View source for Julius Caesar

{{Short description|Roman general and dictator (100–44 BC)}}
{{Redirect2|Gaius Julius Caesar|Caesar|the name|Gaius Julius Caesar (name)|text=For other uses, see [[Gaius Julius Caesar (disambiguation)]], [[Caesar (disambiguation)]], [[Julius Caesar (disambiguation)]], and [[Caesar (title)]]}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}{{Use British English|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Julius Caesar
| image              = Retrato de Julio César (26724093101) (cropped).jpg
| image_upright      = 
| alt                = The Tusculum portrait, a marble sculpture of Julius Caesar
| caption            = Caesar as portrayed by the [[Tusculum portrait]]
| birth_date         = 12 or 13 July 100 BC<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=gzOXLGbIIYwC&pg=PA16 16]|ps=. All ancient sources place his birth in 100 BC. Some historians have argued against this; the "consensus of opinion" places it in 100 BC. {{harvnb|Goldsworthy|2006|p=30}}.}}</ref>
| birth_place        = [[Suburra]], Rome<!-- Do not add "Roman Republic" here. -->
| death_date         = [[Ides of March|15 March]] 44 BC (aged 55)<!-- 100 - 44 is, after adjusting for that 15 March is before July, 55 -->
| death_place        = [[Theatre of Pompey]], Rome<!-- Do not add "Roman Republic" here. -->
| death_cause        = [[Assassination of Julius Caesar|Assassination]] ([[stab wounds]])
| resting_place      = 
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| occupation         = {{hlist|Politician|soldier|author}}
| years_active       = 
| office             = {{Aligned table
  | class= |fullwidth=on |leftright=on
  | style=line-height:1.2em; |col2style=font-size:90%;
  | [[Pontifex maximus]]            | 64–44 BC
  | [[Roman consul|Consul]]         | 59 BC
  | [[Proconsul]] (Gaul, Illyricum) | 58–49 BC
  | [[Roman dictator|Dictator]]     | 49–44 BC
  | Consul                          | 48, 46–44 BC
  | [[Dictator perpetuo]]           | 44 BC<ref>All offices and years thereof from {{harvnb|Broughton|1952|p=574}}.</ref>
}}
| organization       = 
| known_for          = 
| notable_works      = {{ubl|{{lang|la|[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico|Bellum Gallicum]]}}|{{lang|la|[[Commentarii de Bello Civili|Bellum Civile]]}}}}
| net_worth          = <!-- Net worth should be supported with a citation from a reliable source -->
| opponents          = 
| spouse             = {{Aligned table
  | class= |fullwidth=on |leftright=on
  | style=line-height:1.2em; |col2style=font-size:90%;
  | [[Cossutia]] (disputed)                     |
  | [[Cornelia (wife of Caesar)|Cornelia]]      | {{Abbr|m.|married}} 84 BC; {{Abbr|d.|died}} 69 BC
  | [[Pompeia (wife of Julius Caesar)|Pompeia]] | {{Abbr|m.|married}} 67 BC; {{Abbr|div.|divorced}} 61 BC
  | [[Calpurnia (wife of Caesar)|Calpurnia]]    | {{Abbr|m.|married}} 59 BC
}}
| partner            = [[Cleopatra]]
| children           = {{ubl|[[Julia (daughter of Julius Caesar)|Julia]]|[[Caesarion]] (unacknowledged)|[[Augustus]] (adoptive)}}
| parents            = {{ubl|[[Gaius Julius Caesar (governor of Asia)|Gaius Julius Caesar]]|[[Aurelia (mother of Caesar)|Aurelia]]}}
| relatives          = 
| awards             = [[Civic Crown]]
| module             = {{Infobox officeholder | embed = yes
| allegiance         = [[Roman Republic]]
| branch             = [[Roman Army]]
| commands           = [[Legio XIII Gemina|XIII Legion]]
| battles            = {{tree list}}
* [[Siege of Mytilene (81 BC)|Siege of Mytilene]]
* [[Gallic Wars]]
* [[Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain|Invasions of Britain]]
* [[Caesar's civil war]]
* [[Alexandrian war]]
{{tree list/end}}
| serviceyears       = 81–45 BC
}}
}}
{{Julius Caesar series}}
'''Gaius Julius Caesar'''{{efn|Pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|iː|z|ər}} {{respell|SEE|zər}}; {{IPA|la-x-classic|ˈɡaːiʊs ˈjuːliʊs ˈkae̯sar|lang|small=no}}.}} (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a [[Roman people|Roman]] general and statesman. A member of the [[First Triumvirate]], Caesar led the Roman armies in the [[Gallic Wars]] before defeating his political rival [[Pompey]] in [[Caesar's civil war|a civil war]]. He subsequently became [[Roman dictator|dictator]] from 49 BC until [[Assassination of Julius Caesar|his assassination]] in 44 BC. Caesar played a critical role in [[Crisis of the Roman Republic|the events that led to the demise]] of the [[Roman Republic]] and the rise of the [[Roman Empire]].

In 60 BC, Caesar, [[Marcus Licinius Crassus|Crassus]], and Pompey formed the First Triumvirate, an informal political alliance that dominated [[Roman politics]] for several years. Their attempts to amass political power were opposed by many in the [[Roman Senate|Senate]], among them [[Cato the Younger]] with the private support of [[Cicero]]. Caesar rose to become one of the most powerful politicians in the Roman Republic through a string of military victories in the Gallic Wars, completed by 51 BC, which greatly extended Roman territory. During this time, he both [[Caesar's invasions of Britain|invaded Britain]] and [[Caesar's Rhine bridges|built a bridge across the river Rhine]]. These achievements and the support of his veteran army threatened to eclipse the standing of Pompey. The alliance between Caesar and Pompey slowly broke down and, by 50 BC, Pompey had realigned himself with the Senate. With his command expiring and the Gallic Wars largely concluded, the Senate ordered Caesar to step down from his military command and return to Rome. In early January 49 BC, Caesar openly defied the Senate by [[crossing the Rubicon]] and marching towards Rome at the head of an army. This began [[Caesar's civil war]], which he won, leaving him in a position of near-unchallenged power and influence in 45 BC.

After assuming control of government and pardoning many of his enemies, Caesar set upon vigorous reform and building programme. He created the [[Julian calendar]] to replace the republican lunisolar calendar, reduced the size of the [[Cura annonae|grain dole]], settled his veterans in new overseas colonies, greatly increased the size of the Senate, and extended citizenship to communities in Spain and what is now northern Italy. In early 44 BC, he was proclaimed "dictator for life" ({{lang|la|[[dictator perpetuo]]}}). Fearful of his power, domination of the state, and the possibility that he might make himself king, a group of senators led by [[Brutus]] and [[Gaius Cassius Longinus|Cassius]] assassinated Caesar on the [[Ides of March]] (15 March) 44 BC. A new [[Second Triumvirate#Triumviral period|series of civil wars]] broke out and the [[Constitution of the Roman Republic|constitutional government of the Republic]] was never fully restored. Caesar's great-nephew and adoptive heir Octavian, later known as [[Augustus]], rose to sole power after [[War of Actium|defeating his opponents]] thirteen years later. Octavian then set about solidifying his power, transforming the Republic into the Roman Empire.

Caesar was an accomplished author and historian; much of his life is known from his own accounts of his military campaigns. Other contemporary sources include the letters and speeches of Cicero and the historical writings of [[Sallust]]. Later biographies of Caesar by [[Suetonius]] and [[Plutarch]] are also important sources. Caesar is considered by many historians to be one of the greatest military commanders in history.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Spencer |title=Battles That Changed History: An Encyclopedia of World Conflict|url=https://archive.org/details/battlesthatchang00tuck_956 |url-access=limited |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2010 |page=[https://archive.org/details/battlesthatchang00tuck_956/page/n86 68] |isbn=978-1-59884-430-6}}</ref> His [[cognomen]] was subsequently adopted as a synonym for "[[emperor]]"; the title "[[Caesar (title)|Caesar]]" was used throughout the Roman Empire, and gave rise to modern descendants such as [[Kaiser]] and [[Tsar]]. He has [[Cultural depictions of Julius Caesar|frequently appeared in literary and artistic works]].

==Early life and career<span class="anchor" id="Early life and career of Julius Caesar"></span><span class="anchor" id="Childhood"></span><span class="anchor" id="Early life"></span>==
[[File:Marius Chiaramonti Inv1488.jpg|thumb|[[Gaius Marius]], Caesar's uncle and the husband of Caesar's aunt [[Julia (wife of Marius)|Julia]]. He was an enemy of Sulla and took Rome with Lucius Cornelius Cinna in 87&nbsp;BC.]]

Gaius Julius Caesar was born into a [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] family, the {{lang|la|[[gens]] [[Julia gens|Julia]]}}, on 12 or 13 July 100&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|p=16|ps=, pursuant to Macr. ''Sat.'' 1.12.34, quoting a law by Mark Antony noting the date as the fourth day before the Ides of Quintilis. Only Dio gives 13 July. All sources give the year 100&nbsp;BC.}}</ref> The family claimed to have immigrated to Rome from [[Alba Longa]] during the seventh century&nbsp;BC after the third [[king of Rome]], [[Tullus Hostilius]], took and destroyed their city. The family also claimed descent from Julus, the son of Aeneas and founder of Alba Longa. Given that Aeneas was a son of Venus, this made the clan divine. This genealogy had not yet taken its final form by the first century, but the clan's claimed descent from Venus was well established in public consciousness.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=32–33}} There is no evidence that Caesar himself was born by [[Caesarian section]]; such operations entailed the death of the mother, but [[Caesar's mother]] lived for decades after his birth and no ancient sources record any difficulty with the birth.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=35}}

Despite their ancient pedigree, the Julii Caesares were not especially politically influential during the middle republic. The first person known to have had the [[cognomen]] ''Caesar'' was a praetor in 208&nbsp;BC during the [[Second Punic War]]. The family's first consul was in 157&nbsp;BC, though their political fortunes had recovered in the early first century, producing two consuls in 91 and 90&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|p=14}}; {{harvnb|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=31–32|ps=. The consul of 157&nbsp;BC was [[Sextus Julius Caesar (consul 157 BC)|Sextus Caesar]]; the consuls of 91 and 90 were [[Sextus Julius Caesar (consul 91 BC)|Sextus Caesar]] and [[Lucius Julius Caesar (consul 90 BC)|Lucius Caesar]], respectively.}}</ref> [[Caesar's homonymous father]] was moderately successful politically. He married [[Aurelia (mother of Caesar)|Aurelia]], a member of the politically influential [[Aurelii Cottae]], producing – along with Caesar – two daughters. Buoyed by his own marriage and the marriage of [[Julia (wife of Marius)|his sister]] to the extremely influential [[Gaius Marius]], he also served on the [[Lucius Appuleius Saturninus|Saturninian]] land commission in 103&nbsp;BC and was elected praetor some time between 92 and 85&nbsp;BC; he served as proconsular governor of Asia for two years, likely 91–90&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|p=15}} dates the land commission to 103 per ''MRR'' 3.109; {{harvnb|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=33–34}}; {{harvnb|Broughton|1952|p=22}}, dating the proconsulship to 91 with praetorship in 92&nbsp;BC and citing, among others, {{CIL|1|705}} and {{CIL|1|706}}.</ref>

=== Life under Sulla and military service ===
[[File:Q. Pompeius Rufus, denarius, 54 BC, RRC 434-1 (Sulla only).jpg|thumb|Sulla, depicted on a coin minted by [[Quintus Pompeius Rufus (grandson of Sulla)|Quintus Pompeius Rufus]] in 54&nbsp;BC. Sulla took the city in 82&nbsp;BC, purged his political enemies, and instituted [[Constitutional reforms of Sulla|new constitutional reforms]].]]

Caesar's father did not seek a consulship during the domination of [[Lucius Cornelius Cinna]] and instead chose retirement.{{sfn|Badian|2009|p=16}} During Cinna's dominance, Caesar was named as ''[[flamen Dialis]]'' (a priest of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]]) which led to his marriage to Cinna's daughter, [[Cornelia (wife of Caesar)|Cornelia]]. The religious taboos of the priesthood would have forced Caesar to forgo a political career; the appointment – one of the highest non-political honours – indicates that there were few expectations of a major career for Caesar.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|p=16|ps=. Badian cites {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=1.2}} arguing that Caesar was actually appointed; because a divorced man could not be ''flamen Dialis'', the assertion that Caesar married one Cossutia then divorced her to marry Cornelia and become ''flamen'' in {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=5.3}} is incorrect.}}</ref> In early 84&nbsp;BC, Caesar's father died suddenly.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=34}} After [[Sulla]]'s victory in the [[Sulla's civil war|civil war]] (82&nbsp;BC), Cinna's ''acta'' were annulled. Sulla consequently ordered Caesar to abdicate and divorce Cinna's daughter. Caesar refused, implicitly questioning the legitimacy of Sulla's annulment. Sulla may have put Caesar on the [[Proscription of Sulla|proscription lists]], though scholars are mixed.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|pp=16–17}}, stating Caesar was placed on the lists. Cf, stating Caesar was only summoned for interrogation, {{cite book |last=Hinard |first=François |title=Les proscriptions de la Rome républicaine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-3UaAAAAIAAJ |publisher=Ecole française de Rome |date=1985 |pages=64 |isbn=978-2-7283-0094-5 |oclc=1006100534 |language=fr}}</ref> Caesar then went into hiding before his relatives and contacts among the [[Vestal Virgins]] were able to intercede on his behalf.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|pp=16–17|ps=, also rejecting claims that Caesar hid by bribing his pursuers: "this is an example of how the [Caesar myth] pervades our accounts and makes it difficult to get at the facts... [that he bribed his pursuers] cannot be true, since confiscation of his fortune went with his proscription".}}</ref> They then reached a compromise where Caesar would resign his priesthood but keep his wife and chattels; Sulla's alleged remark he saw "in [Caesar] many Mariuses"<ref>{{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=1.4}}; {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=1.3}}.</ref> is apocryphal.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|p=17|ps=, noting also that Sulla never killed any fellow patricians.}}</ref>

[[File:Augustus Bevilacqua Glyptothek Munich 317.jpg|thumb|Bust, from the imperial period, of a man – in this case [[Augustus]] – wearing the [[civic crown]] ({{langx|la|corona civica}}). Caesar won the civic crown for his bravery at the [[Siege of Mytilene (81 BC)|Siege of Mytilene]] in 81&nbsp;BC.]]

