing him to rule the province through deputies. The personal relationship between Pompey and Caesar fell apart in 54 BC, when Caesar's daughter Julia, to whom Pompey had been married since 59 BC, died. Then in 53 BC. the third member of the triumvirate, Crassus, died at Carrhae in Mesopotamia, having been defeated by the Parthians. As Caesar contemplated plans to return to a civilian career in Rome, he guessed that once he lost the status of immunity guaranteed by the empire, the supreme military power, political opponents would try to force him into exile, using charges in court of bribery and illegal use of force in 59 BC. .e. To ruin their plans, Caesar should have extended his immunity until his election as consul in 48 BC. (the first year in which, according to the then Roman laws, a person who held this position in 59 BC could become consul for a second time). At the same time, Caesar wanted to retain the title of commander-in-chief until the end of 49 BC, citing the Pompey-Licinius law . The only obstacle to this plan that could have been foreseen in advance, namely the law according to which candidates for the office of consul had to attend the elections in person, and as a private citizen, was removed by a law passed by all ten tribunes as early as 52 BC. Now Caesar was allowed to seek consulate in absentia. However, the former consul in 51 BC. Optimate supporter Marcus Claudius Marcellus made it clear that the Senate was not ready to recognize this decree.

Caesar accepted the challenge thrown at him. He carefully avoided even hints of military pressure, left most of the army north of the Alps and obeyed the Senate's decrees, according to which in 50 BC. he should have handed over two of his legions (one of which he had previously borrowed from Pompey) to be sent to the East. He willingly did this, since it was beneficial for him to have loyal troops in Italy. At the same time, Caesar tried to influence the authorities in Rome through his adherents-tribunes: in 50 BC. it was Gaius Scribonius Curio, whose support Caesar bought by paying his huge debts, and in 49 BC. Caesar's main support was Mark Antony, who served under his command in Gaul from 54 to 51 BC. Curio and then Antony were given the task of creating a stalemate by vetoing any attempt by the Senate to appoint new proconsuls to the provinces.

The overwhelming majority of the Senate wanted a compromise, which was revealed during the vote on December 1, 50 BC, when Curio’s proposal received 370 votes (only 22 against), according to which Caesar had to renounce the status of commander and personally appear at the consular elections 49 before AD, so that Pompey, who still remained in Italy, simultaneously resigned. But here extremists from among Caesar’s opponents took extreme measures. On December 2, the day after the above-mentioned resolution was adopted in the Senate, the consul of 50 BC. Gaius Claudius Marcellus put a sword into Pompey's hands and called on him to save the state. On January 1, the Senate adopted a resolution according to which, if Caesar did not resign, he was declared an enemy of the state. However, while the tribunes cast their veto, the resolution could not enter into force. Finally, on January 6, Antony and one of his fellow tribunes, Quintus Cassius Longinus, were intimidated and not allowed to attend the Senate meeting, and in their absence, a law introducing a state of emergency was passed. Moreover, the tribunes had to flee to Caesar, since the law threatened them with punishment. On January 10–11 (dates are given according to the calendar of that time), Caesar crossed the Rubicon River and invaded Italy under the plausible pretext of protecting the rights of the tribunes. He had only one legion at his disposal (XIII), the other two (VIII and XII) were summoned from Transalpine Gaul and were in a hurry to join Caesar.

Civil War.

Although Pompey had seven legions in Spain, the government forces in Italy itself, not counting the small number of recruits, since conscription began only now, were reduced to the same two legions that Caesar in 50 BC. placed at the disposal of the Senate and who were still waiting to be sent to the East. Caesar, undoubtedly, hoped through Pompey to persuade the Senate to come to the desired agreement, but Pompey stubbornly refused to meet with Caesar. Pompey decided to leave Italy, transporting all the magistrates, the Senate and the army through Brundisium (modern Brindisi), a port on the east coast of the peninsula, to Epirus in northwestern Greece. There he hoped to recruit an army, since, given the complete lack of ships, Caesar could not get to him on the other side of the Adriatic very soon. Caesar was abandoned by his deputy Titus Labienus, who went over to Pompey's side. However, for the enemy this was perhaps the only gratifying event: as Caesar rapidly advanced towards Rome along the eastern coast of Italy, one city after another, to the horror of the Senate, readily opened its gates to him. In Corfinia, Caesar besieged the republican army sent to meet him (30 cohorts, i.e. about three legions) led by Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus and, practically without a fight, lured the soldiers to his side, and released the commander in peace. And yet he was late and could not prevent Pompey from crossing from Brundisium to Dyrrhachium.

