Fall of the Republic, Part 2: Julius Caesar

Sources:

• Caesar, Gallic War, Civil War
• Cicero, speeches and letters
• Coins, inscriptions
• Suetonius, Life of Julius Caesar (written in early 2nd century CE)
• Plutarch, Lives of Caesar, Pompey, Crassus, Cicero, Cato the Younger (early 2nd cent. CE)
• Appian, Civil Wars (2nd cent. CE)
• Cassius Dio, history of 69-30 BCE (early 3rd cent. CE).

Caesar's Career (102-44 BCE)

Photo by Barbara McManus, Image courtesy of the VROMA project.

Timeline

70's - spent avoiding the Sullans

60's- Cursus Honorum - Caesar is mainly a popularis. He is connected to Marius through marriage of his aunt

• 69 quaestor in Spain,
• 65 curule aedile (spent lots of money on public spectacles),
• 63 pontifex maximus,
• 62 praetor,
• 61 governor of Spain, where he goes on an improper offensive beyond the provincial borders, so he needs to seek public office to avoid prosecution
• 60 - forms the first Triumvirate

50's - Consul in 59 BCE; then governor of Gaul: Gallic Wars, conquest of Gaul

40's - Dictatorship

• 49-45 BCE - Civil War with Pompey after crossing the Rubicon river.
• 44 BCE - named Dictator Perpetuus - Dictator for Life
• Ides of March, 44 BCE - stabbed to death by Senators weary of his power

The Civil War of 49-45 BCE

This map was prepared to accompany theThe Romans from Village to Empireby Mary T. Boatwright, Daniel Gargola and Richard J.A. Talbert, Oxford University Press, 2004.

Copyright 2004, Ancient World Mapping Center:
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1. Crassus loses 40,000 men in battle against Parthia, with only about 10,000 surviving.
2. Break up of First Triumvirate: Pompey vs. Caesar
1. Julia, the daughter of Caesar and wife of Pompey, dies in childbirth,
2. Family tie between the two is therefore severed.
3. Caesar crosses the Rubicon river boundary between Italy and province of Cisalpine Gaul on January 10, 49 BCE. What other choices did he have to preserve his dignity?

Battle of Pharsalus, 48 BCE: a crushing defeat for Pompey

1. Pompey had 47,000 troops
2. Caesar had 27,000
3. 15,000 of Pompey's troops killed, 24,000 captured
1. Pompey fled to Egypt, hoping for asylum with Ptolemaic King and Queen Cleopatra.
2. He spent 7 months there, putting Cleopatra in power over her brother.
3. Pompey was murdered near Alexandria, Egypt.
4. Cato the Younger was defeated in North Africa, committing suicide rather than living under Caesar's rule.

Caesar's Reforms

1. The overall effect was to reduce the absolute dominance of the city of Rome and to integrate Rome with Italy and Italy with provinces.
2. Enlarged senate from 600 to 900; included Romanized provincials, giving some more unity to Roman rule.
3. Socio-economic reforms:
   1. Public works projects: temples, libraries, theaters, roads, and harbors
   2. Colonies of Roman citizens in provinces
   3. Roman citizenship for intellectuals - teachers, scholars, doctors, and librarians
   4. He even founded schools and public libraries in the Western provinces.
   5. Municipal reform in Italy, Julian Municipal Law - greater uniformity of local civic administration throughout Italy
4. Julian Calendar

Photo by Barbara McManus, Image courtesy of the VROMA project
at http://www.vroma.org

Ides of March, 44 BCE

• Many believed Caesar had aspirations to monarchy - wearing purple, although he famously refused the crown from Antony.
• He named a month after himself, put his image on coins, and put up many statues of himself.
• 60-80 senators (of 900) were involved in the plot, led by Brutus and Cassius.
• It occurred days before planned campaigns would have taken him out of Rome.

The Failure of the liberators to actually return to the pre-Caesar Republic

1. They did not have a plan for re-instituting the Republic, but thought rather it would return automatically.
2. They did not account for Caesar's popularity with the people.
3. Caesar had powerful supporters, eg. Marc Antony, with great power, who kept the "liberators" from undoing Caesar's reforms.