Caesar then left Italy to serve in the staff of the governor of Asia, [[Marcus Minucius Thermus]]. While there, he travelled to Bithynia to collect naval reinforcements and stayed some time as a guest of the king, [[Nicomedes IV of Bithynia|Nicomedes IV]], though [[Queen of Bithynia|later invective]] connected Caesar to a homosexual relation with the monarch.{{sfn|Badian|2009|pp=17–18}}<ref>{{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=2–3}}; {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=2–3}}; {{harvnb|Dio|loc=43.20}}.</ref> He then served at the [[Siege of Mytilene (81 BC)|Siege of Mytilene]] where he won the [[civic crown]] for saving the life of a fellow citizen in battle. The privileges of the crown – the Senate was supposed to stand on a holder's entrance and holders were permitted to wear the crown at public occasions – whetted Caesar's appetite for honours. After the capture of Mytilene, Caesar transferred to the staff of [[Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus|Publius Servilius Vatia]] in Cilicia before learning of Sulla's death in 78&nbsp;BC and returning home immediately.{{sfn|Badian|2009|p=17}} He was alleged to have wanted to join in on the consul [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (consul 78 BC)|Lepidus]]' revolt that year<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|p=18}}, citing {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=3}}.</ref> but this is likely literary embellishment of Caesar's desire for tyranny from a young age.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=35}}

Afterward, Caesar attacked some of the Sullan aristocracy in the courts but was unsuccessful in his attempted prosecution of [[Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella]] in 77&nbsp;BC, who had recently returned from a proconsulship in Macedonia. Going after a less well-connected senator, he was successful the next year in prosecuting [[Gaius Antonius Hybrida]] (later consul in 63&nbsp;BC) for profiteering from the proscriptions but was forestalled when a tribune interceded on Antonius' behalf.<ref>{{harvnb|Alexander|1990|p=71}} (Trial 140) noting also that Tac. ''Dial.'', 34.7 wrongly places the trial in 79&nbsp;BC; {{harvnb|Alexander|1990|pp=71–72}} (Trial 141).</ref> After these oratorical attempts, Caesar left Rome for Rhodes seeking the tutelage of the rhetorician [[Apollonius Molon]].{{sfn|Badian|2009|p=18}} While travelling, he was intercepted and ransomed by pirates in a story that was later much embellished. According to Plutarch and Suetonius, he was freed after paying a ransom of fifty [[Talent (measurement)|talent]]s and responded by returning with a fleet to capture and execute the pirates. The recorded sum for the ransom is literary embellishment and it is more likely that the pirates were sold into slavery per [[Velleius Paterculus]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pelling |first=C B R |title=Plutarch: Caesar |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-814904-0 |location=Oxford |oclc=772240772 |pages=139–41}} {{harvnb|Vell. Pat.|loc=2.42.3}} reports that the governor wanted to enslave and sell the pirates but that Caesar returned quickly and had them executed. Pelling believes the second part of Vell. Pat.'s narrative – along with other sources ({{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=1.8–2.7}}; {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=4}}) – are literary embellishment and that the pirates were enslaved and sold.</ref> His studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the [[Third Mithridatic War]] over the winter of 75 and 74&nbsp;BC; Caesar is alleged to have gone around collecting troops in the province at the locals' expense and leading them successfully against Mithridates' forces.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|p=19|ps=, calling the story in {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=4.2}} that Caesar called up auxiliaries and with them drove Mithridates' prefect from the province of Asia, "a striking example of the Caesar myth... [that is] difficult to believe".}}</ref>

=== Entrance to politics ===
While absent from Rome, in 73&nbsp;BC, Caesar was co-opted into the [[pontifices]] in place of his deceased relative [[Gaius Aurelius Cotta]]. The promotion marked him as a well-accepted member of the aristocracy with great future prospects in his political career.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=78}} Caesar decided to return shortly thereafter and on his return was elected one of the [[military tribunes]] for 71&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|p=19}}; {{harvnb|Broughton|1952|pp=114, 125}}; {{harvnb|Vell. Pat.|loc=2.43.1}} (pontificate); {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=5.1}} and {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=5}} (military tribunate).</ref> There is no evidence that Caesar served in war – even though [[Third Servile War|the war]] on [[Spartacus]] was on-going – during his term; he did, however, agitate for the removal of Sulla's disabilities on the plebeian tribunate and for those who supported Lepidus' revolt to be pardoned.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|p=19}}, citing {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=5}}.</ref> These advocacies were common and uncontroversial.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=63}} The next year, 70&nbsp;BC, [[Pompey]] and [[Marcus Licinius Crassus|Crassus]] were consuls and brought legislation restoring the plebeian tribunate's rights; one of the tribunes, with Caesar supporting, then brought legislation pardoning the Lepidan exiles.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|pp=19–20|ps=, also noting senatorial support for the pardons}}; {{harvnb|Broughton|1952|pp=126, 128, 130 n. 4|ps=, argues the tribunician law recalling the Lepidan exiles must postdate the consular law in 70 which removed Sulla's suppression of tribunician legislative initiative.}}</ref>

For his quaestorship in 69&nbsp;BC, Caesar was allotted to serve under [[Gaius Antistius Vetus (praetor 70 BC)|Gaius Antistius Vetus]] in [[Hispania Ulterior]]. His election also gave him a lifetime seat in the Senate. However, before he left, his aunt Julia, the widow of Marius died and, soon afterwards, his wife Cornelia died shortly after bearing his only legitimate child, [[Julia (daughter of Caesar)|Julia]]. He gave eulogies for both at public funerals.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2009|p=20}}; {{harvnb|Broughton|1952|p=132}}. {{harvnb|Badian|2009|p=21}} cites {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=6.1}} for the incipit of Caesar's eulogy.</ref> During Julia's funeral, Caesar displayed the images of his aunt's husband Marius, whose memory had been suppressed after Sulla's victory in the civil war. Some of the Sullan nobles – including [[Quintus Lutatius Catulus Capitolinus|Quintus Lutatius Catulus]] – who had suffered under the Marian regime objected, but by this point depictions of husbands in aristocratic women's funerary processions was common.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=43}} Contra Plutarch,{{sfn|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=5.2–3}} Caesar's action here was likely in keeping with a political trend for reconciliation and normalisation rather than a display of renewed factionalism.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=43–46}} Caesar quickly remarried, taking the hand of Sulla's granddaughter [[Pompeia (wife of Caesar)|Pompeia]].<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=46|ps=, noting also that Plutarch omits this detail likely because it "would indeed have been embarrassing for his Marian representation of Caesar" (internal citations and quotation marks omitted).}}</ref>

=== Aedileship and election as ''pontifex maximus'' ===
For much of this period, Caesar was one of [[Pompey]]'s supporters. Caesar joined with Pompey in the late 70s to support restoration of tribunician rights; his support for the law recalling the Lepidan exiles may have been related to the same tribune's bill to grant lands to Pompey's veterans. Caesar also supported the ''[[lex Gabinia]]'' in 67&nbsp;BC granting Pompey an extraordinary command against piracy in the Mediterranean and also supported the ''[[lex Manilia]]'' in 66&nbsp;BC to reassign the Third Mithridatic War from its then-commander [[Lucullus]] to Pompey.{{sfn|Gruen|1995|p=79–80}}
[[File:Julius Caesar & C. Cossutius Maridianus, denarius, 44 BC, RRC 480-19.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Denarius of C. Cossutius Maridianus, 44 BC, with the head of Julius Caesar as pontifex maximus on the obverse. The legend on the reverse mentions A. A. A. F. F.]]

Four years after his aunt Julia's funeral, in 65&nbsp;BC, Caesar served as [[curule aedile]] and staged lavish [[Ludi|games]] that won him further attention and popular support.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mouritsen |first=Henrik |title=Plebs and politics in the late Roman Republic |date=2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-511-04114-4 |oclc=56761502 |page=97}} See also {{harvnb|Broughton|1952|p=158}} and {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=6.1–4}}.</ref> He also restored the trophies won by Marius, and taken down by Sulla, over [[Jugurthine War|Jugurtha]] and the [[Cimbrian War|Cimbri]].{{sfn|Broughton|1952|p=158}} According to Plutarch's narrative, the trophies were restored overnight to the applause and tears of joy of the onlookers; however, any sudden and secret restoration of this sort would not have been possible – architects, restorers, and other workmen would have to have been hired and paid for – nor would it have been likely that the work could have been done in a single night.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=46–47}} It is more likely that Caesar was merely restoring his family's public monuments – consistent with standard aristocratic practice and the virtue of {{lang|la|[[pietas]]}} – and, over objections from Catulus, these actions were broadly supported by the Senate.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=48–49}}

In 63&nbsp;BC, Caesar stood for the praetorship and also for the post of {{lang|la|[[pontifex maximus]]}},<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=64, 64 n. 129|ps=, noting that it is not clear which election was first; it is more likely, however, that elections were late and therefore that the pontifical election occurred first. Dio's claim of elections in December is clearly erroneous. {{harvnb|Broughton|1952|p=172 n. 3}}.}}</ref> who was the head of the [[College of Pontiffs]] and the highest ranking state religious official. In the pontifical election before the [[Roman tribe|tribes]], Caesar faced two influential senators: [[Quintus Lutatius Catulus Capitolinus|Quintus Lutatius Catulus]] and [[Publius Servilius Isauricus]]. Caesar came out victorious. Many scholars have expressed astonishment that Caesar's candidacy was taken seriously, but this was not without historical precedent.<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=64–65|ps=, noting the victory of curule aedile [[Publius Licinius Crassus Dives (consul 205 BC)|Publius Licinius Crassus]] in 212 over senior consulars and plebeian tribune [[Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (consul 96 BC)|Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus]] over consulars.}}</ref> Ancient sources allege that Caesar paid huge bribes or was shamelessly ingratiating;<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=66}}, citing {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=13}}; {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=7.1–4}}; {{harvnb|Dio|loc=37.37.1–3}}.</ref> that no charge was ever laid alleging this implies that bribery alone is insufficient to explain his victory.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=67–68}} If bribes or other monies were needed, they may have been underwritten by Pompey, whom Caesar at this time supported and who opposed Catulus' candidacy.{{sfn|Gruen|1995|pp=80–81}}

Many sources also assert that Caesar supported the land reform proposals brought that year by plebeian tribune [[Publius Servilius Rullus]], however, there are no ancient sources so attesting.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=69 n. 148}} Caesar also engaged in a collateral manner in the trial of [[Gaius Rabirius (senator)|Gaius Rabirius]] by one of the plebeian tribunes – [[Titus Labienus]] – for the murder of Saturninus in accordance with a [[senatus consultum ultimum]] some forty years earlier.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=71}}<ref>{{Harvnb|Alexander|1990|p=110|ps=&nbsp;(Trials 220–21).}}</ref> The most famous event of the year was the [[Catilinarian conspiracy]]. While some of Caesar's enemies, including Catulus, alleged that he participated in the conspiracy,<ref>{{harvnb|Gruen|1995|p=80|ps=, citing Sall. ''Cat.'', 49.1–2.}} See also {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=17}}.</ref> the chance that he was a participant is extremely small.<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=72–77|ps=, placing it around 2.5 per cent.}} {{harvnb|Gruen|1995|p=429 n. 107}} calls the view that Caesar was one of the masterminds of the conspiracy "long... discredited and requires no further refutation".</ref>

=== Praetorship ===
Caesar won his election to the praetorship in 63&nbsp;BC easily and, as one of the praetor-elects, spoke out that December in the Senate against executing certain citizens who had been arrested in the city conspiring with Gauls in furtherance of the conspiracy.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=85–86, 90}} Caesar's proposal at the time is not entirely clear. The earlier sources assert that he advocated life imprisonment without trial; the later sources assert he instead wanted the conspirators imprisoned pending trial. Most accounts agree that Caesar supported confiscation of the conspirators' property.<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=92}}. Earlier sources being Cic. ''Cat.'', 4.8–10 and Sall. ''Cat.'', 51.42. Later sources include {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=7.9}} and {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.6}}.</ref> Caesar likely advocated the former, which was a compromise position that would place the Senate within the bounds of the {{lang|la|lex Sempronia de capite civis}}, and was initially successful in swaying the body; a later intervention by [[Cato the Younger|Cato]], however, swayed the Senate at the end for execution.{{sfn|Gruen|1995|pp=281–82}}

[[File:Cicero Denounces Catiline in the Roman Senate by Cesare Maccari.png|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Cicero]], consul in 63&nbsp;BC, depicted in an 1889 [[fresco]] denouncing Catiline and exposing his conspiracy before the Senate. When conspirators within the city were later arrested, Cicero referred their fate to the Senate, triggering a debate in which Caesar as praetor-elect participated.]]

During his year as praetor, Caesar first attempted to deprive his enemy Catulus of the honour of completing the rebuilt [[Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus]], accusing him of embezzling funds, and threatening to bring legislation to reassign it to Pompey. This proposal was quickly dropped amid near-universal opposition.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=102}} He then supported the attempt by plebeian tribune [[Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos (consul 57 BC)|Metellus Nepos]] to transfer the command against Catiline from the consul of 63, Gaius Antonius Hybrida, to Pompey. After a violent meeting of the [[comitia tributa]] in the forum, where Metellus came into fisticuffs with his tribunician colleagues Cato and [[Quintus Minucius Thermus (governor of Asia)|Quintus Minucius Thermus]],{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=102–04}} the Senate passed a decree against Metellus – Suetonius claims that both Nepos and Caesar were deposed from their magistracies; this would have been a constitutional impossibility<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=107|ps=, citing {{harnvb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=16}}.}} Dio reports a [[senatus consultum ultimum]]. {{harvnb|Broughton|1952|p=173|ps=, citing {{harvnb|Dio|loc=37.41}}.}}</ref> – which led Caesar to distance himself from the proposals: hopes for a provincial command and need to repair relations with the aristocracy took priority.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=109}} He also was engaged in the [[Bona Dea]] affair, where [[Publius Clodius Pulcher]] sneaked into Caesar's house sacrilegiously during a female religious observance; Caesar avoided any part of the affair by divorcing his wife immediately – claiming that his wife needed to be "above suspicion"{{sfn|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=10.9}} – but there is no indication that Caesar supported Clodius in any way.<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=110|ps=, adding in notes that the affair is usually interpreted as an attempt to destroy Clodius' career and that Caesar may have been a secondary target due to expectations that he would reject political pressure for a divorce.}}</ref>

[[File:Cato Volubilis bronze bust.jpg|thumb|Bronze bust of Cato, Caesar's principal opponent in the Catilinarian debate and also a personal enemy. Cato may have been responsible for the law requiring declarations of candidacy in person within the {{lang|la|[[pomerium]]}}.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|pp=97–98}}]]

After his praetorship, Caesar was appointed to govern [[Hispania Ulterior]] ''pro consule''.<ref>{{harvnb|Broughton|1952|pp=173, 180}}. Most sources give a proconsular dignity. After the Sullan era, all magistrates were prorogued ''pro consule''. {{cite web |last1=Badian |first1=Ernst |last2=Lintott |first2=Andrew |title=pro consule, pro praetore |website=Oxford Classical Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.5337 |year=2016|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.5337 |isbn=978-0-19-938113-5 }}</ref> Deeply indebted from his campaigns for the praetorship and for the pontificate, Caesar required military victory beyond the normal provincial extortion to pay them off.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=109–10}} He campaigned against the [[Callaeci]] and [[Lusitanians|Lusitani]] and seized the Callaeci capital in northwestern Spain, bringing Roman troops to the Atlantic and seizing enough plunder to pay his debts.{{sfn|Broughton|1952|p=180}} Claiming to have completed the peninsula's conquest, he made for home after having been hailed {{lang|la|[[imperator]]}}.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=110–11}} When he arrived home in the summer of 60&nbsp;BC, he was then forced to choose between a triumph and election to the consulship: either he could remain outside the {{lang|la|[[pomerium]]}} (Rome's sacred boundary) awaiting a triumph or cross the boundary, giving up his command and triumph, to make a declaration of consular candidacy.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=111}} Attempts to waive the requirement for the declaration to be made in person were filibustered in the Senate by Caesar's enemy Cato, even though the Senate seemed to support the exception.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=112–13}} Faced with the choice between a triumph and the consulship, Caesar chose the consulship.<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=114}}; {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=13}}; {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=18.2}}.</ref>

== First consulship and the Gallic Wars ==
{{main|Military campaigns of Julius Caesar|First Triumvirate}}
[[File:RSC 0022 - transparent background.png|thumb|upright=1.15|A [[denarius]] depicting Julius Caesar, dated to February–March 44 BC{{snd}}the goddess [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] is shown on the reverse, holding [[Victoria (mythology)|Victoria]] and a scepter. Caption: CAESAR IMP. M. / L. AEMILIVS BVCA.]]
Caesar stood for the consulship of 59&nbsp;BC along with two other candidates. His political position at the time was strong: he had supporters among the families which had supported Marius or Cinna; his connection with the Sullan aristocracy was good; his support of Pompey had won him support in turn. His support for reconciliation in continuing aftershocks of the civil war was popular in all parts of society.{{sfn|Gruen|2009|p=28}} With the support of Crassus, who supported Caesar's joint ticket with one [[Lucius Lucceius]], Caesar won. Lucceius, however, did not and the voters returned [[Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus]] instead, one of Caesar's long-standing personal and political enemies.{{sfn|Gruen|2009|pp=30–31}}<ref>{{harvnb|Gruen|2009|p=28}}; {{harvnb|Broughton|1952|pp=158, 173|ps=. Bibulus was Caesar's colleague both in the curule aedileship and the praetorship. They clashed politically in both magistracies.}} On credit for the aedilican games, see {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=10}}, {{harvnb|Dio|loc=37.8.2}}, and {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=5.5}}.</ref>

=== First consulship ===
{{further|First Triumvirate}}

After the elections, Caesar reconciled Pompey and Crassus, two political foes, in a three-way alliance misleadingly<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=119|ps=. "[A]n alliance which in modern times has come, quite misleadingly, to be called the 'First Triumvirate'... the very phrase... invokes a misleading teleology. Furthermore, it is almost impossible to use [it] without adopting some version of the view that it was a kind of conspiracy against the republic".}}</ref> termed the "First Triumvirate" in modern times.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ridley |first=R |year=1999 |title=What's in the Name: the so-called First Triumvirate |journal=Arctos: Acta Philological Fennica |volume=33 |pages=133–44 |url=https://journal.fi/arctos/article/download/85987/44908 }} The first usage of the term was in 1681.</ref> Caesar was still at work in December of 60&nbsp;BC attempting to find allies for his consulship and the alliance was finalised only some time around its start.{{sfn|Gruen|2009|p=31}} Pompey and Crassus joined in pursuit of two respective goals: the ratification of [[Pompey's eastern settlement]] and the bailing out of tax farmers in Asia, many of whom were Crassus' clients. All three sought the extended patronage of land grants, with Pompey especially seeking the promised land grants for his veterans.<ref>{{harvnb|Gruen|2009|p=31}}; {{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=121–22|ps=, noting that the Senate had approved distribution of lands to Pompey's veterans from the [[Sertorian War]] all the way back in 70&nbsp;BC.}}</ref>