The civil war lasted four years. The first two are described by Caesar himself in Notes on the Civil War (De bello civili). In 49 BC, while ships were gathering from various places in Brundisium, Caesar crossed to Spain and there, near Ilerda, he defeated two of Pompey’s legates, Marcus Petreius and Lucius Afranius. He then returned to Italy and at the beginning of winter crossed over to Epirus with seven legions. When trying to capture Pompey's camp near Dyrrachium (modern Durres), Caesar almost suffered a crushing defeat. Then both armies went east, and although Caesar's army was inferior in number to Pompey's army (22,000 legionnaires versus 47,000), on August 9, 48 BC. Caesar achieved a final victory over him at the Battle of Pharsalus in Thessaly. Pompey fled, but was killed upon arrival in Egypt.

Pursuing the enemy, Caesar encountered resistance in Alexandria; the winter passed in a bitter struggle against Ptolemy XIII and the inhabitants of the Egyptian capital. The Roman commander again won a victory, after which he elevated Cleopatra, who had by that time become his mistress, to the Egyptian throne, and made her other younger brother and new husband Ptolemy XIV her co-ruler. After a brief acquaintance with Egypt during a trip along the Nile, Caesar moved to Asia Minor against Pharnaces II, the son of Mithridates, who had captured the province of Pontus. In August 47 BC. Caesar immediately put Pharnaces' army to flight at the Battle of Zela. In the future triumph, this victory was mentioned with the famous phrase “Veni, vidi, vici” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”) - it was carried written on a special tablet. Caesar returned to Rome, but almost immediately set out again for Africa, where the surviving Republicans, including Cato, managed to gather a new army under the command of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio (consul of 52 BC, whose daughter Pompey married after his death Julia). The Republicans were defeated at Thapsus in April 46 BC, and Cato committed suicide in Utica. Those who managed to escape or joined Pompey’s sons Gnaeus and Sextus in Spain were defeated by Caesar at Munda on March 17, 45 BC. in the last and perhaps most stubborn battle of this war. In October, Caesar returned to Rome.

Apparently, Caesar was not too worried about the threat from Sextus Pompey, who survived the Battle of Munda, for the victorious commander intended in the spring of 44 BC. left Italy again, accompanied by 18-year-old Octavius, the grandson of his sister Julia, at the head of an army that was to concentrate on the other side of the Adriatic Sea during the winter. Caesar was planning a full-scale expedition beyond the Danube, to the north of which the new state of Dacia had recently been formed, led by King Burebista. After this, Caesar was planning to move to Syria and possibly invade Parthia in order to restore the prestige of Roman arms, which had suffered significant damage after the defeat and death of Crassus.

Dictator in Rome.

There is no doubt that ever since Caesar began active military operations in Gaul, the problems of the army and the empire occupied him constantly and relentlessly. In his eyes, these problems stood much higher than the task of revising the state structure. In this area, it was necessary to find a solution that, without hurting deeply rooted republican feelings, would allow the introduction of those elements of the authoritarian system that were necessary to overcome corruption and general chaos in governance.

The five months Caesar spent in Rome, from October 45 BC, turned out to be his first long stay here since 59 BC. Since 49 BC Caesar's personal dictatorship began to influence the traditional republican way of life. The Senate continued to sit, the number of which increased to 900 people thanks to Caesar’s addition to the list of senators; elections were still held, albeit under strict control; appointments were made to traditional positions. Meanwhile, Caesar had the same full power that Sulla had previously had. First dictatorship of Caesar in 49 BC. was a regular commission, which he carried out for only eleven days, to carry out the elections in the absence of the consuls of that year, who had joined Pompey. But after receiving news of the Battle of Pharsalus, Caesar was again elected dictator, and after the battle at Thapsus he became dictator for a period of 10 years, in the winter of 45 BC. he was declared dictator for life. Moreover, Caesar was elected consul in 48, 46, 45 and again in 44 BC.

