Julius Caesar

we getting into the juicy bits now


Overview

  • 6 years younger than Pompey

  • Careers ran parallel (kinda, obviously Pompey had a head start)

  • Caesar - took a more traditional path to power

  • First Triumvirate Caesar’s first taste of Power

  • 10 years of friendship turned bitter

  • Civil war

  • Dictatorship

Background and Early years

Family

  • Old and illustrious patrician family on both sides

  • Julians (claimed to be descendants of goddess Venus)

  • Aurelians (history of being consul - his grandfather had been consul)

  • Status of ‘Nobiles’

  • Immediate connections were from populares faction

  • Aunt Julia had been married to Marius

  • Caesar married to Cornelia, daughter of cosul Cinna

  • Dangerous during Sulla’s proscriptions - linkes to Populares/Marians

  • Sulla tried to force Caesar to divorce Cornellia

  • Caesar did not and went into hiding

  • Sulla Pardoned him (part of why he pardoned him is because he thinks Caesar will come around and be good for Rome one day)

  • reluctantly, supposedly saying: ‘But never forget the ,an you want me to spare will one day prove the ruin of the party which you and I have so long defended. There are many Marius’s in this fellow Caesar’

    • Seutonius, ‘Julius Caesar’ , 1 p.14

Pirates

He got captured by pirates but supposedly had fun over 38 days

On his return to Rome

  • became known through the law coursts as an orator

  • made public speech in honour of his aunt Julia who had been married to Marius - displaying images of Marius at the funeral

  • Crowd loved it

  • Strongly tied Caesar to popular camp