Caesar's first act was to [[Acta Diurna|publish]] the minutes of the Senate and the assemblies, signalling the Senate's accountability to the public. He then brought in the Senate a bill – crafted to avoid objections to previous land reform proposals and any indications of radicalism – to purchase property from willing sellers to distribute to Pompey's veterans and the urban poor. It would be administered by a board of twenty (with Caesar excluded), and financed by Pompey's plunder and territorial gains.{{sfn|Gruen|2009|p=32}} Referring it to the Senate in hope that it would take up the matter to show its beneficence for the people,{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=125–29}} there was little opposition and the obstructionism that occurred was largely unprincipled, firmly opposing it not on grounds of public interest but rather opposition to Caesar's political advancement.{{sfn|Gruen|2009|p=32}} Unable to overcome Cato's filibustering, he moved the bill before the people and, at a public meeting, Caesar's co-consul Bibulus threatened a permanent veto for the entire year. This clearly violated the people's well-established legislative sovereignty{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=130, 132}} and triggered a riot in which Bibulus' fasces were broken, symbolising popular rejection of his magistracy.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=138}} The bill was then voted through. Bibulus attempted to induce the Senate to nullify it on grounds it was passed by violence and contrary to the auspices but the Senate refused.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=139–40}}

Caesar also brought and passed a one-third write-down of tax farmers' arrears for Crassus and ratification of Pompey's eastern settlements. Both bills were passed with little or no debate in the Senate.{{sfn|Wiseman|1994|p=372}} Caesar then moved to extend his agrarian bill to Campania some time in May; this may be when Bibulus withdrew to his house.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=143 (Bibulus), 147 (dating to May)}} Pompey, shortly thereafter, also wed Caesar's daughter Julia to seal their alliance.{{sfn|Wiseman|1994|p=374}} An ally of Caesar's, plebeian tribune [[Publius Vatinius]] moved the ''[[lex Vatinia]]'' assigning the provinces of [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]] and [[Cisalpine Gaul]] to Caesar for five years.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|p=137}}<ref>{{harvnb|Gruen|2009|p=33}}, noting that the {{lang|la|lex Vatinia}} was "no means unprecedented... or even controversial".</ref> Suetonius' claim that the Senate had assigned to Caesar the {{lang|la|silvae callesque}} ("woods and tracks") is likely an exaggeration: fear of Gallic invasion had grown in 60&nbsp;BC and it is more likely that the consuls had been assigned to Italy, a defensive posture that Caesarian partisans dismissed as "mere 'forest tracks'".<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=175}}, citing {{Cite journal |last=Balsdon |first=J P V D |date=1939 |title=Consular provinces under the late Republic – II. Caesar's Gallic command |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/297143 |journal=Journal of Roman Studies |volume=29 |pages=167–83 |doi=10.2307/297143 |jstor=297143 |s2cid=163892529 |issn=0075-4358}} Moreover, Caesar's eventual provinces of Trans- and Cisalpine Gaul had been assigned to the consuls of 60 and therefore would have been unavailable. {{Cite journal |last=Rafferty |first=David |date=2017 |title=Cisalpine Gaul as a consular province in the late Republic |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45019257 |journal=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=147–172 |doi=10.25162/historia-2017-0008 |jstor=45019257 |s2cid=231088284 |issn=0018-2311}}</ref> The Senate was also persuaded to assign to Caesar [[Transalpine Gaul]] as well, subject to annual renewal, most likely to control his ability to make war on the far side of the Alps.{{sfnm|Morstein-Marx|2021|1pp=176–77|Gruen|2009|2p=34}}

Some time in the year, perhaps after the passing of the bill distributing the Campanian land<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=143}}: {{harvnb|Dio|loc=38.6.5}} and {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=20.1}} say around late January; {{harvnb|Plut. ''Pomp.''|loc=48.5}} says in early May; {{harvnb|Vell. Pat.|loc=2.44.5}} says May.</ref> and after these political defeats, Bibulus withdrew to his house. There, he issued edicts in absentia, purporting unprecedentedly to cancel all days on which Caesar or his allies could hold votes for religious reasons.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=142–44}} Cato too attempted symbolic gestures against Caesar, which allowed him and his allies to "feign victimisation"; these tactics were successful in building revulsion to Caesar and his allies through the year.<ref>{{harvnb|Gruen|2009|p=34|ps=, also citing {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=20.2}} – the "consulship of Julius and Caesar" – as part of Catonian propaganda.}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=150–51|ps=, noting that Bibulus' voluntary seclusion "presented the image of the city dominated by one man [Caesar]... unchecked by a colleague".}}</ref> This opposition caused serious political difficulties to Caesar and his allies, belying the common depiction of triumviral political supremacy.{{sfn|Gruen|2009|p=34}} Later in the year, however, Caesar – with the support of his opponents – brought and passed the {{lang|la|[[lex Julia de repetundis]]}} to crack down on provincial corruption.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|pp=138–39, noting Cato's support of Caesar's anti-corruption bill and the possibility that Cato gave input for some of its provisions}} When his consulship ended, Caesar's legislation was challenged by two of the new praetors but discussion in the Senate stalled and was regardless dropped. He stayed near the city until some time around mid-March.<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=182–83, 182 n. 260}}, citing {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=23.1}}; pace {{harvnb|Ramsey|2009|p=38}}.</ref>

=== Campaigns in Gaul ===
{{main|Gallic Wars}}
[[File:RomanRepublic40BC.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|The extent of the Roman Republic in 40 BC after Caesar's conquests]]
During the Gallic Wars, Caesar wrote his ''Commentaries'' thereon, which were acknowledged even in his time as a Latin literary masterwork. Meant to document Caesar's campaigns in his own words and maintain support in Rome for his military operations and career, he produced some ten volumes covering operations in Gaul from 58 to 52&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=186–87}} Each was likely produced in the year following the events described and was likely aimed at the general, or at least literate, population in Rome;{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=188–89}} the account is naturally partial to Caesar – his defeats are excused and victories highlighted – but it is almost the sole source for events in Gaul in this period.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=189–90}}

Gaul in 58&nbsp;BC was in the midst of some instability. Tribes had raided into Transalpine Gaul and there was an on-going struggle between two tribes in central Gaul which collaterally involved Roman alliances and politics. The divisions within the Gauls – they were no unified bloc – would be exploited in the coming years.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|p=204}} The first engagement was in April 58&nbsp;BC when Caesar prevented the migrating [[Helvetii]] from moving through Roman territory, allegedly because he feared they would unseat a Roman ally.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2006|pp=205, 208–10}} Building a wall, he stopped their movement near Geneva and – after raising two legions – defeated them at the [[Battle of Bibracte]] before forcing them to return to their original homes.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2016|pp=212–15}} He was drawn further north responding to requests from Gallic tribes, including the [[Aedui]], for aid against [[Ariovistus]] – king of the [[Suebi]] and a declared friend of Rome by the Senate during Caesar's own consulship – and he defeated them at the [[Battle of Vosges (58 BC)|Battle of Vosges]].{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2016|p=217}} Wintering in northeastern Gaul near the [[Belgae]] in the winter of 58–57, Caesar's forward military position triggered an uprising to remove his troops; able to eke out a victory at the [[Battle of the Sabis]], Caesar spent much of 56&nbsp;BC suppressing the Belgae and dispersing his troops to campaign across much of Gaul, including against the [[Veneti (Gaul)|Veneti]] in what is now [[Brittany]].{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2016|p=220}} At this point, almost all of Gaul – except its central regions – fell under Roman subjugation.{{sfn|Boatwright|2004|p=242}}

[[File:Siege-alesia-vercingetorix-jules-cesar.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Vercingetorix]] throws down his arms at the feet of Julius Caesar, painting by [[Lionel Royer]] in 1899. [[Musée Crozatier]], [[Le Puy-en-Velay]], France.]]

Seeking to buttress his military reputation, he engaged Germans attempting to cross the Rhine, which marked it as a Roman frontier;{{sfn|Boatwright|2004|p=242}} he here built a [[Caesar's Rhine bridges|bridge across the Rhine]] in a feat of engineering meant to show Rome's ability to project power.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2016|p=203}} Ostensibly seeking to interdict British aid to his Gallic enemies, he led expeditions into southern Britain in 55 and 54&nbsp;BC, perhaps seeking further conquests or otherwise wanting to impress readers in Rome; Britain at the time was to the Romans an "island of mystery" and "a land of wonder".{{sfnm|Goldsworthy|2016|1pp=221–22|Boatwright|2004|2p=242}} He, however, withdrew from the island in the face of winter uprisings in Gaul led by the [[Eburones]] and [[Belgae]] starting in late 54&nbsp;BC which ambushed and virtually annihilated a legion and five cohorts.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2016|p=222}} Caesar was, however, able to lure the rebels into unfavourable terrain and routed them in battle.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2016|p=223}} The next year, a greater challenge emerged with the uprising of most of central Gaul, led by [[Vercingetorix]] of the [[Averni]]. Caesar was initially defeated at [[Battle of Gergovia|Gergovia]] before [[Battle of Alesia|besieging Vercingetorix at Alesia]]. After becoming himself besieged, Caesar won a major victory which forced Vercingetorix's surrender; Caesar then spent much of his time into 51&nbsp;BC suppressing any remaining resistance.{{sfnm|Goldsworthy|2016|1pp=229–32, 233–38|Boatwright|2004|2p=242}}

=== Politics, Gaul, and Rome ===
In the initial years from the end of Caesar's consulship in 59&nbsp;BC, the three so-called triumvirs sought to maintain the goodwill of the extremely popular [[Publius Clodius Pulcher]],<ref>{{harvnb|Gruen|1995|p=98|ps=. "It should no longer be necessary to refute the older notion that Clodius acted as agent or tool of the triumvirate". Clodius was an independent agent not beholden to the triumvirs or any putative popular party. {{cite journal |last=Gruen |first=Erich S |title=P. Clodius: Instrument or Independent Agent? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1086053 |journal=Phoenix |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=120–30 |date=1966 |issn=0031-8299 |jstor=1086053 |doi=10.2307/1086053}}}}</ref> who was [[plebeian tribune]] in 58&nbsp;BC and in that year successfully sent Cicero into exile. When Clodius took an anti-Pompeian stance later that year, he unsettled Pompey's eastern arrangements, started attacking the validity of Caesar's consular legislation, and by August 58 forced Pompey into seclusion. Caesar and Pompey responded by successfully backing the election of magistrates to recall Cicero from exile on the condition that Cicero would refrain from criticism or obstruction of the allies.{{sfn|Ramsey|2009|pp=37–38}}<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=194|ps=, noting Caesar's opposition – in early 58&nbsp;BC – to Cicero's banishment. Caesar offered Cicero a position on his staff which would have conferred immunity from prosecution but Cicero refused. {{harvnb|Ramsey|2009|p=37}}.}}</ref>{{sfn|Ramsey|2009|p=39}}

Politics in Rome fell into violent street clashes between Clodius and two tribunes who were friends of Cicero. With Cicero now supporting Caesar and Pompey, Caesar sent news of Gaul to Rome and claimed total victory and pacification. The Senate at Cicero's motion voted him an unprecedented fifteen days of thanksgiving.<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=220|ps=, citing Gelzer, "this extraordinary honour... cut the ground from under the feet of those who maintained that since 58 Caesar had held his position illegally"; Morstein-Marx also rejects the claim of senatorial duress at {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=21.7–9}}.}}</ref> Such reports were necessary for Caesar, especially in light of senatorial opponents, to prevent the Senate from reassigning his command in Transalpine Gaul, even if his position in Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum was guaranteed by the ''lex Vatinia'' until 54&nbsp;BC.{{sfnm|Morstein-Marx|2021|1pp=196, 220|Ramsey|2009|2pp=39–40}} His success was evidently recognised when the Senate voted state funds for some of Caesar's legions, which until this time Caesar had paid for personally.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=220–21}}

The three allies' relations broke down in 57&nbsp;BC: one of Pompey's allies challenged Caesar's land reform bill and the allies had a poor showing in the elections that year.{{sfn|Ramsey|2009|pp=39–40}} With a real threat to Caesar's command and {{lang|la|acta}} brewing in 56&nbsp;BC under the aegis of the unfriendly consuls, Caesar needed his allies' political support.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=229}} Pompey and Crassus too wanted military commands. Their combined interests led to a renewal of the alliance; drawing in the support of [[Appius Claudius Pulcher (consul 54 BC)|Appius Claudius Pulcher]] and his younger brother Clodius for the consulship of 54&nbsp;BC, they planned second consulships with following governorships in 55&nbsp;BC for both Pompey and Crassus. Caesar, for his part, would receive a five-year extension of command.{{sfnm|Ramsey|2009|1pp=41–42|Morstein-Marx|2021|2p=232}}

Cicero was induced to oppose reassignment of Caesar's provinces and to defend a number of the allies' clients; his gloomy predictions of a triumviral set of consuls-designate for years on end proved an exaggeration when, only by desperate tactics, bribery, intimidation and violence were Pompey and Crassus elected consuls for 55&nbsp;BC.{{sfnm|Ramsey|2009|1p=43|Morstein-Marx|2021|2pp=232–33}} During their consulship, Pompey and Crassus passed – with some tribunician support – the {{lang|la|lex Pompeia Licinia}} extending Caesar's command and the [[Lex Trebonia (55 BC)|''lex Trebonia'']] giving them respective commands in Spain and Syria,{{sfnm|Ramsey|2009|1p=44|Morstein-Marx|2021|2pp=232–33}} though Pompey never left for the province and remained politically active at Rome.{{sfn|Gruen|1995|p=451}} The opposition again unified against their heavy-handed political tactics – though not against Caesar's activities in Gaul<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=238}}, citing Cic. ''Sest.'', 51, "hardly anyone has lost popularity among the citizens for winning wars".</ref> – and defeated the allies in the elections of that year.{{sfn|Ramsey|2009|p=44}}

The ambush and destruction in Gaul of a legion and five cohorts in the winter of 55–54&nbsp;BC produced substantial concern in Rome about Caesar's command and competence, evidenced by the highly defensive narrative in Caesar's ''Commentaries''.<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=241ff|ps=, citing {{harvnb|Caes. ''BGall.''|loc=5.26–52}}.}}</ref> The death of Caesar's daughter and Pompey's wife Julia in childbirth {{circa|late August 54}} did not create a rift between Caesar and Pompey.<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=272 n. 42|ps=: "Gruen.. and Raaflaub... have effectively disposed of the old idea, too heavily influenced by [Plutarch]", citing {{harnvb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=28.1}} and {{harvnb|Plut. ''Pomp.''|loc=53.6–54.2}}, "that Pompey had now turned against Caesar... since Julia's death in 54".}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Ramsey|2009|p=46|ps=: "Despite the fact that Pompey declined Caesar's later offer to form another marriage connection, their political alliance showed no signs of strain for the next several years".}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Gruen|1995|pp=451–52, 453|ps=: "Julia's death came in the late summer of 54[;] if it opened a breach between Pompey and Caesar, there is no sign of it in subsequent months... The evidence indicates no change in the relationship during 53"; "Julia's death provoked no change in the contract[;] Caesar did not cut Pompey out of his will until the outbreak of civil war".}}</ref> At the start of 53&nbsp;BC, Caesar sought and received reinforcements by recruitment and a private deal with Pompey before two years of largely unsuccessful campaigning against Gallic insurgents.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=243–44}} In the same year, Crassus's campaign ended in disaster at the [[Battle of Carrhae]], culminating in his death at the hands of the [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]]. When in 52&nbsp;BC Pompey started the year with a sole consulship to restore order to the city,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ramsey |first=J T |date=2016 |title=How and why was Pompey made sole consul in 52 BC? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45019234 |journal=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=298–324 |doi=10.25162/historia-2016-0017 |jstor=45019234 |s2cid=252459421 |issn=0018-2311}}</ref> Caesar was in Gaul suppressing insurgencies; after news of his victory at Alesia, with the support of Pompey he received twenty days of thanksgiving and, pursuant to the "Law of the Ten Tribunes", the right to stand for the consulship in absentia.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=247–48, 260, 265–66}}{{sfn|Wiseman|1994|p=412}}

== Civil war ==
{{main|Caesar's civil war}}
{{further|Alexandrine war|Early life of Cleopatra VII|Reign of Cleopatra VII}}
[[File:(Venice) Pompey the Great, Museo Archeologico Nazionale.jpg|thumb|upright|A Roman bust of [[Pompey the Great]] made during the reign of [[Augustus]] (27 BC{{snd}}14 AD), a copy of an original bust from 70 to 60 BC, [[Venice National Archaeological Museum]], Italy]]
From the period 52 to 49&nbsp;BC, trust between Caesar and Pompey disintegrated.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=258|ps=. See also Appendix 4 in the same book, analysing the conflict between Caesar and Pompey in terms of a [[Prisoner's dilemma]].}} In 51&nbsp;BC, the consul [[Marcus Claudius Marcellus (consul 51 BC)|Marcellus]] proposed recalling Caesar, arguing that his ''provincia'' (here meaning "task") in Gaul – due to his victory against Vercingetorix in 52 – was complete; it evidently was incomplete as Caesar was that year fighting the [[Bellovaci]]<ref>{{harvnb|Wiseman|1994|p=414|ps=, citing {{harvnb|Caes. ''BGall.''|loc=8.2–16}}.}}</ref> and regardless the proposal was vetoed.{{sfnm|Morstein-Marx|2021|1p=270|Drogula|2019|2p=223}} That year, it seemed that the conservatives around Cato in the Senate would seek to enlist Pompey to force Caesar to return from Gaul without honours or a second consulship.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=273}} Cato, Bibulus, and their allies, however, were successful in winning Pompey over to take a hard line against Caesar's continued command.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=272, 276, 295 (identities of Cato's allies)}}