When Caesar left Italy after 49 BC, real power was in the hands of his deputies. While he was serving as dictator, his first deputy was considered to be his “chief of cavalry.” In 48–47 BC. he was Mark Antony, and starting from 46 BC. - Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Prominent senators, including Cicero, were deeply outraged by the enormous power and influence of such followers of Caesar as Gaius Oppius and Lucius Cornelius Balbus, to whom, although they were not even members of the Senate, they had to bow down to inquire about the wishes of the ruler.

When, after Thapsus and Munda, Caesar's military superiority was established to such an extent that no rivalry with him could even be thought of, the Senate showered him with an avalanche of personal honors, which had no analogues in the Roman tradition, but rather imitated the extravagant insignia with which Hellenistic kings were previously honored. The month of the Quintilis was renamed July (Julius), a statue of Caesar was installed in the temple of the god Quirinus, and even a special priest, “flamen Julius,” was assigned to him, like a deity.

In 46 BC. Caesar stationed four Roman legions in Egypt and brought Cleopatra to Rome along with Ptolemy XIV. The statue of Cleopatra now stood in the temple of Venus Genetrix (Ancestor) in the new Forum of Caesar. However, there is no evidence that Caesar continued his relationship with Cleopatra when she was in Rome, and the hypothesis that allegedly all of Rome was afraid of his divorce from Calpurnia (whom Caesar married in 59 BC), marriage with Cleopatra and transfer of the court of the newly founded royal dynasty to Egypt. Cleopatra's son Caesarion (later called Ptolemy XV Caesar) was probably born in 47 or 46 BC, and although later political benefits led Cleopatra herself and Antony to claim that the boy was Caesar's son, these claims are unreliable.

Historians disagree about whether Caesar, corrupted by power and success, actually intended to perpetuate strong autocratic rule. Undoubtedly, in the last years of his life he was tactless and arrogant. While the triumph of 46 BC was held in honor of victories over the external enemies of Rome (including the Gaul Vercingetorix, who was kept alive until his triumph and then executed), in 45 BC. there was not even an attempt to hide the fact that the triumph was celebrated on the occasion of the victory over the Roman citizens. At the beginning of 44 BC. Caesar insulted the senators by not rising from his seat when they appeared in full force to honor him, and the expulsion of two tribunes from the Senate was equally tactless. However, either out of hypocrisy or out of sincere disgust, Caesar constantly expressed furious disgust for all manifestations of servility. Having discovered the inscription "Demi-god" on a statue erected by the Senate in 46 BC, Caesar ordered its removal. In January 44 BC. he stubbornly resisted attempts to hail him as "king", repeating "I am not a king, but Caesar", he also, with obvious signs of anger, refused the crown, which Antony, along with two other noble youths (both of whom later participated in the murder of Caesar), tried to give him crowned at the Lupercalia festival in February 44 BC.

Role in history.

Caesar's greatest achievement was the conquest and first attempt to romanize "shaggy Gaul", as well as the establishment of the borders of the empire along the Rhine. As consul of 59 BC he passed legislation to prevent abuses by the provincial administration and founded a daily newspaper, Acta Diurna (Daily Events), which was distributed throughout the Roman world. As a dictator, Caesar was able to come to a reasonable agreement with the moneylenders, relieving the Romans of the burden of huge debts. In 46 BC. Caesar corrected the calendar, which had fallen into complete disarray, by introducing instead the calculation of time, which, with minor changes made in the Middle Ages, is used by the entire modern world. Caesar planned, but did not have time to complete the creation of a unified system of municipal government in Italy. Even more important was the unification of Italy, carried out by Caesar through the extension of Roman citizenship to the entire peninsula up to the Alps (49 BC). Caesar also granted citizenship rights to some non-Romans, particularly certain Gallic tribes.

There is no doubt that Caesar was subject to periodic epileptic seizures. Accessible and frank, loved by his soldiers, attractive to women, insightful in assessing human qualities, Caesar was distinguished by genuine and sincere generosity. His exceptional human qualities are confirmed, for example, by the order he gave after the Battle of Pharsalus to destroy Pompey’s personal papers and by the mercy with which he, having won, granted forgiveness to all who fought against him (Cicero received forgiveness in 48 BC, Marcus Marcellus, consul in 51 BC - in 46). Unlike Marius and Sulla, Octavian and his fellow triumvirs, Caesar never resorted to proscriptions. In the eyes of many people he was the greatest of the Romans. So, Plutarch Parallel biographies, a series of paired biographies of prominent Romans and Greeks, examines Caesar alongside Alexander the Great. Pliny the Elder calls him the most energetic of historical characters.

