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... for Caesar's brains. He was forced to retreat. But in the spring he came back with more troops and he forced the British tribal leaders to surrender. Meanwhile the situation in Gaul became alarming (May 35). When Caesar went back to Gaul, he discovered the Gallic tribes had revolted and slaughtered many roman troops and taken others hostage.
Romans did not usually wage war in the winter, but Caesar made an exception. At first he had crushed and Gallic tribes, But a young chief named Vercingetorix believed the Romans could be stopped. He organized a huge army of tribes and undid all that Caesar had done. Caesar finally laid siege to the Gallic army. Caesar personally led the army in the attack. After a month of heavy fighting and bloodshed the vast army of Vercingetorix had vanished like a ghost.
Gaul had now come securely under the belt of Rome. Caesar was off to make his way to Rome. Crassus had lost a battle to a Parthenon king. The king had taken Crassus's head and poured molten lava in it.
Without Crassus the friendship between Caesar and Pompey fell apart. Each man wanted to be the greatest leader in Rome. They both gave up their govern ship's in other parts to come back to Rome (Microsoft Encarta 5). In 50 bc, the two men drew up their armies. Pompey was encamped in Italy and Caesar was in Gaul.
Caesar crossed into Rome the next year. Remembering the slaughtering that Caesar had done in Gaul the Roman citizens panicked. Caesar laid siege in Spain against Pompey's army and defeated them without much trouble. Caesar tried to spare as many opponents as he could because these men were his countrymen. Pompey decided to strike back.
After 9 months both armies were desperately short of supplies and Pompey's generals urged him to attack. Caesar was well outnumbered but his strategy spared many men from Pompey's Calvary charge. Now Caesar sent his troops in. His word were "spare your fellow countrymen" but his men slaughtered 15, 000 of Pompey's men. Pompey's legions surrendered and Caesar was elected Dictator (green 40 - 45). Pompey fled to Egypt where he once donated much money and help.
He believed that here he could raise the army and money he needed to defeat Caesar. Caesar landed on Egyptian shores shortly after. He was only there for a few hours and the Egyptians presented him with Pompey's head. Egypt, although in great gratitude to Pompey, was an anarchy.
The 10 -year-old king, Ptolemy XIII, of Egypt was the one who had Pompey beheaded, He hoped to gain Caesar's support. Caesar has said to have wept at the site of Pompey's head. Cleopatra the 20 yr old sister of Ptolemy wanted to challenge her brother and take his throne. She decided to appeal to Caesar for help. Caesar fell in love with her at first sight. He chose her side and all the people of Alexandria revolted.
Caesar sent troops in to fight and he won. Ptolemy was killed in this battle. Caesar placed Cleopatra on the throne and took a cruise down the Nile to celebrate. After months in Egypt, Caesar left because he had many other provinces to conquer. He went off and conquered all of Pompey's lands in Africa.
After he was leaving, he said the famous words "veni, vidi, vici (I came I saw I conquered) " (Suetonius 279 - 281). Caesar wanted to kill Pompey's sons too. They had raised an army in North Africa with the help of one of Caesar's great enemies Cato. Caesar invaded the rebels camps at the end of 47 bc, and by April of 46 bc he overpowered them. Now he returned to Rome and celebrated four triumphs, A triumph was a special celebration a Roman General was given. No General was ever given four (Green 50).
Meanwhile, Pompey's sons went to Spain and developed a powerful army. The threat became so serious that Caesar led his own army into Spain in November of 46 bc. He defeated the brothers in March of 45 bc. Some say Caesar admired Pompey's sons because they tried to avenge him... and he almost didn't want to kill them because of that (Spalling 2 - 3). Caesar celebrated another triumph.
This one offended many Romans because triumphs were for victories in foreign lands, that it was not proper to celebrate the deaths of fellow Romans. Cleopatra arrived in Rome to celebrate with Caesar. This also offended many Romans, because she brought her son Casarion, whom she came to be the son of Caesar. Bad rumors of plots and conspiracies against him were whispered throughout Rome.
Caesar was voted dictator for life in 45 bc. This meant that the Roman Republic was completely dead and that angered some people even more (May 34 - 40). As Dictator Caesar used his powers for the good. He built much-needed public baths, he increased the grain rations to the poor, he adjusted the Roman calendar (naming July after himself), the old calendar did not match the seasons and made it hard to schedule things.
Despite these reforms, many Romans did not like being ruled by one man. Some, who were worried, like Brutus, were Caesar's friends, but they decided that only by killing him they could save the republic. In March 44 bc, "the Ides of March" were among Caesar. A gypsy even told him to "beware the Ides of March. " Brutus and the others were very worried now and that is why they plunged their daggers into Caesar's body in 44 bc, at a meeting of the senate. Octavius, his adopted son and Marc Antony, his lieutenant and friend avenged Caesar. They killed the murderers in 42 bc.
Caesar supposedly once said: All men, including murderers themselves, deserve to be avenged if they are killed by a murder. They don't deserve to visit the gods and not have vengeance on the ones who took their life. No man should have to suffer eternity with the feeling of being outsmarted and murdered. All men should live a happy afterlife.
Caesar was only 56 when he died, it is amazing to think of all that he accomplished in his life. Also it is amazing to think of all that he could have accomplished if he had lived. His legacy lived on through Octavius, who named himself emperor of Rome and like all roman emperors that followed he took the name of Caesar. If he had stayed alive the Roman Empire could have conquered all of the Eastern Hemisphere.
Rome defiantly benefited from him. Rome was the most powerful nation at the time and would have stayed that way for much longer if Julius Caesar had not been murdered. Works Cited Green, Robert. Julius Caesar.
New York. Franklin watts publishing company, 1996 May, Robin. Julius Caesar and the Romans. East Sussex. Wayland publishing, 1984 Schlesinger, Arthur M.
Caesar. Boston. Chelsea house publishers, 1987 Suetonius. The lives of the 12 Caesar's. Willamstown, MA. Corner house publishers, 1987 Blooming, Mike H. "Hero or Villain" 6 April, 1995 < web Spalling, John. "Julius Caesar." 5 February 1999. < web "Caesar. " Microsoft Encarta.
Vers. 99. 1. 1 Nov, 1998
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