As 50&nbsp;BC progressed, fears of civil war grew; both Caesar and his opponents started building up troops in southern Gaul and [[northern Italy]], respectively.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=291}} In the autumn, Cicero and others sought disarmament by both Caesar and Pompey, and on 1 December 50&nbsp;BC this was formally proposed in the Senate.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=292–93}} It received overwhelming support – 370 to 22 – but was not passed when [[Gaius Claudius Marcellus (consul 50 BC)|one of the consuls]] dissolved the meeting.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=297}} That year, when a rumour came to Rome that Caesar was marching into Italy, both consuls instructed Pompey to defend Italy, a charge he accepted as a last resort.<ref>{{harvnb|Wiseman|1994|pp=412–22|ps=, citing {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.30–31}} and {{harvnb|Dio|loc=40.64.1–66.5}}.}}</ref> At the start of 49&nbsp;BC, Caesar's renewed offer that he and Pompey disarm was read to the Senate and was rejected by the hardliners.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=304}} A later compromise given privately to Pompey was also rejected at their insistence.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=306}} On 7 January, his supportive tribunes were driven from Rome; the Senate then declared Caesar an enemy and it issued its ''[[senatus consultum ultimum]]''.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=308}}

There is scholarly disagreement as to the specific reasons why Caesar marched on Rome. A very popular theory is that Caesar was forced to choose – when denied the immunity of his proconsular tenure – between prosecution, conviction, and exile or civil war in defence of his position.{{sfnm|Boatwright|2004|1p=247|Meier|1995|2pp=1, 4|Mackay|2009|3pp=279–81|Wiseman|1994|4p=419}}{{sfn|Ehrhardt|1995|p=30. "Everyone knows that Caesar crossed the Rubicon because [he would have been...] put on trial, found guilty and have his political career ended... Yet over thirty years ago, Shackleton Bailey, in less than two pages of his introduction to Cicero's ''Letters to Atticus'', destroyed the basis for this belief, and... no one has been able to rebuild it"}} Whether Caesar actually would have been prosecuted and convicted is debated. Some scholars believe the possibility of successful prosecution was extremely unlikely.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Morstein-Marx |first=Robert |date=2007 |title=Caesar's alleged fear of prosecution and his "ratio absentis" in the approach to the civil war |journal=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=159–78 |doi=10.25162/historia-2007-0013 |jstor=25598386|s2cid=159090397 |issn=0018-2311}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=262–63}}, explaining:
* Any prosecution was extremely unlikely to succeed.
* No ''contemporary'' source expresses dissatisfaction with an inability to prosecute.
* No timely charges could have been brought. The possibility of conviction for irregularities during his consulship in 59 was a fantasy when none of Caesar's actions in 59 were overturned. {{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=624}}.
* Caesar proposed giving up his command – opening himself up to prosecution – in January 49&nbsp;BC as part of peace negotiations, something he would not have proposed if he were worried about a sure-fire conviction.

See also {{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|loc=Appendix 2}}, and, contra Morstein-Marx, {{cite book |last=Girardet |first=Klaus Martin |title=Januar 49 v. Chr.: Vorgeschichte, Rechtslage, politische Aspekte |url=https://publikationen.sulb.uni-saarland.de/handle/20.500.11880/28669 |location=Bonn |year=2020 |isbn=978-3-7749-4068-0 |language=de |doi=10.22028/d291-30177 |publisher=Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH}}</ref> Caesar's main objectives were to secure a second consulship – first mooted in 52 as colleague to Pompey's sole consulship<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=247 n. 234}}, citing {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=26.1}}; {{harvnb|Plut. ''Pomp.''|loc=56.1–3}}.</ref> – and a triumph. He feared that his opponents – then holding both consulships for 50&nbsp;BC – would reject his candidacy or refuse to ratify an election he won.<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=288|ps=. "Caesar feared that the only guarantee of his rights... to stand for election in absentia under the protection of the Law of the Ten Tribunes and to receive a triumph... was his army".}}</ref> This also was the core of his war justification: that Pompey and his allies were planning, by force if necessary (indicated in the expulsion of the tribunes{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=309}}), to suppress the liberty of the Roman people to elect Caesar and honour his accomplishments.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=320}}

=== Italy, Spain, and Greece ===
Around 10 or 11 January 49 BC,<ref>{{cite book |last=Beard |first=Mary |title=SPQR: a history of ancient Rome |date=2016 |publisher=W W Norton |isbn=978-1-84668-381-7 |page=286 |quote=The exact date is unknown.}}</ref>{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=322}} in response to the Senate's "final decree",{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=331}} Caesar [[Crossing the Rubicon|crossed the Rubicon]] – the river defining the northern boundary of Italy – with a single legion, the [[Legio XIII Gemina]], and ignited [[Caesar's Civil War|civil war]]. Upon crossing the Rubicon, Caesar, according to Plutarch and Suetonius, is supposed to have quoted the Athenian playwright [[Menander]], in Greek, "[[alea iacta est|let the die be cast]]".<ref name=Plu65>{{harvnb|Boatwright|2004|p=246}}, citing {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=32.8}}. {{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=424|ps=&nbsp;gives the same translation.}}</ref> Pompey and many senators fled south, believing that Caesar was marching quickly for Rome.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=336}} Caesar, after capturing communication routes to Rome, paused and opened negotiations, but they fell apart amid mutual distrust.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=340 (Caesar's pause), 342 (Caesar's offer), 343 (Pompey's counter-offer), 345 (negotiations collapse)}} Caesar responded by advancing south, seeking to capture Pompey to force a conference.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=347}}

Pompey withdrew to [[Brundisium]] and was able to escape to Greece, abandoning Italy in face of Caesar's superior forces and evading Caesar's pursuit.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|pp=424–25, 427|ps=. "[Abandoning Italy] was probably justified from a military point of view ... but Cicero was doubtless right in seeing it as politically and psychologically very damaging to abandon the capital and indeed all Italy, intending to starve and then invade it".}}</ref> Caesar stayed near Rome for about two weeks – during his stay his forceful seizure of the treasury over tribunician veto put the lie to his pro-tribunician war justifications<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=430|ps=, citing: Cic. ''Att.'', 10.4.8; {{harvnb|Dio|loc=41.15–16}}; {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.41}}.}}</ref>{{sfn|Ehrhardt|1995|p=36. Caesar's "concern for the 'rights of tribunes' was too obvious a sham... what [he] actually thought about the inviolability of tribunes and their right of veto was unmistakably displayed [in the episode with Metellus]"}} – and left Lepidus in charge of Italy while he attacked Pompey's Spanish provinces.{{sfn|Boatwright|2004|p=252}} He defeated two of Pompey's legates at the [[Battle of Ilerda]] before forcing surrender of [[Marcus Terentius Varro|the third]]; his legates moved into Sicily and into [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa]], though the African expedition failed.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=431|ps=, citing {{harvnb|Caes. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.17–20}}.}}</ref> Returning to Rome in the autumn, Caesar had Lepidus, as praetor, bring a law appointing Caesar [[Roman dictator|dictator]] to conduct the elections; he, along with [[Publius Servilius Isauricus]], won the following elections and would serve as consuls for 48&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=431|ps=. He also passed laws removing civil disabilities from the descendants of those [[Sulla's proscriptions|proscribed by Sulla]] and recalling all exiles on specious claims of unfair trials.}}</ref> Resigning the dictatorship after eleven days,<ref>{{harvnb|Wilson|2021|p=309|ps=, citing, among others, {{harvnb|Caes. ''BCiv.''|loc=3.1.1}}; {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=37.1–2}}; {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.48}}; {{harvnb|Dio|loc=41.36.1–4}}. He had no {{lang|la|[[magister equitum]]}}.}}</ref> Caesar then left Italy for Greece to stop Pompey's preparations, arriving in force in early 48&nbsp;BC.{{sfnm|Rawson|1994a|1p=432|Boatwright|2004|2p=252}}

Caesar [[Battle of Dyrrhachium (48 BC)|besieged Pompey at Dyrrhachium]], but Pompey was able to break out and force Caesar's forces to flee. Following Pompey southeast into Greece and to save one of his legates, he engaged and decisively defeated Pompey [[Battle of Pharsalus|at Pharsalus]] on 9 August 48&nbsp;BC. Pompey then fled for Egypt; Cato fled for Africa; others, like Cicero and [[Marcus Junius Brutus]], begged for Caesar's pardon.{{sfnm |Rawson|1994a|1p=433 |Boatwright|2004|2pp=252–53 |Plut. ''Caes.''|3loc=42–45}}

=== Alexandrine war and Asia Minor ===
{{see also|Alexandrine war}}
[[File:Cleopatra and Caesar by Jean-Leon-Gerome.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Cleopatra and Caesar (painting)|Cleopatra and Caesar]]'', 1866 painting by [[Jean-Léon Gérôme]]]]
[[File:Venus and Cupid from the House of Marcus Fabius Rufus at Pompeii, most likely a depiction of Cleopatra VII.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|This mid-1st-century-BC [[Pompeian Styles|Roman wall painting]] in [[Pompeii]] is probably a depiction of [[Cleopatra VII]] as [[Venus Genetrix (sculpture)|Venus Genetrix]], with her son [[Caesarion]] as [[Cupid]]. Its owner Marcus Fabius Rufus most likely ordered its concealment behind a wall in reaction to the execution of Caesarion on orders of [[Octavian]] in 30&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite book |last=Roller |first=Duane W |title=Cleopatra: a biography |url=https://archive.org/details/cleopatrabiograp00roll_0 |date=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-536553-5 |location=Oxford |oclc=405105996 |page=175}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Walker |first=Susan |date=2008 |title=Cleopatra in Pompeii? |journal=Papers of the British School at Rome |volume=76 |pages=35–46 |doi=10.1017/S0068246200000404 |s2cid=62829223 |issn=2045-239X|doi-access=free }}</ref>]]

Pompey was killed when he arrived in [[Alexandria]], the capital of [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Egypt]]. Caesar arrived three days later on 2 October 48&nbsp;BC. Prevented from leaving the city by [[Etesian winds]], Caesar decided to arbitrate an Egyptian civil war between the child pharaoh [[Ptolemy XIII|Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator]] and [[Cleopatra]], his sister, wife, and co-regent queen.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|pp=433–34|ps=, noting that both children were left under Roman protection under their father's will.}} {{harvnb|Boatwright|2004|2p=253}}.</ref> In late October 48&nbsp;BC, Caesar was appointed<!-- this is not his first dictatorship; the first one was in 49 to hold elections --> in absentia to a year-long dictatorship,<ref>{{Harvnb|Wilson|2021|p=309}}, citing {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=51.1}} and {{harvnb|Dio|loc=42.17.1–22.2}}.</ref> after news of his victory at Pharsalus arrived to Rome.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=435|ps=, citing {{harvnb|Dio|loc=42.18}}.}}</ref> While in Alexandria, he started an [[Marriage in ancient Rome|affair]] with Cleopatra and withstood a [[Siege of Alexandria (47 BC)|siege by Ptolemy]] and his other sister [[Arsinoe IV|Arsinoe]] until March 47&nbsp;BC. Reinforced by eastern client allies under [[Mithridates II of the Bosporus|Mithridates of Pergamum]], he then defeated Ptolemy at the [[Battle of the Nile (47 BC)|Battle of the Nile]] and installed Cleopatra as ruler.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=434}}. At the battle, Ptolemy drowned. {{harvnb|Boatwright|2004|p=253}}.</ref> Caesar and Cleopatra celebrated the victory with a triumphal procession on the [[Nile]]. He stayed in Egypt with Cleopatra until June or July that year, though the relevant commentaries attributed to him give no such impression. Some time in late June, Cleopatra gave birth to a child by Caesar, called [[Caesarion]].{{sfnm|Rawson|1994a|1p=434|Boatwright|2004|2p=253}}

When Caesar landed at [[Antioch]], he learnt that during his time in Egypt, the king of what is now Crimea, [[Pharnaces II of Pontus|Pharnaces]], had attempted to seize what had been his father's kingdom, Pontus, across the [[Black Sea]] in northern Anatolia. His invasion had swept aside Caesar's legates and the local client kings, but Caesar engaged him at [[Battle of Zela (47 BC)|Zela]] and defeated him immediately, leading Caesar to write {{lang|la|[[veni, vidi, vici]]}} ("I came, I saw, I conquered"), downplaying Pompey's previous Pontic victories. He then left quickly for Italy.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=434}}, citing {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=50.2}} and {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=35.2, 37.2}}.</ref>

=== Italy, Africa, and Spain ===
Caesar's absence from Italy put Mark Antony, as {{lang|la|[[magister equitum]]}}, in charge. His rule was unpopular: [[Publius Cornelius Dolabella (consul 44 BC)|Publius Cornelius Dolabella]], serving as plebeian tribune in 47&nbsp;BC, agitated for debt relief and after that agitation got out of hand the Senate moved for Antony to restore order. Delayed by a mutiny in southern Italy, he returned and suppressed the riots by force, killing many and delivering a similar blow to his popularity. Cato had marched to Africa<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=435|ps=, noting "an epic march through the desert from Cyrenaica to the province of Africa", citing [[Lucan]] ''[[Pharsalia]]'', 9.}}</ref> and there [[Metellus Scipio]] was in charge of the remaining republicans; they allied with [[Juba II|Juba]] of [[Numidia]]; what used to be Pompey's fleet also raided the central Mediterranean islands. Caesar's governor in Spain, moreover, was sufficiently unpopular that the province revolted and switched to the republican side.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=435|ps=. Rawson also notes claims – {{harvnb|Dio|loc=42.56.4}} – that the republicans were planning a naval invasion of Italy.}}</ref>

Caesar demoted Antony on his return and pacified the mutineers without violence<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=435 n. 58}}, citing {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=70}}.</ref> before overseeing the election of magistrates for 47&nbsp;BC – Italy had been ruled by Caesar's authoritarian subordinates with no ordinary consuls, praetors, etc until his return in September{{sfn|Broughton|1952|p=286, noting the two consuls ([[Quintus Fufius Calenus|Quintus Fufius]] and [[Publius Vatinius]]) were elected in September per {{harvnb|Dio|loc=42.55.4}}. }} – and also those for 46&nbsp;BC. Caesar would serve with [[Lepidus]] as consul in 46; he borrowed money for the war, confiscated and sold the property of his enemies at fair prices, and then left for Africa on 25 December 47&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Rawson|1994a|p=435}} Caesar's landing in Africa was marked with some difficulties establishing a beachhead and logistically. He was defeated by [[Titus Labienus]] at [[Battle of Ruspina|Ruspina]] on 4 January 46&nbsp;BC and thereafter took a rather cautious approach.{{sfn|Rawson|1994a|pp=435–36}} After inducing some desertions from the republicans, Caesar ended up surrounded at [[Thapsus]]. His troops attacked prematurely on 6 April 46&nbsp;BC, starting a [[Battle of Thapsus|battle]]; they then won it and massacred the republican forces [[No quarter|without quarter]]. Marching on Utica, where Cato commanded, Caesar arrived to find that Cato had killed himself rather than receive Caesar's clemency.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=436|ps=, citing {{harvnb|Plut. ''Cat. Min.''|loc=58–70}}}}; see also {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=52–54}}.</ref> Many of the remaining anti-Caesarian leaders, including Metellus Scipio and Juba, also committed suicide shortly thereafter.{{sfnm|Rawson|1994a|1p=436|Boatwright|2004|2p=253}} Labienus and two of Pompey's sons, however, had moved to the Spanish provinces in revolt. Caesar started a process of annexing parts of Numidia and then returned to Italy via Sardinia in June 46&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Rawson|1994a|p=436}}
[[File:Denarius of Julius Caesar.jpg|thumb|a silver Denarius dated to January 44 BC portraying Julius Caesar with the Caption CAESAR • DICT, QVART right / to the left it show [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]] wearing goat skin headdress, in Galloping biga brandishing spear in right hand and holding shield in left,]]
Caesar stayed in Italy to celebrate four triumphs in late September, supposedly over four foreign enemies: Gaul, Egypt, Pharnaces (Asia), and Juba (Africa). He led Vercingetorix, Cleopatra's younger sister Arsinoe, and Juba's son before his chariot; Vercingetorix was executed.{{sfn|Rawson|1994a|p=436}} According to Appian, in some of the triumphs, Caesar paraded pictures and models of his victories over fellow Romans in the civil wars, to popular dismay.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=436|ps=, citing {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.101–2}}.}}</ref> The soldiers were each given 24,000 [[sesterces]] (a lifetime's worth of pay); further games and celebrations were put on for the plebs. Near the end of the year, Caesar heard bad news from Spain and, with an army, left for the peninsula, leaving Lepidus in charge as {{lang|la|[[magister equitum]]}}.{{sfn|Rawson|1994a|pp=436–37}}