Caesar was an extremely versatile man, perhaps the most gifted in the history of Rome. The beauty of his literary style, transparently clear and devoid of any pomposity, was appreciated by the best of Caesar's contemporary critics. Caesar turned out to be a more successful commander than Pompey, although not at all more skillful - he took desperate risks in Britain, almost losing his entire fleet there, and was close to defeat at Gergovia in 52 BC. and at Dyrrachium. Caesar owed his victory over Pompey to several circumstances. Firstly, he retained self-confidence, whereas Pompey lost it towards the end of his life. Then Caesar, unlike Pompey, was never bothered by influential politicians. In addition, Caesar, again unlike Pompey, had an army that, through his own efforts, was united into a formidable force. In the face of all difficulties and adversity, the troops did not lose faith in the “luck of Caesar.” Caesar's opponents were amazed by the willingness of his army to follow their commander to the conquest of Italy in 49 BC, and when some legions rebelled (in 49 BC and in 47 BC), Caesar easily achieved them obedience.

Two circumstances make it difficult to make a final judgment about Caesar. Firstly, Cicero, his contemporary, hated Caesar as an enemy of the republican system. Secondly, Augustus, in his political interests, considered it expedient to obscure Caesar's advance to dictatorial power. As a result, the name of Caesar was hardly mentioned by the poets of the Augustan era, and Livy, the author of the official history of Rome before the fall of the republic, was subjected to friendly reproaches from Augustus, who nicknamed him a Pompeian. It is impossible to guess what kind of government system Caesar would have introduced in Rome, had he remained alive and turned his talent to rebuilding the Roman system of government.

Murder on the Ides of March.

Whatever Caesar's intentions regarding the government, he became so hated by a significant part of the Senate that 60 senators took part in the conspiracy organized by Marcus Brutus to assassinate Caesar. The degree of bitterness can be judged by the fact that with such a large number of participants, their plan was kept secret. On the Ides of March, i.e. On March 15, 44 BC, two days before Caesar was scheduled to leave Rome for his great eastern campaign, he was stabbed to death at a Senate meeting in Pompey's new theater.

After Antony’s funeral speech, with which he tried to inflame passions, the crowd put Caesar’s body to fire right in the forum. During the games held in memory of Caesar in July, a comet appeared in the sky, perceived by the people as a sign of his divinity. January 1, 42 BC Caesar was officially proclaimed “divine” - divus Caesar. Octavius, adopted by Caesar according to his will and after that taking the name Caesar Octavian, subsequently became Emperor Augustus and, having created the principate, resolved the problems of government, doing what Caesar failed to do.

Literature:

Plutarch. Caesar.– In the book: Plutarch. Comparative biographies, vol. 2. M., 1964
Utchenko S.L. Julius Caesar. M., 1984
Egorov A.B. Rome on the brink of eras: problems of the birth and formation of the principate. L., 1985
Parfenov V.N. Rome from Caesar to Augustus: essays on socio-political history. Saratov, 1987
Gaius Julius Caesar. Notes on the Gallic War. M., 1993
Mommsen T. History of Rome, vol. 3. St. Petersburg, 1995
Ferrero G. Julius Caesar. Rostov-on-Don, 1997



Guy Julius Caesar (G. Julius Caesar) is one of the greatest commanders and statesmen of Rome and of all times. The son of a father of the same name and the brilliantly educated Aurelia, he was born on July 12, 100 BC, and died on March 15, 44. Caesar came from an ancient patrician family, which considered the Trojan Aeneas its ancestor. Among his teachers are the rhetoricians M. Anthony Gnitho and Apollonius (Molon) from Rhodes. The leader of the Roman aristocrats (optimates) Sulla pursued the young Caesar, a close relative of his political enemy, the head of the democrats (populars) Marius. Despite the youth of Gaius Julius, Sulla considered him a dangerous man. He said that “there are a hundred Maries sitting in this boy.” Only thanks to the urgent requests of his influential relatives did Sulla not subject Caesar to proscriptions. However, the young man then had to leave for Asia. Only after the death of Sulla (78) Caesar returned to Rome, but soon left it again to improve his eloquence with the rhetorician Apollonius in Rhodes.