At a bloody battle at [[Battle of Munda|Munda]] on 17 March 45&nbsp;BC, Caesar narrowly found victory;<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=436|ps=, citing {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=56}}.}}</ref> his enemies were treated as rebels and he had them massacred.{{sfn|Rawson|1994a|p=437}} Labienus died on the field. While one of Pompey's sons, [[Sextus Pompey|Sextus]], escaped, the war was effectively over.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994a|p=436|ps=, noting that Sextus fomented a momentary rebellion and that [[Quintus Caecilius Bassus]] led a revolt in Syria which continued until after Caesar's death in 44&nbsp;BC.}}</ref> Caesar remained in the province until June before setting out for Rome, arriving in October of the same year, and celebrated an unseemly triumph over fellow Romans.{{sfn|Rawson|1994a|p=437}} By this point he had started [[Julius Caesar's planned invasion of the Parthian Empire|preparations for war]] on the [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]] to avenge Crassus' death at [[Battle of Carrhae|Carrhae]] in 53&nbsp;BC, with wide-ranging objectives that would take him into Dacia for three or more years. It was set to start on 18 March 44&nbsp;BC.{{sfnm|Rawson|1994a|1pp=437–38|Boatwright|2004|2pp=253–54}}

== Dictatorship and assassination ==
[[File:Caesar-Altes-Museum-Berlin.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|The [[Green Caesar]], posthumous [[Roman portraiture|portrait]] from the 1st century AD, now located at the [[Altes Museum]] in Berlin]]
{{Multiple image
| align             = right
| total_width       = 300
| image1            = Cesar Dictator Perpetuo denier Gallica 23528 avers.jpg
| image2            = Cesar Dictator Perpetuo denier Gallica 23528 revers.jpg
| footer            = This coin, minted {{circa|44&nbsp;BC}}, shows Caesar's laurelled head surrounded by the {{lang|la|CAESAR DICT PERPETVO}}. The reverse shows symbols of victory, internal harmony, and liberty.{{sfn|Crawford|1974|loc=480/6 (= pp. 487–89, 494)}}
}}

=== Dictatorships and honours ===
Prior to Caesar's assumption of the title {{lang|la|dictator perpetuo}} in February 44&nbsp;BC, he had been appointed dictator some four times since his first dictatorship in 49&nbsp;BC. After occupying Rome, he engineered this first appointment, largely to hold elections; after 11 days he resigned. The other dictatorships lasted for longer periods, up to a year, and by April 46 BC he was given a new dictatorship annually.{{sfn|Wilson|2021|p=309}} The task he was assigned revived that of Sulla's dictatorship: {{Lang|la|rei publicae constituendae}}.{{sfnm|Badian|2012|Broughton|1986|2pp=107–8}} These appointments, however, were not the source of legal power themselves; in the eyes of the literary sources, they were instead honours and titles which reflected Caesar's dominant position in the state, secured not by extraordinary magistracy or legal powers, but by personal status as victor over other Romans.{{sfn|Wilson|2021|pp=311–13. "In the view of the ancient historians and biographers self-tasked with assessing Caesar's rule, his dictatorships, and indeed his consulships... were incidental to the authority he possessed on account of being himself"}} 

Through the period after Pharsalus, the Senate showered Caesar with honours,<ref>See {{harvnb|Wilson|2021|p=313 n. 46}}. {{harvnb|Meier|1995|pp=474–75|ps=&nbsp;notes that senators may have wanted to curry favour or otherwise, by giving him excessive honours, show the public Caesar's tyrannical ambitions}}.</ref> including the title {{lang|la|praefectus moribus}} ({{lit|prefect of morals}}) which historically was associated with the [[Roman censor|censorial]] power to revise the Senate rolls. He was also granted power over war and peace,{{sfn|Wilson|2021|p=314}} usurping a power traditionally held by the [[comitia centuriata]].<ref>{{harvnb|Lintott|1999|p=21}}; eg {{Cite wikisource |author=Livy |author-link=Livy |title=From the Founding of the City |translator-last=Roberts |translator-first=Canon |year=1905 |wslink=From the Founding of the City |orig-date=1st century AD |wslanguage=en |ref={{harvid|Livy}} |at=31.5–7 }}</ref> These powers attached to Caesar personally.{{sfn|Wilson|2021|pp=314–15}} Similarly extraordinary were a number of symbolic honours which saw Caesar's portrait placed on coins in Rome – the first for a living Roman<ref>[[Titus Quinctius Flamininus]] was the first Roman to appear on coinage, specifically on a ''stater'' minted after the [[Second Macedonian War]]. Caesar was the first portrait of a living Roman on coins meant to circulate in Rome. {{Cite book |last=Sellars |first=Ian J |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m_Y-CgAAQBAJ |title=The monetary system of the Romans |date=2013 |page=33 |quote=Though technically not the first living Roman to appear on coinage... Caesar was the first to appear on the coins of Rome. }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=West |first=R |chapter=The chronological development of Roman provincial coin iconography |title=Coinage and identity in the Roman provinces |year=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-926526-7 |editor-last=Howgego |editor-first=Christopher |display-editors=etal |page=44 |quote=As far as the Roman republican coinage is concerned, a major change occurred when Caesar became the first living Roman to have his portrait depicted on Roman coins. }}</ref> – with special rights to wear royal dress, sit atop a golden chair in the Senate, and have his statues erected in public temples. The month Quintilis, in which he was born, was renamed {{lang|la|Julius}} (now July).{{sfn|Meier|1995|pp=473–74}} These were symbols of divine monarchy and, later, objects of resentment.

The decisions on the normal operation of the state – justice, legislation, administration, and public works – were concentrated into Caesar's person without regard for or even notice given to the traditional institutions of the republic.{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=448. "He acted as he saw fit. Others had no right even to be informed of his intentions... Rome still had a Senate and magistrates, but they were not free in their decision-making... in all matters the decisive authority lay with Caesar alone"}} Caesar's domination over public affairs and his competitive instinct to preclude all others alienated the political class and led eventually to the conspiracy against his life.{{sfnm|Badian|2012|Meier|1995|2pp=447–48}}

=== Legislation<span class="anchor" id="Constitutional reforms"></span><span class="anchor" id="Reforms"></span> ===
Caesar, as far as is attested in evidence, did not intend to restructure Roman society. Ernst Badian, writing in the ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', noted that although Caesar did implement a series of reforms, they did not touch on the core of the republican system: he "had no plans for basic social and constitutional reform" and that "the extraordinary honours heaped upon him... merely grafted him as an ill-fitting head on to the body of the traditional structure".{{sfn|Badian|2012}}<ref>Similarly, {{harvnb|Meier|1995|p=470}}, "However restlessly active [Caesar] was, we still hear of nothing that could be construed as a move towards the consolidation of the commonwealth... We have no evidence that he intended to set up a monarchy".</ref>

The most important of Caesar's reforms was to the calendar, which saw the abolition of the [[Roman calendar|traditional republican lunisolar calendar]] and its replacement with a solar calendar now called the [[Julian calendar]].{{sfnm|Wilson|2021|1p=318|Badian|2012|Meier|1995|3p=447}} He also increased the number of magistrates and senators (from 600 to 900) to better administer the empire and reward his supporters with offices. Colonies also were founded outside Italy – notably on the sites of Carthage and Corinth, which had both been destroyed during Rome's 2nd century BC conquests – to discharge Italy's population into the provinces and reduce unrest.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2012}} for administration and colonial activity. {{harvnb|Wilson|2021|p=318|ps=, noting Suetonius viewing the expansion of the magistracies and Senate as constitutional reform with Dio believing it a means to reward followers.}} {{harvnb|Meier|1995|p=464}} notes "such a large membership [in the Senate] would certainly make the house incapable of functioning properly, but it enabled Caesar to show favour to many".</ref> The royal power of naming patricians was revived to benefit the families of his men{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=464}} and the [[quaestio perpetua|permanent courts]]' jury pools were also altered to remove the {{lang|la|[[Aerarium#Tribuni_aerarii|tribuni aerarii]]}}, leaving only the equestrians and senators.{{sfnm|Wilson|2021|1p=318|Lintott|1999|2p=160}}
[[File:Gaius Julius Caesar, denarius, 44 BC, RRC 480-10.jpg|thumb|February-March 44 BC. Silver Denarius. Rome mint. head of laurelled Caesar right / Venus standing left, holding Victory and scepter, shield set on ground to right.]]
He also took further administrative actions to stabilise his rule and that of the state.{{sfn|Wilson|2021|p=318}} Caesar reduced the size of the grain dole from 320,000 down to around 150,000 by tightening the qualifications; special bonuses were offered to families with many children to stall depopulation.{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=447}} Plans were drawn for the conduct of a census. Citizenship was extended to a number of communities in Cisalpine Gaul and to [[Cádiz]].{{sfn|Wilson|2021|pp=319, 321}} During the civil wars, Caesar had also instituted a novel debt repayment programme (no debts would be forgiven but they could be paid in kind), remitted rents up to a certain amount, and thrown games distributing food.{{sfn|Wilson|2021|p=319}} Many of his enemies during the civil wars were pardoned – Caesar's clemency was exalted in his propaganda and temple works – with the intent to cultivate gratitude and draw a contrast between himself and the vengeful dictatorship of Sulla.{{sfn|Wilson|2021|pp=321–22}}

The building programmes, started prior to his expedition to Spain, continued, with the construction of the [[Forum of Caesar]] and the [[Temple of Venus Genetrix]] therein. Other public works, including an expansion of Ostia's port and a canal through the [[Corinthian Isthmus]], were also planned.{{cn |date=July 2023}} Very busy with this work, the heavy-handedness with which he ignored the Senate, magistrates, and those who came to visit him also alienated many in Rome.{{sfn|Meier|1995|pp=447–49}}

The {{lang|la|collegia}}, civic associations restored by Clodius in 58&nbsp;BC, were again abolished.{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=447}} His actions to reward his supporters saw him allow his subordinates illegal triumphal processions and resign the consulship so that allies could take it up for the rest of the year. On the last day of 45&nbsp;BC, when one of the succeeding consuls died, Caesar had an [[Gaius Caninius Rebilus (consul 45 BC)|ally]] elected as replacement for a single day.{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=462}} Corruption on the part of his partisans was also overlooked to ensure their support; provincial cities and client kingdoms were extorted for favours to pay his bills.<ref>{{harvnb|Wilson|2021|p=322 n. 92}} on favours for clients. {{harvnb|Wilson|2021|p=322 n. 94}}, noting {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=54.1–3}} reporting on Caesar looting and extorting client states and {{harvnb|Dio|loc=42.49–50, 43.24}} on Caesar's forced loans to pay soldiers.</ref>

=== Conspiracy and death ===
{{see also|Assassination of Julius Caesar}}
[[File:Iulius Caesar denarius 44 BC 851830.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|
This also shows Caesar's laurelled head with the inscription {{lang|la|CAESAR DICT PERPETVO}}. The reverse, however, shows the name of the moneyer – one Publius Sepullius Macer – along with the goddess Venus, with which Caesar identified, holding Victory in her right hand and a sceptre in the left.{{sfn|Crawford|1974|loc=480/10 (= pp. 487–90, 494)}}
]]
[[File:Gaius Cassius Longinus and Lentulus Spinther. 42 BC. AR Denarius.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|[[Denarius]] (42&nbsp;BC) of Cassius and [[Publius Cornelius Lentulus Spinther|Lentulus Spinther]], depicting the crowned head of [[Libertas|Liberty]] and on the reverse a sacrificial jug and ''[[lituus]]''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crawford |first=Michael Hewson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w0pmAAAAMAAJ |title=Roman republican coinage |date=1974 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-07492-6 |page=514}}</ref> ]]
[[File:Jean-Léon Gérôme - The Death of Caesar - Walters 37884.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|An 1867 depiction of Caesar's death. ''[[The Death of Caesar (Gérôme)|The Death of Caesar]]'' by [[Jean-Léon Gérôme]].]]

Attempts in January 44&nbsp;BC to call Caesar {{lang|la|rex}} ({{lit|king}}) – a title associated with arbitrary oppression against citizens – were shut down by two tribunes before a supportive crowd. Caesar, claiming that the two tribunes infringed on his honour by doing so, had them deposed from office and ejected from the Senate.{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=476}} The incident both undermined Caesar's original arguments for pursuing the civil war (protecting the tribunes) and angered a public which still revered the tribunes as protectors of popular freedom.{{sfnm|Morstein-Marx|2021|1p=522 (noting attempts to restore the tribunes to office after Caesar's death)|Tempest|2017|2p=81}} Shortly before 15 February 44&nbsp;BC, he assumed the dictatorship for life, putting an end to any hopes that his powers would be merely temporary.{{sfn|Meier|1995|pp=474, 476}} Transforming his dictatorship, even with a decadal appointment, into one for life clearly showed to all contemporaries that Caesar had no intention to restore a free republic and that no free republic could be restored so long as he was in power.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Badian |first=Ernst |date=1990 |title=Review of "Caesar" |jstor=27690364 |journal=Gnomon |volume=62 |issue=1 |pages=35 |issn=0017-1417 |quote=At this point, some time in early February 44, no one could persuade himself that the ''res publica'' would ever be restored as long as Caesar lived. }}</ref>

Just days after his assumption of the life dictatorship, he publicly rejected a [[diadem]] from Antony at celebrations for the [[Lupercalia]]. Interpretations of the episode vary: he may have been rejecting the diadem publicly only because the crowd was insufficiently supportive; he could have done it performatively to signal he was no monarch; alternatively, Antony could have acted on his own initiative. By this point, however, rumour was rife that Caesar – already wearing the dress of a monarch – sought a formal crown and the episode did little to reassure.{{sfn|Meier|1995|pp=476–77}}

The plan to assassinate Caesar had started by the summer of 45&nbsp;BC. An attempt to recruit Antony was made around that time, though he declined and gave Caesar no warning. By February 44&nbsp;BC, there were some sixty conspirators.{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=479}} It is clear that by this time, the victorious Caesarian coalition from the civil war had broken apart.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=561–62}} While most of the conspirators were former Pompeians, they were joined by a substantial number of Caesarians.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=556}} Among their leaders were [[Gaius Trebonius]] (consul in 45), Decimus Brutus (consul designate for 42), as well as [[Gaius Cassius Longinus|Cassius]] and [[Marcus Junius Brutus|Brutus]] (both praetors in 44&nbsp;BC).{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=480}} Trebonius and Decimus had joined Caesar during the war while Brutus and Cassius had joined Pompey; other Caesarians involved included [[Servius Sulpicius Galba (praetor 54 BC)|Servius Sulpicius Galba]], [[Lucius Minucius Basilus]], [[Lucius Tillius Cimber|Lucius Tullius Cimber]], and [[Publius Servilius Casca|Gaius Servilius Casca]].{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=556, noting Basilus and Cimber as praetors in 45 and Casca as plebeian tribune in 44 or 43}} Many of the conspirators would have been candidates in the consular elections for 43 to 41&nbsp;BC,{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=560}} likely dismayed by Caesar's sham elections in early 44&nbsp;BC that produced advance results for the years 43–41&nbsp;BC. Those electoral results came from the grace of the dictator and not that of the people; for the republican elite this was no substitute for actual popular support.{{sfnm|Tempest|2017|1p=93|Meier|1995|2p=465 ("their dignity would have been spurious")|Morstein-Marx|2021|3pp=547–48, 549–50 ("{{lang|la|honores}} obtained as a personal favour rather than by a judgment of the People were in fact no 'honour' at all")}} Nor is it likely that the subordination of the normal magistrates to Caesar's masters of horse ({{langx|la|magistri equitum}}) was appreciated.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=553}}
[[File:Gaius Julius Caesar, denarius, 44 BC, RRC 480-3.jpg|thumb|January-February 44 BC Denarius. Rome mint; portrait of laurelled Julius Caesar right; CAESAR IM[P] Venus standing left, holding Victory in outstretched right hand and transverse scepter in left, resting her left elbow on shield set on celestial globe.]]
Brutus, who claimed descent from the [[Lucius Junius Brutus]] who had [[Overthrow of the Roman monarchy|driven out the kings]] and the [[Gaius Servilius Ahala]] who had freed Rome from incipient tyranny, was the main leader of the conspiracy.{{sfnm|Tempest|2017|1p=41|Meier|1995|2pp=480–81}} By late autumn 45&nbsp;BC, graffiti<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=524–25}} gives a number of examples:
* {{harvnb|Plut. ''Brut.''|loc=9.6}}: "If only you lived now, Brutus", on the Capitoline statue of Lucius Brutus.
* {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=80.3}}: "If only you [Lucius Brutus] were alive".
* {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.112}}: "[Lucius Brutus,] your descendants are unworthy of you", challenging Marcus Brutus to act.
* {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=80.3}}: "Brutus became the first consul, since he had expelled the kings; This man [Caesar] at last became king, since he had expelled the consuls", on a statue of Caesar.
* {{harvnb|Plut. ''Brut.''|loc=9.7}}; {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=62.7}}; {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.112}}; {{harvnb|Dio|loc=44.12.3}}: graffiti at Marcus Brutus' praetorian seat in the forum challenging him as asleep, corrupt, or not a true descendant of the Lucius Brutus who founded the republic.</ref> and some public comments at Rome were condemning Caesar as a tyrant and insinuating the need for a Brutus to remove the dictator. The ancient sources, excepting [[Nicolaus of Damascus]], are unanimous that this reflected a genuine turn in public opinion against Caesar.{{sfnm|Morstein-Marx|2021|1pp=523, 526–27, 528 (calling the belief in modern scholarship that Caesar remained "the darling of the People" unsupported by the evidence and "infantilising")|Tempest|2017|2pp=86–87}} Popular indignation at Caesar was likely rooted in his debt policies (too friendly to lenders), use of lethal force to suppress protests for debt relief, his reduction in the grain dole, his abolition of the {{lang|la|collegia}} restored by Clodius, his abolition of the poorest panel of jurors in the permanent courts, and his abolition of open elections which deprived the people of their ancient right of decision.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=528 (debts), 529 (lethal force, corn dole, {{lang|la|collegia}}), 530 (juries, elections)}} A popular turn against Caesar is also observed with reports that the two deposed tribunes were written-in on ballots at Caesar's advance consular elections in place of Caesar's candidates.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=548 (the two candidates for the consulship of 43&nbsp;BC were the only two men allowed to stand), 550}} Whether the Romans thought they had a tradition of tyrannicide is unclear;{{efn|The [[Lucius Tarquinius Superbus|last king]] and the [[second decemvirate]] were overthrown, not killed; [[Spurius Cassius Vecellinus|Spurius Cassius]] and [[Manlius Capitolinus]] were executed after trials, as was [[Spurius Maelius]] in an ostensibly legal process; [[Tiberius Gracchus]] was killed in a riot; [[Gaius Gracchus]] and [[Lucius Appuleius Saturninus|Saturninus]] were each killed after a ''[[senatus consultum ultimum]]''; [[Catiline]] had been allowed to leave Rome.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=575}} }} Cicero wrote in private as if the duty to kill tyrants was already given, but he made no public speeches to that effect and there is little evidence that the public accepted the logic of preventive tyrannicide.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=318, 573–75}} The philosophical tradition of the [[Plato]]nic [[Old Academy]] was also a factor driving Brutus to action due to its emphasis on a duty to free the state from tyranny.{{sfn|Tempest|2017|pp=95–99}} 

While some news of the conspiracy did leak, Caesar refused to take precautions and rejected escort by a bodyguard. The date decided upon by the conspirators was 15 March, the [[Ides of March]], three days before Caesar intended to leave for his Parthian campaign.{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=485}} News of his imminent departure forced the conspirators to move up their plans; the Senate meeting on the 15th would be the last before his departure.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=563}} They had decided that a Senate meeting was the best place to frame the killing as political, rejecting the alternatives at games, elections, or on the road.{{sfn|Tempest|2017|pp=99–100}} That only the conspirators would be armed at the Senate meeting, per Dio, also would have been an advantage. The day, 15 March, was also symbolically important as it was the day on which consuls took office until the mid-2nd century BC.{{sfn|Tempest|2017|p=100}}

[[File:Brutus & L. Plaetorius Cestianus, denarius, 42 BC, RRC 508-3.jpg|thumb|The [[Ides of March coin]], minted in 42&nbsp;BC, depicts [[Marcus Junius Brutus]]. The reverse depicts daggers and a [[Pileus (hat)|''pileus'']] symbolising their use to win back freedom.]]
Various stories purport that Caesar was on the cusp of not attending or otherwise being warned about the plot.{{sfn|Tempest|2017|p=100}}{{sfn|Meier|1995|pp=485–86, noting three: Caesar felt unwell and had to be persuaded by a conspirator to attend the Senate; one [[Artemidorus of Knidos]] gave Caesar a scroll informing on the conspiracy; the augur Spurinna allegedly prophesied misfortune for Caesar on the Ides}} Approached on his golden chair at the foot of the statue of Pompey, the conspirators attacked him with daggers. Whether he fell in silence, per Suetonius, or after reply to Brutus' appearance – {{lang|grc|kai su teknon?}} ("you too, child?") – is [[Last words of Julius Caesar|variantly recorded]].{{sfn|Tempest|2017|p=101–3, citing {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=81–82}} }} He was stabbed at least twenty-three times and died at once.{{sfnm|Tempest|2017|1p=3–4, 261 n. 1|Meier|1995|2p=486 (reporting 23 wounds)}}<ref>{{harvnb|Tempest|2017|p=261 n. 1}} cites all ancient accounts: Nic. Dam., 58–106; {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=60–68}}; {{harvnb|Plut. ''Brut.''|loc=8–20}}; {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=76–85}}; {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.106–147}}; {{harvnb|Dio|loc=44.9–19}}.</ref>

=== Aftermath of the assassination ===
{{anchor|funeral}}
{{further|War of Mutina|Second Triumvirate|Liberators' civil war}}
[[File:Marc Antony's Oration at Caesar's Funeral by George Edward Robertson.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|''Marc Antony's Oration at Caesar's Funeral'' by [[George Edward Robertson]] (late 19th or early 20th century)]]

The assassins seized the Capitoline hill after killing the dictator. They then summoned a public meeting in the Forum where they were coldly received by the population. They were also unable to fully secure the city, as Lepidus – Caesar's [[Magister equitum|lieutenant in the dictatorship]] – moved troops from the [[Tiber Island]] into the city proper. Antony, the consul who escaped the assassination, urged an illogical compromise position in the Senate:{{sfn|Mackay|2009|p=316}} Caesar was not declared a tyrant and the conspirators were not punished.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994b|p=469|ps=. "Antony pointed out that logically, if Caesar was a tyrant, his body should be thrown into the Tiber and all his measures [rescinded]; if he was not, his murderers should be punished".}}</ref> Caesar's funeral was then approved. At the funeral, Antony inflamed the public against the assassins, which triggered mob violence that lasted for some months before the assassins were forced to flee the capital and Antony then finally acted to suppress it by force.{{sfn|Rawson|1994b|p=470}}

In 44 BC, there was a seven-day [[Great comet|cometary outburst]] that the Romans believed to represent the deification of Caesar, giving it the name [[Caesar's Comet]]. On the site of his cremation, the [[Temple of Caesar]] was begun by the triumvirs in 42&nbsp;BC at the east side of the main square of the [[Roman Forum]]. Only its altar now remains.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Richardson |first=L |title=Iulius, Divus, Aedes |encyclopedia=A new topographical dictionary of ancient Rome |year=1992 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=0-8018-4300-6 |pages=213–14}}</ref> The terms of the will were also read to the public: it gave a generous donative to the plebs at large and left as principal heir one [[Augustus|Gaius Octavius]], Caesar's great-nephew then at [[Apollonia (Illyria)|Apollonia]], and adopted him in the will.{{sfnm|Mackay|2009|1pp=318–19|Rawson|1994b|2p=471}}

Resumption of the pre-existing republic proved impossible as various actors appealed in the aftermath of Caesar's death to liberty or to vengeance to mobilise huge armies that led to a series of civil wars.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|pp=315–16}} The [[War of Mutina|first war]] was between Antony in 43&nbsp;BC and the Senate (including senators of both Caesarian and Pompeian persuasion) which resulted in Octavian – Caesar's heir – exploiting the chaos to seize the consulship and join with Antony and Lepidus to form the [[Second Triumvirate]].{{sfn|Boatwright|2004|pp=270–72}} After purging their political enemies in a [[Proscription|series of proscriptions]],{{sfn|Mackay|2009|p=332}} the triumvirs secured the deification of Caesar – the Senate declared on 1 January 42&nbsp;BC that Caesar would be placed among the Roman gods<ref>{{harvnb|Mackay|2009|p=334|ps=. Caesar's heir then took the style {{lang|la|divi filius}}, meaning "son of the deified one".}}</ref> – and marched on the east where a [[Liberators' civil war|second war]] saw the triumvirs defeat the tyrannicides in [[Battle of Philippi|battle]],{{sfn|Boatwright|2004|p=273}} resulting in a final death of the republican cause and a three-way division of much of the Roman world.{{sfnm|Mackay|2009|1p=335|Boatwright|2004|2p=274}} By 31&nbsp;BC, Caesar's heir had taken sole control of the empire, ejecting his triumviral rivals after two decades of civil war. Pretending to restore the republic, his masked autocracy was acceptable to the war-weary Romans and marked the establishment of a [[Roman Empire|new Roman monarchy]].{{sfn|Meier|1995|pp=494, 496}}
<!-- Detailed material from the War of Mutina through to Augustus' first settlement (or beyond) should not be in this article; it should be in those respective articles. -->

==Personal life==
===Health and physical appearance===
[[File:Gaius Iulius Caesar (Vatican Museum).jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Chiaramonti Caesar]] bust, a posthumous portrait in marble, 44–30 BC, [[Museo Pio-Clementino]], [[Vatican Museums]]]]

Based on remarks by Plutarch<ref>{{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=17, 45, 60}}; {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=45}}.</ref> ({{circa|46}} – {{circa|120s AD}}), Caesar is sometimes thought to have suffered from [[epilepsy]]. Modern scholarship is sharply divided on the subject, and some scholars believe that he was plagued by malaria, particularly during the Sullan proscriptions of the 80s&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ridley |first=Ronald T. |date=2000 |title=The Dictator's Mistake: Caesar's Escape from Sulla |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4436576 |journal=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=211–29 |jstor=4436576 |issn=0018-2311}} Ridley cites:
* {{cite journal |last=Kanngiesser |first=F |title=Notes on the pathology of the Julian dynasty |year=1912 |journal=Glasgow Medical Journal |volume=77 |pages=428–32 |ref=none }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Cawthorne |first=Terence |date=1958 |title=Julius caesar and the falling sickness |url=http://doi.wiley.com/10.1288/00005537-195808000-00005 |journal=The Laryngoscope |volume=68 |issue=8 |pages=1442–1450 |doi=10.1288/00005537-195808000-00005|pmid=13576900 |s2cid=34788441 |ref=none | issn=0023-852X}}
* {{Cite book |last=Temkin |first=Owsei |title=The falling sickness: a history of epilepsy from the Greeks to the beginnings of modern neurology |date=1971 |orig-date=1945 |isbn=0-8018-1211-9 |edition=Revised |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |oclc=208839 |page=162 |ref=none }}</ref> Other scholars contend his epileptic seizures were due to a [[neurocysticercosis|parasitic infection in the brain]] by a tapeworm.<ref name="bruschi">{{Cite journal |last=Bruschi |first=Fabrizio |date=2011 |title=Was Julius Caesar's epilepsy due to neurocysticercosis? |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1471492211001139 |journal=Trends in Parasitology |volume=27 |issue=9 |pages=373–74 |doi=10.1016/j.pt.2011.06.001|pmid=21757405 }}</ref><ref name="mclachlan">{{Cite journal |last=McLachlan |first=Richard S |date=2010 |title=Julius Caesar's late onset epilepsy: a case of historic proportions |journal=Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences |volume=37 |issue=5 |pages=557–561 |doi=10.1017/S0317167100010696 |pmid=21059498 |s2cid=24082872 |issn=0317-1671|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Caesar had four documented episodes of what may have been complex partial seizures. He may additionally have had [[absence seizure]]s in his youth. The earliest accounts of these seizures were made by the biographer Suetonius, who was born after Caesar died. The claim of epilepsy is countered among some medical historians by a claim of [[hypoglycemia]], which can cause epileptoid seizures.<ref name="Hughes2004Caesar">{{cite journal |last=Hughes |first=John R |display-authors=etal |title=Dictator perpetuus: Julius Caesar – Did he have seizures? If so, what was the etiology? |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S152550500400160X |journal=Epilepsy & Behavior |volume=5 |issue=5 |pages=756–64 |date=2004 |doi=10.1016/j.yebeh.2004.05.006|pmid=15380131 |s2cid=34640921 }}</ref><ref name="Gomez1995">{{cite journal |last=Gomez |first=J G |display-authors=etal |date=1995 |title=Was Julius Caesar's epilepsy due to a brain tumor? |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7738524 |journal=Journal of the Florida Medical Association |volume=82 |issue=3 |pages=199–201 |issn=0015-4148 |pmid=7738524}}</ref>

A line from [[Julius Caesar (play)|Shakespeare's ''Julius Caesar'']] has sometimes been taken to mean that he was deaf in one ear: "Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf."<ref>William Shakespeare, ''Julius Caesar'' I.ii.209.</ref> No classical source mentions hearing impairment in connection with Caesar. The playwright may have been making metaphorical use of a passage in Plutarch that does not refer to deafness at all, but rather to a gesture Alexander of Macedon customarily made. By covering his ear, Alexander indicated that he had turned his attention from an accusation in order to hear the defence.{{sfn|Paterson|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=gzOXLGbIIYwC&q=julius+caesar+deaf&pg=PT150 130]}}

Francesco M. Galassi and Hutan Ashrafian suggest that Caesar's behavioural manifestations{{snd}}headaches, vertigo, falls (possibly caused by muscle weakness due to nerve damage), sensory deficit, giddiness and insensibility{{snd}}and syncopal episodes were the results of cerebrovascular episodes, not epilepsy. Pliny the Elder reports in his ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'' that Caesar's father and forefather died without apparent cause while putting on their shoes.<ref>Pliny, ''Natural History'',  [http://attalus.org/translate/pliny_hn7c.html#181 vii.181]</ref> These events can be more readily associated with cardiovascular complications from a stroke episode or lethal heart attack. Caesar possibly had a genetic predisposition for cardiovascular disease.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Galassi |first1=Francesco M. |last2=Ashrafian |first2=Hutan |date=2015 |title=Has the diagnosis of a stroke been overlooked in the symptoms of Julius Caesar? |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25820216 |journal=Neurological Sciences |volume=36 |issue=8 |pages=1521–22 |doi=10.1007/s10072-015-2191-4 |issn=1590-3478 |pmid=25820216|s2cid=11730078 }}</ref>

[[Suetonius]] ({{circa|69}} – {{circa|122 AD}}) describes Caesar as "tall of stature with a fair complexion, shapely limbs, a somewhat full face, and keen black eyes".<ref>{{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=45}}. ''excelsa statura, colore candido, teretibus membris, ore paulo pleniore, nigris vegetisque oculis''.</ref> He adds that the [[Hair loss|balding]] Caesar was sensitive to teasing on the subject, and therefore had a [[Comb over|combover]]. Suetonius reports that Caesar was thus especially pleased to be granted the honour of wearing a wreath at all times.<ref>{{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=45}} ''"Circa corporis... laureae coronae perpetuo gestandae."''</ref>

===Name and family===

====The name Gaius Julius Caesar====
{{main|Gaius Julius Caesar (name)}}
Using the [[Latin alphabet]] of the period, which lacked the letters ''J'' and ''U'', Caesar's name would be rendered GAIVS IVLIVS CAESAR; the form CAIVS is also attested, using the older Roman representation of ''G'' by ''C''. The standard abbreviation was C.&nbsp;IVLIVS CÆSAR, reflecting the older spelling. (The letterform ''Æ'' is a [[ligature (typography)|ligature]] of the letters ''A'' and ''E'', and is often used in Latin [[inscription]]s to save space.){{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

In Classical Latin, it was [[Latin spelling and pronunciation|pronounced]] {{IPA|la-x-classic|ˈɡaːi.ʊs ˈjuːliʊs ˈkae̯sar|}}. In the days of the late Roman Republic, many historical writings were done in Greek, a language most educated Romans studied. Young wealthy Roman boys were often taught by Greek slaves and sometimes sent to Athens for advanced training, as was Caesar's principal assassin, [[Marcus Junius Brutus|Brutus]]. In [[Ancient Greek|Greek]], during Caesar's time, his family name was written {{lang|grc|Καίσαρ}} (''Kaísar''), reflecting its contemporary pronunciation. Thus, his name is pronounced in a similar way to the pronunciation of the German ''[[Kaiser]]'' {{IPA|de|ˈkaɪzɐ|}} or Dutch ''[[Emperor|keizer]]'' {{IPA|nl|ˈkɛizər|}}.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