From the year of Julius Caesar's second return to the capital (73), his political activity began. Closely related by family relations to the Democratic Party, he tried with boundless generosity to win the favor of the people and restore their political influence by destroying the aristocratic institutions of Sulla. In 68, Caesar was quaestor in Spain south of the Ebro, in 65 he became an aedile, in 63 high priest (pontiff). He prudently stayed away from the democratic conspiracy of Catiline, but still, when analyzing the case, he tried to spare its participants from the death penalty. After fulfilling his praetorship (62), Julius Caesar went to his assigned province of Spain beyond the Ebro and paid off his huge debts from there. Returning to Italy the following year, he put forward his candidacy for consul. The first person of the Roman state was then Gnaeus Pompeius, who was at odds with the aristocratic Senate. Shortly before this, Pompey won brilliant victories in the East over the kings of Pontus and Armenia (Mithridates and Tigranes). But the Senate now refused to approve the order introduced by Pompey in Asia and did not give a worthy reward to his soldiers. The indignant Pompey united (60) against the Senate optimates with the largest Roman banker, Crassus, and with Caesar, who had already become one of the main leaders of the popular party. This union of “three husbands” was called the first triumvirate.

Lifetime bust of Julius Caesar

Elected as consul for 59 thanks to the influence of the triumvirate, Caesar, not paying attention to the protests of his optimate colleague Bibulus, distributed land to 20 thousand of the poorest citizens, attracted the equestrian (commercial and industrial) class to his side by deducting a third from payments for the collection of taxes, fulfilled Pompey's wishes. After Julius Caesar assumed the consular post, the triumvirate arranged for his appointment for five years as governor of the provinces of Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul - the regions where the military power closest to Italy was located. The most dangerous opponents of the triumvirate, supporters of the Senate Cicero and Cato the Younger, were removed from Rome under the guise of honorary assignments.

In 58, Julius Caesar went to his province. During his governorship, which was then extended, he conquered all of Gaul to Rome and created for himself an army that was unconditionally loyal and battle-tested. In the first year, he defeated the Helvetian tribe at Bibracta (near present-day Autun), which planned to move deeper into Gaul, as well as the Suevi prince of the Germans, Ariovistus, who, having conquered the strong people of the Aedui, considered himself the ruler of all Gallic lands. These successes extended Roman influence as far as the Seine. In 57 and 56 Caesar defeated the Belgian, Armoric and Aquitanian tribes. To secure the borders of Gaul, Gaius Julius crossed the Rhine in 55 and 53 and crossed into Britain in 55 and 54. When in 52, after a difficult struggle, he suppressed the general uprising of the Gallic peoples, led by the brave and cautious leader of the Arverni Vercingetorix (the main battles took place at Gergovia and Alesia), the conquest of the country was finally strengthened. From this time on, Gaul began to quickly assimilate Roman morals and Roman institutions.

Continuing to quarrel with the Senate in Rome, the triumvirs sealed their alliance at a meeting in Lucca (56). There it was determined that Pompey and Crassus would become consuls for the year 55, and Caesar's Gallic governorship would be extended for another five years. The optimates' opposition to the decisions of the Lucca Conference turned out to be powerless. However, soon the death of Caesar’s daughter, Julia, the former wife of Pompey (54), and the death of Crassus, who wanted to gain military laurels in the East (53), weakened the connection between the two surviving triumvirs. Concerned about Caesar's growing influence after the Gallic conquests, Pompey approached the Senate, which made him sole consul for 52. Caesar sought a consulate for the year 48, because only in this way could he, after a secondary governorship, achieve approval of his orders in Gaul. He asked permission to remain in his province until taking office and to run for a consular post in absentia. But the optimates decided to separate him from the army; mediation negotiations were unsuccessful. In the early days of 49, the Senate decreed that Caesar must immediately disband his troops or be declared an enemy of the state. The Senate gave Pompey the authority of commander-in-chief.