In [[Vulgar Latin]], the original [[diphthong]] {{IPA|[ae̯]}} first began to be pronounced as a simple long vowel {{IPAblink|ɛː}}. Then, the [[Stop consonant|plosive]] {{IPAslink|k}} before [[front vowel]]s began, due to [[Palatalization (sound change)|palatalization]], to be pronounced as an [[affricate]], hence renderings like {{IPA|it|ˈtʃɛːzar|}} in [[Italian language|Italian]] and {{IPA|de|ˈtseːzaʁ|}} in [[German language|German]] [[Latin regional pronunciation|regional pronunciations of Latin]], as well as the title of [[Tsar]]. With the evolution of the [[Romance languages]], the affricate {{IPAblink|ts}} became a [[Fricative consonant|fricative]] {{IPAblink|s}} (thus, {{IPA|[ˈseːsar]}} and the like) in many regional pronunciations, including the French one, from which the modern English pronunciation is derived.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

Caesar's [[cognomen]] itself became a [[Caesar (title)|title]]; it was promulgated by the [[Bible]], which contains the famous verse "[[Render unto Caesar]] the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's". The title became, from the late first millennium, ''[[Kaiser]]'' in [[German language|German]] and (through [[Old Church Slavic]] ''cěsarĭ'') [[Tsar]] or Czar in the [[Slavic languages]]. The last Tsar in nominal power was [[Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha|Simeon II of Bulgaria]], whose reign ended in 1946, but is still alive in 2023. This means that for approximately two thousand years, there was at least one head of state bearing his name. As a term for the highest ruler, the word Caesar constitutes one of the earliest, best attested and most widespread Latin loanwords in the Germanic languages, being found in the [[Text corpus|text corpora]] of [[Old High German]] (''keisar''), [[Old Saxon]] (''kēsur''), [[Old English]] (''cāsere''), [[Old Norse]] (''keisari''), [[Old Dutch]] (''keisere'') and (through [[Koine Greek|Greek]]) [[Gothic language|Gothic]] (''kaisar'').<ref>M. Philippa, F. Debrabandere, A. Quak, T. Schoonheim en N. van der Sijs (2003–2009) Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands, Amsterdam</ref>

====Posterity====
{{main|Julio-Claudian family tree}}
{{wide image|Roman families 4 Nov 08.png|1000px|Julio-Claudian family tree}}
;Wives{{anchor|Wives}}
* First marriage to [[Cornelia (wife of Caesar)|Cornelia]], from 84&nbsp;BC until her death in 69 BC
* Second marriage to [[Pompeia (wife of Julius Caesar)|Pompeia]], from 67&nbsp;BC until he divorced her around 61&nbsp;BC over the [[Publius Clodius Pulcher#Bona Dea scandal|Bona Dea scandal]]
* Third marriage to [[Calpurnia (wife of Caesar)|Calpurnia]], from 59&nbsp;BC until Caesar's death

[[File:Denderah3 Cleopatra Cesarion.jpg|thumb|Reliefs of [[Cleopatra]] and her son by Julius Caesar, [[Caesarion]], at the [[Dendera Temple complex|Temple of Dendera]]]]
[[File:Roman Wall painting from the House of Giuseppe II, Pompeii, 1st century AD, death of Sophonisba, but more likely Cleopatra VII of Egypt consuming poison.jpg|thumb|[[Roman art|Roman painting]] from the House of Giuseppe II, [[Pompeii]], early 1st century AD, most likely depicting [[Cleopatra VII]], wearing her royal [[diadem]], [[Death of Cleopatra|consuming poison in an act of suicide]], while her son [[Caesarion]], also wearing a royal diadem, stands behind her<ref>{{cite book |last=Roller |first=Duane W |author-link=Duane W. Roller |title=Cleopatra: a biography |year=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-536553-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/cleopatrabiograp00roll_0/ |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cleopatrabiograp00roll_0/page/178 178–79]}}</ref>]]

;Children
* [[Julia (daughter of Julius Caesar)|Julia]], by Cornelia, born in 83 or 82 BC
* [[Caesarion]], by [[Cleopatra VII]], born 47 BC, and killed at age 17 by Caesar's adopted son Octavianus.
* ''Posthumously adopted'': [[Augustus|Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus]], his great-nephew by blood (grandson of [[Julia Minor (sister of Caesar)|Julia, his sister]]), who later became Emperor Augustus.

; Suspected children
Some ancient sources refer to the possibility of the tyrannicide, [[Marcus Junius Brutus]], being one of Julius Caesar's illegitimate children.<ref>Eg {{harvnb|Plut. ''Brut.''|loc=5.2}}</ref> Caesar, at the time Brutus was born, was 15. Most ancient historians were sceptical of this and "on the whole, scholars have rejected the possibility that Brutus was the love-child of Servilia and Caesar on the grounds of chronology".<ref>{{harvnb|Tempest|2017|p=102}}, noting the "almost universally accepted" treatment rejecting Caesar's parentage at {{cite wikisource |last=Fluß |first=Max |wslink=RE:Servilius 101 |title=Servilius 101 |encyclopedia=Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft |year=1923 |volume=II A,2 |publisher=Butcher |location=Stuttgart |wslanguage=de |at=cols. 1817–21}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Syme|first=Ronald|date=1960|title=Bastards in the Roman Aristocracy|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/985248|journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society|volume=104|issue=3 |issn=0003-049X |page=326 |jstor=985248|quote=Chronology is against Caesar's paternity.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Syme|first=Ronald|date=1980|title=No Son for Caesar?|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4435732|journal=Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte|volume=29|issue=4|page=426|jstor=4435732|issn=0018-2311 |quote=Caesar is excluded by plain fact}}.</ref>

;Grandchildren
Grandchild from [[Julia (daughter of Julius Caesar)|Julia]] and [[Pompey]], dead at several days, unnamed.<ref name="Jimenez2000">{{harvnb|Jiménez|2000|p=55}}.</ref>

;Lovers
* [[Cleopatra]], mother of [[Caesarion]]
* [[Servilia (mother of Brutus)|Servilia]], mother of Brutus
* [[Eunoë (wife of Bogudes)|Eunoë]], queen of [[Mauretania]] and wife of [[Bogud]]es

===Rumors of passive homosexuality===
Roman society viewed the passive role during [[Sexuality in ancient Rome|sexual activity]], regardless of gender, to be a sign of submission or inferiority. Indeed, Suetonius says that in Caesar's Gallic triumph, his soldiers sang that, "Caesar may have conquered the Gauls, but Nicomedes conquered Caesar."<ref name="Suet.1.49">{{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=49}}.</ref> According to Cicero, [[Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus|Bibulus]], [[Gaius Memmius (praetor 58 BC)|Gaius Memmius]], and others – mainly Caesar's enemies – he had an affair with [[Nicomedes IV of Bithynia]] early in his career. The stories were repeated, referring to Caesar as the "[[Queen of Bithynia]]", by some Roman politicians as a way to humiliate him. Caesar himself denied the accusations repeatedly throughout his lifetime, and according to [[Cassius Dio]], even under oath on one occasion.<ref name="Suet.1.2">{{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=49}}; {{harvnb|Dio|loc=43.20}}.</ref> This form of slander was popular during this time in the Roman Republic to demean and discredit political opponents.

[[Catullus]] wrote a poem suggesting that Caesar and his engineer [[Mamurra]] were lovers,<ref>[[Catullus]], ''Carmina'' [http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/029x.html 29] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420062543/http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/029x.html |date=20 April 2008}}, [http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/057x.html 57] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080304045130/http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/VRomaCatullus/057x.html |date=4 March 2008}}</ref> but later apologised.{{sfn|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=73}}

[[Mark Antony]] charged that Octavian had earned his adoption by Caesar through sexual favours. Suetonius described Antony's accusation of an affair with Octavian as political [[slander]]. Octavian eventually became the first Roman Emperor as Augustus.<ref name="Suet.2.68">{{harvnb|Suet. ''Aug.''|loc=68, 71}}.</ref>

==Literary works==
[[File:Julii Caesaris quae exstant.tif|thumb|upright|''Julii Caesaris quae exstant'' (1678)]]
[[File:Commentarii de Bello Gallico.jpg|thumb|A 1783 edition of ''The Gallic Wars'']]
During his lifetime, Caesar was regarded as one of the best orators and prose authors in Latin{{snd}}even Cicero spoke highly of Caesar's rhetoric and style.<ref>Cic. ''Brut.'', [http://attalus.org/cicero/brutus3.html#252 252].</ref> Only Caesar's war commentaries have survived. A few sentences from other works are quoted by other authors. Among his lost works are [[Laudatio Iuliae amitae|his funeral oration]] for his paternal aunt [[Julia (aunt of Caesar and wife of Marius)|Julia]] and his "[[Anticato]]", a document attacking [[Cato the Younger|Cato]] in response to Cicero's eulogy. [[Poems by Julius Caesar]] are also mentioned in ancient sources.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Courtney |editor-first=Edward |title=The fragmentary Latin poets |date=1993 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-814775-9 |oclc=25628739 |pages=153–55, 187–88}}</ref>

===Memoirs===
* The ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'', usually known in English as ''The Gallic Wars'', seven books each covering one year of his campaigns in Gaul and southern Britain in the 50s BC, with the eighth book written by [[Aulus Hirtius]] on the last two years.
* The ''[[Commentarii de Bello Civili]]'' (''The Civil War''), events of the Civil War from Caesar's perspective, until immediately after Pompey's death in Egypt.

Other works historically have been attributed to Caesar, but their authorship is in doubt:
* ''[[De Bello Alexandrino]]'' (''On the Alexandrine War''), campaign in Alexandria;
* ''[[De Bello Africo]]'' (''On the African War''), campaigns in North Africa; and
* ''[[De Bello Hispaniensi]]'' (''On the Hispanic War''), campaigns in the [[Iberian Peninsula]].

These narratives were written and published annually during or just after the actual campaigns, as a sort of "dispatches from the front". They were important in shaping Caesar's public image and enhancing his reputation when he was away from Rome for long periods. They may have been presented as public readings.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wiseman |first=T P |chapter=The publication of ''De bello Gallico'' |title=Julius Caesar as artful reporter: the war commentaries as political instruments |date=2009 |editor-last=Welch |editor-first=Kathryn |editor-last2=Powell |editor-first2=Anton |publisher=Classical Press of Wales |isbn=978-1-905125-28-9 }}</ref> As a model of clear and direct Latin style, ''The Gallic Wars'' traditionally has been studied by first- or second-year Latin students.

==Legacy==

===Historiography===
[[File:Julius Caesar's crematorium.jpg|thumb|left|Flowers on the remains of the [[Temple of Caesar|altar of Caesar]] in the [[Roman Forum]] of Rome, Italy]]
The texts written by Caesar, an autobiography of the most important events of his public life, are the most complete [[primary source]] for the reconstruction of his biography. However, Caesar wrote those texts with his political career in mind.<ref>{{harvnb|Canfora|2006|pp=10–11}}</ref> Julius Caesar is also considered one of the first historical figures to fold his message scrolls into a concertina form, which made them easier to read.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Murray |first=Stuart |title=The library: an illustrated history |date=2009 |isbn=978-1-60239-706-4 |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing |oclc=277203534}}</ref> The Roman emperor [[Augustus]] began a [[cult of personality]] of Caesar, which described Augustus as Caesar's political heir. The modern historiography is influenced by this tradition.<ref>{{harvnb|Canfora|2006|p=10}}</ref>

Many rulers in history became interested in the [[Roman historiography|historiography of Caesar]]. [[Napoleon III]] wrote the scholarly work ''[[Histoire de Jules César]]'', which was not finished. The second volume listed previous rulers interested in the topic. [[Charles VIII of France|Charles VIII]] ordered a monk to prepare a translation of the ''Gallic Wars'' in 1480. [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] ordered a topographic study in France, to place the Gallic Wars in context; which created forty high-quality maps of the conflict. The contemporary Ottoman sultan [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] catalogued the surviving editions of the ''Commentaries'', and translated them to Turkish language. [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]] and [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]] of France translated the first two commentaries and the last two respectively; [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] re-translated the first one afterwards.<ref>{{harvnb|Canfora|2006|pp=11–12}}</ref>

The remains of [[Temple of Caesar|Caesar's altar]] are a pilgrimage site for visitors from across Italy and the world. Flowers and other items are left there daily and special commemorations take place on 15 March to commemorate Caesar's death.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nicoletti |first=Gianluca |date=22 July 2014 |title=Il mondo in fila |url=https://www.lastampa.it/topnews/tempi-moderni/2014/07/22/news/il-mondo-in-fila-1.35735596/ |access-date=24 May 2024 |website=[[La Stampa]] |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Quaglia |first=Lucilla |date=15 March 2019 |title=Sempre più fiori e monetine sull'Ara di Cesare: la tradizione si rinnova il 15 marzo |url=https://www.ilmessaggero.it/roma/news/cesare_ara_fiori_monetine_idi_marzo-4364039.html |access-date=24 May 2024 |website=[[Il Messaggero]] |language=it}}</ref>

===Politics===
{{main|Caesarism}}
Julius Caesar is seen as the main example of ''[[Caesarism]]'', a form of political rule led by a [[charisma]]tic [[Strongman (politics)|strongman]] whose rule is based upon a [[cult of personality]], whose rationale is the need to rule by force, establishing a violent [[social order]], and being a regime involving prominence of the [[military]] in the government.<ref name="Weber, 34" >{{harvnb|Weber|2008|p=34}}.</ref> Other people in history, such as the French [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] and the Italian [[Benito Mussolini]], have defined themselves as Caesarists.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Napoleon Bonaparte, Political Prodigy |journal=History Compass |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=1382–98 |first=Howard G. |last=Brown |date=29 June 2007 |doi=10.1111/j.1478-0542.2007.00451.x |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=James |last=Hartfield |title=Unpatriotic History of the Second World War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gALtBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA77 |publisher=John Hunt Publishing |year= 2012 |page=77 |isbn=978-1-78099-379-9 |access-date=20 August 2019 |archive-date=28 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228125816/https://books.google.com/books?id=gALtBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA77 |url-status=live}}</ref> Bonaparte did not focus only on Caesar's military career but also on his relation with the masses, a predecessor to [[populism]].<ref>{{harvnb|Canfora|2006|pp=12–13}}</ref> The word is also used in a pejorative manner by critics of this type of political rule.

===Depictions===
{{main|Cultural depictions of Julius Caesar}}
<gallery>
File:Giulio-cesare-enhanced 1-800x1450.jpg|Bust in the [[National Archaeological Museum, Naples]]
File:Rimini083.jpg|Modern bronze statue of Julius Caesar, Rimini, Italy
File:Portrait of Julius Caesar (1st cent. B.C.) at the Archaeological Museum of Sparta on 15 May 2019.jpg|Portrait at the Archaeological Museum of Sparta
File:Porta palatina, statue.jpg|Bronze statue at the Porta Palatina in Turin
File:Portrait head of Julius Caesar (1st cent. A.D.) at the Archaeological Museum of Corinth on 10 January 2020.jpg|Bust in the Archaeological Museum of Corinth
File:Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44 BC).JPG|Bust in the National Archaeological Museum, Naples, photograph published in 1902
</gallery>

===Battle record===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%; margin:1em auto 1em auto;"
|-
!style="width:20%;| Date
! War
! Action
! Opponents
! Type
! Present-day areas
! Outcome
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">58 BC</span> 58 BC
| rowspan="12" |[[Gallic Wars]]
|<span style="display:none">Arar</span> [[Battle of the Arar]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Helvetii]]
|Battle
|[[France]]
|Victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">58 BC</span> 58 BC
|<span style="display:none">Mount Haemus</span> [[Battle of Bibracte]]
|[[Helvetii]], [[Boii]], [[Tulingi]], [[Rauraci]]
|Battle
|[[France]]
|Victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">58 BC</span> 58 BC
|<span style="display:none">Vosges</span> [[Battle of Vosges (58 BC)|Battle of Vosges]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Suebi]]
|Battle
|[[France]]
|Victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">57 BC</span> 57 BC
|[[Battle of the Axona]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Belgae]]
|Battle
|[[France]]
|Victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">57 BC</span> 57 BC
|<span style="display:none">Battle of the Sabis</span> [[Battle of the Sabis]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Nervii]], [[Viromandui]], 
[[Atrebates]], [[Aduatuci]]
|Battle
|[[France]]
|Victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">56 BC</span>56 BC
|<span style="display:none">Battle of Morbihan</span> [[Battle of Morbihan]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Veneti (Gaul)|Veneti]]
|Battle
|[[France]]
|Victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">55 and 54 BC</span>55 and 54 BC
|<span style="display:none">Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain</span> [[Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Celtic Britons]]
|Campaign
|[[England]]
|Victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">54 BC–53 BC</span> 54 BC–53 BC
|<span style="display:none">Ambiorix's revolt</span> [[Ambiorix's revolt]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Eburones]]
| Campaign
| Belgium, [[France]]
|Victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">52 BC</span> 52 BC
|<span style="display:none">Avaricum</span> [[Avaricum]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Bituriges Cubi|Bituriges]], [[Arverni]]
|Siege
|[[France]]
|Victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">52 BC</span> 52 BC
|<span style="display:none">Battle of Gergovia</span> [[Battle of Gergovia]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Gauls|Gallic tribes]]
| Battle
| [[France]]
| Defeat
|-
!scope="row"|September 52 BC
|<span style="display:none">Battle of Alesia</span> [[Battle of Alesia]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Gauls|Gallic]] Confederation
|Siege and Battle
|[[Alise-Sainte-Reine]], [[France]]
|Decisive victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">51 BC</span> 51 BC
|<span style="display:none">Siege of Uxellodunum</span> [[Siege of Uxellodunum]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Gauls|Gallic]]
|Siege
|[[Vayrac]], France
|Victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">June–August 49 BC</span> June–August 49 BC
| rowspan="8" |[[Caesar's civil war|Caesar's Civil War]]
|<span style="display:none">Battle of Ilerda</span> [[Battle of Ilerda]]
|[[Optimates]]<span style="display:none">.</span>
|Battle
|[[Catalonia]], [[Spain]]
|Victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">10 July 48 BC</span> 10 July 48 BC
|[[Battle of Dyrrhachium (48 BC)]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Optimates]]
|Battle
| [[Durrës]], [[Albania]]
|Defeat
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">9 August 48 BC</span> 9 August 48 BC
| [[Battle of Pharsalus]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Pompeians]]
|Battle
|[[Greece]]
|Decisive Victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">47 BC</span> 47 BC
| [[Battle of the Nile (47 BC)|Battle of the Nile]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Ptolemaic Kingdom]]
|Battle
|[[Alexandria]], [[Egypt]]
|Victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">2 August 47 BC</span> 2 August 47 BC
| [[Battle of Zela]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Kingdom of Pontus]]
|Battle
|[[Zile]], [[Turkey]]
|Victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">4 January 46 BC</span> 4 January 46 BC
|<span style="display:none">Battle of Ruspina</span> [[Battle of Ruspina]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Optimates]], [[Numidia]]
|Battle
| Ruspina Africa
|Defeat
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">6 April 46 BC</span> 6 April 46 BC
|<span style="display:none">Battle of Thapsus</span> [[Battle of Thapsus]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Optimates]], [[Numidia]]
|Battle
|[[Tunisia]]
|Decisive Victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">17 March 45 BC</span> 17 March 45 BC
|<span style="display:none">Battle of Munda</span> [[Battle of Munda]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Pompeians]]
|Battle
|Andalusia Spain
|Victory
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|}

==Chronology==

{{Timeline Julius Caesar}}

==See also==
*[[Caesar (title)]]
* [[Caesar cipher]]
* [[Caesareum of Alexandria]]
* ''[[Et tu, Brute?]]''
* ''[[Giulio Cesare]]'' – 1724 opera by [[Handel]]
* [[List of things named after Julius Caesar]]

==Notes==
{{noteslist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Sources==

===Primary sources===

====Own writings====
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite wikisource |author=Julius Caesar |author-link=Julius Caesar |title=Commentarii de Bello Civili |wslink=Commentaries on the Civil War |year=1859 |orig-year=1st century BC |translator1-last=McDevitte |translator1-first=WA |translator2-last=Bohn |translator2-first=WS |publisher=Harper & Brothers |location=New York |series=Harper's New Classical Library |ref={{harvid|Caes. ''BCiv.''}}}}
* {{cite book |author=Caesar |author-link=Julius Caesar |title=Gallic War |year=1917  |orig-year=1st century BC |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/caesar/gallic_war/home.html |translator-last=Edwards |translator-first=Henry John |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |series=Loeb Classical Library |isbn=978-0-674-99080-7 |via=LacusCurtius |ref={{harvid|Caes. ''BGall.''}}}}
{{refend}}

{{refbegin}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080321001344/http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/caesarx.html Forum Romanum Index to Caesar's works online]}} in Latin and translation
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/julius-caesar}}
* {{gutenberg author|id=Julius+Caesar|name=Julius Caesar}}
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=Julius Caesar}}
* {{Librivox author|id=2012}}
{{refend}}

====Ancient historians' writings====
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |author=Appian |title=Civil Wars |year=1913 |orig-year=2nd century AD |series=Loeb Classical Library |publisher= |location=Cambridge |translator-last=White |translator-first=Horace |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/home.html |via=LacusCurtius |ref={{harvid|App. ''BCiv.''}}}}
* {{cite book |author=Cassius Dio |author-link=Cassius Dio |year=1914–1927 |orig-year={{circa|AD 230}} |title=Roman History |url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/home.html |series=Loeb Classical Library |publisher= |translator-last=Cary |translator-first=Earnest |ref={{harvid|Dio}} |via=LacusCurtius}} Published in nine volumes.
* {{cite book |author=Plutarch |chapter=Life of Antony |title=Parallel Lives |chapter-url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Antony*.html |publisher= |series=Loeb Classical Library |year=1920 |orig-year=2nd century AD |volume=9 |translator-first=Bernadotte |translator-last=Perrin |oclc=40115288 |via=LacusCurtius |ref={{harvid|Plut. ''Ant.''}}}}
* {{cite book |author=Plutarch |chapter=Life of Brutus |title=Parallel Lives |chapter-url=http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg061.perseus-eng1 |publisher= |series=Loeb Classical Library |year=1918 |orig-year=2nd century AD |volume=6 |translator-first=Bernadotte |translator-last=Perrin |oclc=40115288 |via=Perseus Digital Library |ref={{harvid|Plut. ''Brut.''}}}}
* {{cite book |author=Plutarch |author-link=Plutarch |chapter=The Life of Cato the Younger |title=Plutarch Lives: Sertorius and Eumenes; Phocion and Cato |translator-last=Perrin |translator-first=Bernadotte |year=1919 |series=Loeb Classical Library |publisher= |chapter-url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Cato_Minor*.html |volume=8 |via=LacusCurtius |ref={{harvid|Plut. ''Cat. Min.''}}}}
* {{cite book |author=Plutarch |chapter=Life of Caesar |title=Parallel Lives |chapter-url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.html |publisher= |series=Loeb Classical Library |year=1919 |orig-year=2nd century AD |volume=7 |translator-first=Bernadotte |translator-last=Perrin |oclc=40115288 |via=LacusCurtius |ref={{harvid|Plut. ''Caes.''}}}}
* {{cite book |author=Plutarch |chapter=Life of Crassus |title=Parallel Lives |chapter-url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html |publisher= |series=Loeb Classical Library |year=1916 |orig-year=2nd century AD |volume=3 |translator-first=Bernadotte |translator-last=Perrin |oclc=40115288 |via=LacusCurtius |ref={{harvid|Plut. ''Crass.''}}}}
* {{cite book |author=Plutarch |chapter=Life of Pompey |title=Parallel Lives |chapter-url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Pompey*.html |publisher= |series=Loeb Classical Library |year=1917 |orig-year=2nd century AD |volume=5 |translator-first=Bernadotte |translator-last=Perrin |oclc=40115288 |via=LacusCurtius |ref={{harvid|Plut. ''Pomp.''}}}}
* {{cite book |author=Suetonius |author-link=Suetonius |chapter=Life of Augustus |title=Lives of the Twelve Caesars |year=1913–1914 |translator-last=Rolfe |translator-first=J C |series=Loeb Classical Library |publisher= |location=Cambridge |chapter-url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Augustus*.html |via=LacusCurtius |ref={{harvid|Suet. ''Aug.''}}}}
* {{cite book |author=Suetonius |author-link=Suetonius |chapter=Life of Caesar |title=Lives of the Twelve Caesars |year=1913–1914 |translator-last=Rolfe |translator-first=J C |series=Loeb Classical Library |publisher= |location=Cambridge |chapter-url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.html |via=LacusCurtius |ref={{harvid|Suet. ''Iul.''}}}}
* {{cite book |author=Velleius Paterculus |title=Roman History |year=1924 |translator-last=Shipley |translator-first=Frederick W |series=Loeb Classical Library |publisher= |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Velleius_Paterculus/home.html |via=LacusCurtius |ref={{harvid|Vell. Pat.}}}}
{{refend}}

===Secondary sources===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Alexander |first=Michael Charles |title=Trials in the late Roman Republic, 149 BC to 50 BC |date=1990 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=0-8020-5787-X |location=Toronto |oclc=41156621}}
* {{Cite book |last=Badian |first=Ernst |chapter=Iulius Caesar, C (2) |title=The Oxford classical dictionary |year=2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bVWcAQAAQBAJ |editor-last1=Hornblower |editor-first1=Simon |display-editors=etal |isbn=978-0-19-954556-8 |edition=4th |oclc=959667246 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.3394 }}
* {{cite book |last=Broughton |first=Thomas Robert Shannon |year=1952 |title=The magistrates of the Roman republic |location=New York |publisher=American Philological Association |author-link=Thomas Robert Shannon Broughton |volume=2}}
* {{cite book |last=Broughton |first=Thomas Robert Shannon |year=1986 |title=The magistrates of the Roman republic |location=Atlanta, GA |publisher=Scholars Press |author-link=Thomas Robert Shannon Broughton |volume=3}}
* {{cite book |last=Boatwright |first=M T |display-authors=etal |title=The Romans, from village to empire |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-511875-8 |location=New York |oclc=52728992}}
* {{cite book |last=Canfora |first=Luciano |title=Julius Caesar: The People's Dictator |publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7486-1936-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZeTEULUngZIC |access-date=2 September 2017 |archive-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126111057/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZeTEULUngZIC |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Crook |editor-first1=John |display-editors=etal |title=The last age of the Roman Republic, 146–43 BC |series=Cambridge Ancient History |volume=9 |edition=2nd |date=1994 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3yUkzNLiY4oC |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-85073-8 |oclc=121060 |ref={{harvid|CAH<sup>2</sup> 9|1994}}}}
** {{harvc |last=Rawson |first=Elizabeth |c=Caesar: civil war and dictatorship |in=CAH<sup>2</sup> 9 |year=1994 |anchor-year=1994a |pages=424–67}}
** {{harvc |last=Rawson |first=Elizabeth |c=The aftermath of the Ides |in=CAH<sup>2</sup> 9 |year=1994 |anchor-year=1994b |pages=468–90}}
** {{harvc |last=Wiseman |first=TP |chapter=Caesar, Pompey, and Rome, 59–50 BC |in=CAH<sup>2</sup> 9 |year=1994 |pages=368–423}}
* {{cite book |last=Drogula |first=Fred K |title=Cato the Younger: life and death at the end of the Roman republic |date=2019 |isbn=978-0-19-086902-1 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |oclc=1090168108}}
* {{cite journal |last=Ehrhardt |first=C T H R |date=1995 |title=Crossing the Rubicon |journal=Antichthon |volume=29 |pages=30–41 |doi=10.1017/S0066477400000927 |s2cid=142429003 |issn=0066-4774 }}
* {{cite book |last=Goldsworthy |first=Adrian |title=Caesar: Life of a Colossus |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-300-12048-6 |author-link=Adrian Goldsworthy |url=https://archive.org/details/caesarlifeofcolo00gold}}
* {{cite book |last=Goldsworthy |first=Adrian |title=In the name of Rome: the men who won the Roman empire |date=2016 |orig-year=First published 2003 |isbn=978-0-300-22183-1 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |oclc=936322646}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Griffin |editor1-first=Miriam |title=A Companion to Julius Caesar |year=2009 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |location=Malden, MA |isbn=978-1-4443-0845-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gzOXLGbIIYwC}}
** {{harvc |last=Badian |first=Ernst |c=From the Iulii to Caesar |in=Griffin |year=2009 |pages=11–22}}
** {{harvc |last=Gruen |first=Erich S |c=Caesar as a politician |in=Griffin |year=2009 |pages=23–36}}
** {{harvc |last=Ramsey |first=John T |c=The proconsular years: politics at a distance |in=Griffin |year=2009 |pages=37–56}}
** {{harvc |last=Paterson |first=Jeremy |c=Caesar the man |in=Griffin |year=2009 |pages=126–40}}
* {{cite book |last=Gruen |first=Erich |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8a4wDwAAQBAJ |title=The last generation of the Roman republic |year=1995 |isbn=0-520-02238-6 |location=Berkeley, CA |publisher=University of California Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Jiménez |first=Ramon L. |title=Caesar Against Rome: The Great Roman Civil War |publisher=Praeger |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-275-96620-1}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lintott |first=Andrew |title=Constitution of the Roman republic |year=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-926108-6 }} Reprinted 2009.
* {{cite book |last=Mackay |first=Christopher S |title=The breakdown of the Roman republic |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |date=2009 |isbn=978-0-521-51819-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Meier |first=Christian |title=Caesar |publisher=Basic Books |year=1995 |orig-year=First published, in German by Severin und Siedler, 1982 |translator-last=McLintock |translator-first=David |isbn=0-465-00895-X}}
* {{cite book |last=Morstein-Marx |first=Robert |title=Julius Caesar and the Roman People |year=2021 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781108943260 |isbn=978-1-108-83784-2 |s2cid=242729962 |lccn=2021024626}}
* {{cite book |last=Tempest |year=2017 |first=Kathryn |title=Brutus: the noble conspirator |publisher=Yale University Press |place=London |isbn=978-0-300-18009-1 |url={{googlebooks|mmo3DwAAQBAJ|plainurl=y}}}}
* {{cite book |last=Weber |first=Max |author-link=Max Weber |title=Caesarism, Charisma, and Fate: Historical Sources and Modern Resonances in the Work of Max Weber |year=2008 |publisher=Transaction Publishers |isbn=978-1-4128-1214-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Mark B |title=Dictator: the evolution of the Roman dictatorship |date=2021 |publisher=Michigan University Press |isbn=978-0-472-13266-9 |location=Ann Arbor, MI |oclc=1197561102}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Spoken Wikipedia|date=10 January 2007|Jcaesar-pt1.ogg|Jcaesar-pt2.ogg|Jcaesar-pt3.ogg}}
* {{DPRR |id=1957 |name=C. Iulius (131) C. f. C. n. Fab. Caesar}}
* {{Wikisource author-inline|Gaius Julius Caesar}}
* {{Wikisource inline|Julius Caesar}}
* {{Library resources about |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |label=Caesar}}
* {{Library resources by |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |label=Caesar}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101129220004/http://virgil.org/caesar/ Guide to online resources]

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{{S-bef | before = [[Lucius Afranius (consul)|Lucius Afranius]] | before2 = [[Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer]]}}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[List of Roman consuls|Roman consul]] | years = 59 BC | with = [[Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus]]}}
{{s-aft | after  = [[Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus (consul 58 BC)|Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus]] | after2 = [[Aulus Gabinius]]}}

{{S-bef | before = [[Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus]] | before2 = [[Gaius Claudius Marcellus (consul 49 BC)|Gaius Claudius Marcellus]]}}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[List of Roman consuls|Roman consul]] II | years = 48 BC | with = [[Publius Servilius Isauricus]]}}
{{s-aft | after  = [[Quintus Fufius Calenus]] | after2 = [[Publius Vatinius]]}}

{{S-bef | before = [[Quintus Fufius Calenus]] | before2 = [[Publius Vatinius]]}}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[List of Roman consuls|Roman consul]] III | years = 46 BC | with = [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)|Marcus Aemilius Lepidus]]}}
{{s-aft | after  = Himself <br /><small>''without colleague''</small>}}

{{S-bef | before = Himself | before2 = [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)|Marcus Aemilius Lepidus]]}}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[List of Roman consuls|Roman consul]] IV | years = January–September 45 BC}}
{{s-aft | after  = Himself | after2 = [[Mark Antony]]}}

{{S-bef | before = Himself <br /><small>''without colleague''</small>}}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[List of Roman consuls|Roman consul]] V | years = 44 BC | with = [[Mark Antony]]}}
{{s-aft | after  = [[Publius Cornelius Dolabella (consul 44 BC)|Publius Cornelius Dolabella]]}}

{{S-rel}}
{{S-bef | before = [[Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius]]}}
{{s-ttl | title  = ''[[List of pontifices maximi|Pontifex maximus]]'' | years = 63–44 BC}}
{{s-aft | after  = [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)|Marcus Aemilius Lepidus]]}}

{{S-end}}
{{Julius Caesar}}
{{Ancient Rome topics|state=collapsed}}
{{Plutarch}}
{{Pontifices Maximi}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Politics|History|Ancient Rome|Europe}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Julius Caesar, Gaius}}<!--sorting using Roman naming conventions would give Julius, Gaius Caesar using gens name as most important naming element (admittedly, this pattern would not actually have occurred during the period, since it is really a means of sorting a list for the modern era in English); however, since he is commonly known as Julius Caesar in English; this should be maintained-->
[[Category:Julius Caesar| ]]
[[Category:100 BC births]]
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[[Category:1st-century BC historians]]
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[[Category:1st-century BC Roman consuls]]
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[[Category:Ancient assassinated people]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman dictators]]
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