Bust of Caesar in military uniform

Although Julius Caesar most often acted generously with his opponents, the new monarchical system continued to provoke fierce resistance. It also seemed to many that Caesar wanted to eliminate the remnant of the republican appearance and openly put on himself the royal diadem. The campaign against the Parthians conceived by Gaius Julius was supposed to give rise to the granting of royal dignity to him. A number of his former followers conspired against Caesar, many of whom were showered with his favors. They were led by praetors Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. The convening of the Senate on the Ides of March (March 15), 44, in the Curia of Pompey for a meeting on granting Caesar royal power outside Italy accelerated the determination of the conspirators. They attacked Gaius Julius right in the meeting room. With 23 wounds, he fell at the statue of Pompey. They said that Caesar did not even resist when he saw Brutus, whom many considered his illegitimate son, among his killers. (For more details, see articles

Bust of Julius Caesar from the collection of the British Museum. Photograph of Roger Fenton, commissioned by the British Museum. Approximately 1856 Royal Photographic Society

Julius Caesar is probably the most famous character of ancient history, and indeed of all ancient history. Only Alexander the Great can compete with him. Countless volumes of scientific works, popular biographies and fiction have been written about Caesar. He was played in films by such outstanding actors as John Gielgud, Rex Harrison, Klaus Maria Brandauer and Ciaran Hinds. Around any outstanding historical figure, sooner or later a husk of myths and legends grows. Caesar did not escape this either.

Myth 1. His name was Caius Julius Caesar

Let's start with the name. Caesar, like almost every Roman boy from a good family, had three names: first, praenomen, or personal name (Gaius) - there were very few of them in Ancient Rome, Gaius was one of the most common; secondly, a nomen, or family name (Iulius), and thirdly, a cognomen, originally a nickname with some dictionary meaning, attached to a branch of the clan and becoming hereditary (Cicero - Pea, Naso - Nosy). What the word Caesar meant is unknown. There were many explanations: Caesar himself claimed that it was “elephant” in the “Moorish language,” and Pliny the Elder raised the word to the verb caedo, “to cut, cut,” arguing that the very first Caesar (not ours, but one of his ancestors) was born from a cut uterus, that is, as a result of a procedure later known as a caesarean section. Already thanks to the glory of our Julius Caesar, his cognomen in various forms entered many languages ​​of the world as a synonym for ruler - Caesar, Kaiser, Tsar.

The variant Kai (not Gaius) Julius Caesar has been around in everyday speech for a very long time. It is also found in literature: for example, in the fantastic story “Ghosts” by Turgenev, in “The Golden Calf” by Ilf and Petrov, or in “The White Guard” by Bulgakov. A search through the corpus of Russian literature texts produces 18 results for the query “Caius Julius” versus 21 for “Gai Julius,” almost equally divided. Ivan Ilyich in Tolstoy recalls an example from the “Logic” of the German Kantian philosopher Johann Gottfried Kiesewetter: “Caius is a man, people are mortal, therefore Caius is mortal” (in Kiesewetter: “Alle Menschen sind sterblich, Caius ist ein Mensch, also ist Caius sterblich” ). This is also, of course, “Caius” Julius Caesar. In languages ​​with Latin-based graphics, the variant Caius instead of Gaius also continues to be found - not only in novels, but also, for example, in the books of the modern British popularizer of antiquity Adrian Goldsworthy. This writing is the result not so much of a misunderstanding, but of a peculiar ancient Roman idea of ​​fidelity to tradition.

Although the sounds [k] and [g] have always been different in Latin, this difference was not initially reflected in writing. The reason was that the Etruscan (or some other Northern Italic) alphabet, from which Latin developed, did not have a stop [g]. When the volume of written information began to increase and literacy began to spread (in antiquity, in principle, there were not many free people who could not read and write at least at a primitive level), it became necessary to somehow distinguish between letters denoting dissimilar sounds, and C was attached tail. As linguist Alexander Piperski notes, the letter G is an innovation with a diacritic like the letter E, only more successful from a historical perspective. The letter E, as you know, was popularized by Karamzin, and Roman lovers of antiquities recorded that G was introduced into the alphabet by a certain Spurius Carvilius, a freedman and the first owner of a private elementary school in Rome, in the 3rd century BC. e.

The capital C, representing the sound [g], was often used as the initial of the names Guy and Gnaeus (C and CN, respectively). Such initials were found in dedicatory inscriptions, on tombstones, and in other contexts of increased importance. The Romans were very neurotic about this kind of thing and preferred not to change anything about them. Therefore, in the inscriptions starting from the 2nd century BC. e. we often see the letter G where it should be (for example, in the word AVG, an abbreviation for Augustus), but at the same time the name Guy is abbreviated in the old fashioned way as S. The same with the name Gnei, which is abbreviated as CN (however, the form “Knei” ", as far as I know, is not found anywhere in Russian).

Most likely, it was this ambiguity that caused the split of the popular Roman name into the correct Guy and the erroneous Kai. Kai from Andersen's "The Snow Queen" is most likely not related to Caesar - this is a common Scandinavian name, and there are many other etymological hypotheses about its origin, mainly going back to the Frisian languages.

Myth 2. We know what he looked like

Let's look at some sculptural portraits.

The first is the so-called Tusculan portrait, excavated in 1825 by Lucien Bonaparte (brother of Napoleon I). It is kept in the Museum of Antiquities of Turin. Several more sculptural images, stored in the National Roman Museum, the Hermitage, the New Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, etc., belong to the same type.

Tusculan portrait from the Museum of Antiquities of Turin. Dated to 50–40 BC.© Gautier Poupeau / Wikimedia Commons

Copy from a Tusculan portrait. 1st century BC e. - I century AD e.© J. Paul Getty Trust

Copy from a Roman original of the 1st century AD. e. Italy, 16th century© State Hermitage Museum

The second common type of portrait of Caesar is the so-called bust of Chiaramonti (now kept in the Vatican Museums). Adjacent to it is another bust from Turin, sculptures from Parma, Vienna and a number of others.

Bust of Chiaramonti. 30-20 BC ancientrome.ru

The famous “Green Caesar” is kept in the Berlin Antique Collection.

"Green Caesar" from the exhibition of the Old Museum. 1st century BC e. Louis le Grand / Wikipedia Commons

Finally, in the fall of 2007, another alleged bust of Julius Caesar was raised from the bottom of the Rhone River near the French city of Arles.

Bust of Julius Caesar from Arles. Approximately 46 BC. e. IRPA / Musée Arles Antique / Wikipedia Commons

You can also see a good selection of sculptural portraits of Caesar here.

It is noticeable that even within the same type, the portraits are not very similar to each other, and if you compare one type with another, it is not at all clear how they can be the same person. At the same time, ancient Roman portrait sculpture was distinguished by a very high level of realism and consistently achieved portrait resemblance. To be convinced of this, just look at the numerous portraits of later emperors - Augustus, for example, or Marcus Aurelius. They cannot be confused with each other or with anyone else.

What's the matter? The fact is that almost all the ancient sculptural portraits that have come down to us are not signed and their attribution is a highly guess-working matter. Signed portrait images were found only on coins, and Caesar was the first Roman whose image appeared on coins during his lifetime (this happened in 44 BC, and already on March 15 of this year, on the ever-memorable Ides of March, he was killed ). Caesar's denarius, minted by the mint official Marcus Mettius, became the model for all later coins of imperial times.

Obverse of the denomination of Mar-ka Met-tius with the image of Julius Caesar. 44 BC e. Museum of Fine Arts / Bridgeman Images / Fotodom

The 55-year-old Caesar was depicted on the denarius with the realism characteristic of the late Republican era: a very long neck with folds, a protruding Adam's apple, a wrinkled forehead, a thin face, in some versions - wrinkles in the corners of the eyes, a wreath, which, according to rumors, Caesar camouflaged his baldness. But still, a coin is a special genre, and the attribution of a sculptural bust on the basis of a stylized numismatic picture is an unreliable matter. Of course, archaeologists from Arles wanted as many people as possible to know about the Roman bust of outstanding quality - which is undoubtedly a rare find - and this should also help finance the work. And for such a purpose, the “bust of Julius Caesar” is more suitable than the “bust of an unknown Roman.” The same caution must be applied to all other sculptural images of Julius Caesar.

In how the public imagines a character, reputation is often more important than credibility. If you do a Google image search for Emperor Vitellius, the first thing you see is a bust from the Louvre depicting an obese, arrogant man with a triple chin. This correlates well with the image of the emperor, who, according to Suetonius, “was most distinguished by gluttony and cruelty.” But the surviving coins show a completely different face - a man also not thin, but certainly not with a snub nose.

Bust of a man (pseudo-Vitellius). Copy from an earlier sculpture. 16th century© Wikimedia Commons

Denarius of Emperor Vitellius. '69© Wikimedia Commons

Myth 3. He could do several things at once.

Have you ever heard your mother or grandmother say, “Don’t read while you eat, you’re not Gaius (or Caius) Julius Caesar”? At the heart of this warning is the idea that Caesar could multitask and that this kind of multitasking was a unique ability that most people did not have.

Firstly, this meme is most common in Russia. In Western European cultures there is no such stable expression, although the fact itself is known and sometimes mentioned. However, finding it in sources is not so easy. Suetonius says nothing about this in his biography of Caesar. Plutarch, with reference to a certain Oppius, notes that Caesar “during the campaign, he also practiced dictating letters while sitting on a horse, simultaneously employing two or even ... an even larger number of scribes.” This remark is inserted between a mention of his dashing physical dexterity (“He knew how to put his hands back and put them behind his back, to launch his horse at full speed” - if you think that this is not so difficult, I remind you that ancient horsemen did not use stirrups) and a story about the invention of SMS (“They say that Caesar was the first to come up with the idea of ​​​​conversing with friends about urgent matters through letters, when the size of the city and exceptional busyness did not allow meeting in person”).

Julius Caesar dictates his sayings. Painting by Pelagio Palagi. 19th century Palazzo del Quirinale/Bridgeman Images

Pliny the Elder speaks in somewhat more detail about this feature in his monumental work Natural History. He finds the liveliness of mind that distinguished Caesar unprecedented: “They report that he could write or read and at the same time dictate and listen. He could dictate four letters to his secretaries at a time, and on the most important issues; and if he was not busy with anything else, then seven letters.” Finally, Suetonius, in his biography of Augustus, notes that Julius Caesar, during the circus games, “read letters and papers or wrote answers to them,” for which he was subject to criticism, and Augustus made efforts not to repeat this PR mistake of his adoptive father.

We see that we are not talking about real parallel processing, but (as happens with computers) about quickly switching from one task to another, about competent distribution of attention and prioritization. The life of a public person in antiquity posed tasks to his memory and attention that were incomparable with those that modern people have to solve: for example, any speech, even many hours, had to be learned by heart (opportunities for improvisation, of course, existed, but the general outline in any case had to keep it in my head). Nevertheless, even against this background, Caesar’s abilities made an indelible impression on his contemporaries.

Napoleon Bonaparte, whose desire to imitate and surpass Caesar is well documented, was also famous for his ability to dictate up to seven letters at once and, according to the memoirs of one of his secretaries, Baron Claude François de Meneval, attributed this superpower to his virtuoso mastery of the technique, which in modern managerial jargon is called compartmentalization . “When I want to take my mind off something,” Napoleon said, according to Meneval, “I close the box in which it is stored and open another. The two things never mix and never bother or tire me. When I want to sleep, I close all the drawers." This system of spatial visualization of topics or tasks also dates back to classical antiquity.

Bonus track. Where was Julius Caesar killed?

Death of Julius Caesar. Painting by Jean Leon Gerome. 1859-1867 Walters Art Museum

Caesar was killed on his way to a Senate meeting. This fact, combined with the authority of Shakespeare (who places the assassination scene somewhere near the Capitol - that is, perhaps in the Forum, over the western part of which Capitol Hill rises), gives many the erroneous impression that he was killed directly in the Senate building . The Senate building still stands on the Forum and is even called the Julian Curia. But during the time of Caesar he was not there: the old curia burned down during the unrest that preceded his reign, he ordered a new one to be built, but did not have time to see it (it was completed under Augustus; the building that has survived to this day is even later, from the time of Emperor Diocletian) .

While there was no permanent meeting place, senators gathered wherever they could (this practice has always existed and did not stop after the construction of the curia). On this occasion the place of the meeting was the portico of the newly erected Theater of Pompey; there the conspirators attacked Caesar. Today this point is located in a square called Largo di Torre Argentina. In the 1920s, the ruins of four very old temples from the Republican era were discovered there. Under Augustus, the site of Caesar's murder was walled up as if it were cursed, and a public latrine was built nearby, the remains of which can still be seen today.

Sources

• Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus. The Life of the Twelve Caesars. Divine Julius.
• Caius Pliny Sec. Natural history.
• Plutarch. Comparative biographies. Alexander and Caesar.
• Balsdon J.P.V.D. Julius Caesar and Rome.
• Goldsworthy A. Caesar: Life of a Colossus.

  New Haven; London, 2008.

• A Companion to Julius Caesar.