JULIUS CAESAR: MY TIMES AND TRIALS
Where
do I start with this narrative? Do I start from the here and now? Do I start
with my conquests? I know, I should start with the date. Today is two days
before the Ides of Martius from the founding of the
city (henceforth referred to as A.U.C.) 7091, and I am Gaius Julius
Caesar. Within this scroll, I plan to
answer all questions any Roman citizen may want to ask about me, from my
childhood, to the Gallic Wars (though my publication of my notes in A.U.C. 702
should have answered them all), finally covering my acceptance of the title of
dictator for life on the Ides of Februarius this
year.
I
was born two days before the Ides of Quintillis
in A.U.C. 653 in the glorious city of Rome2. The name of Caesar had fallen into decline
but even then I knew that I, Julius Caesar, would make it famous once more. My
father, also named Gaius Julius Caesar, was elected quaestor in A.U.C. 654, elected
praetor in A.U.C. 661, and was made governor of Asia the next year3. However, the most
impressive member my family was my uncle Gaius Marius, a Roman general who
married into the Caesar family. When I was twelve, I was sent to live with him.
Most of the time, he was incredibly boring, but when he talked about all of the
battles he had fought in, I paid attention. His military strategies would help
shape my own, though my improvements were what really helped me win. Marius,
even in his old age, could still command an army and as “a man of the people”
in A.U.C. 666, he took control of Rome and massacred many of his enemy Sulla’s
followers. What did this mean for me? Well, at the tender age of thirteen, I
was made the High Priest of Jupiter, a prominent position in Roman society4.
The next year, Marius got himself elected
consul. That was good for the Caesars. What went wrong? Marius was old and
weak, however, and no more than a few days after his election, he died. I had
lost one of my role models and protectors, but all was not lost. I still had my
father…until he died when I was fifteen, forcing me to go through a ceremony to
become a man. Was this a good thing? I don’t think so. As a Roman man, I could
now be executed. Until Sulla returned, however, I was relatively safe. When I
was sixteen, I married a beautiful girl named Cornelia and we had two years of
wedded bliss. Unfortunately for me, Sulla returned in A.U.C. 671 and promptly
made himself dictator of Rome, though he may not have called himself that. In A.U.C 672, Sulla
turned his vengeful eyes towards me (after all, I was the nephew of Marius) and
forced me to flee Rome. Since I was
only nineteen, however, Sulla was persuaded to pardon me on one condition: I
had to divorce my beloved Cornelia as a sign that I was loyal to him. Cornelia,
I forgot to mention, was the daughter of one of Marius’ greatest allies. I
refused, even though the penalty was banishment or even death. Apparently, Sulla
was impressed by my loyalty and pardoned me anyway. But standing up to a
dictator does have consequences. He seized Cornelia's dowry and took away my office
of High Priest, because he saw the potential for “many Mariuses5."
Every cloud has a silver lining though, because in the same year my daughter
Julia was born. Even though you’re pardoned by the reigning power doesn’t mean
you’re entirely safe, so the next year I found a position with the governor of Asia,
meaning I was out of Rome all of
the time. One of my first assignments was to be sent to Bithynia, where I was supposed to send a unit of
ships back to the governor. It takes a long time to convince a king to send
supplies, even if they are an ally. I spent so long there that my enemies
insisted I was having an affair with the king, which I was NOT! Anyway, the
reason the governor needed the ships was because he was planning a siege
of Mytilene. I fought during the siege and so
distinguished myself that I earned the Citizen’s
crown, a crown made of laurel that showed the Roman world that I was brave (Not
the effeminate man my enemies were making me look like).
Finally in A.U.C. 675, Sulla died, taking a
huge weight off of my shoulders. I could finally return to my beloved Italy and I did so in style. When I
arrived, I prosecuted the consular Cornelius Dolabella
(a former lieutenant of Sulla’s) for extortion while serving as governor. Even
though I lost, everyone in Rome now
knew that I was back. Besides that one political statement, I stayed out of
politics in general, preferring to make myself better known as an orator. In
fact, I traveled to Rhodes in A.U.C. 677 to better
understand rhetoric. On the way, however, I was trapped by pirates. They had no
idea who they had captured, so they set my ransom at twenty talents of silver.
I demanded that the ransom be raised to fifty talents of silver. After all, I
was the great Caesar! I spent my time writing poetry and telling the pirates
that I would return and crucify them, which they laughed at. After thirty-eight
days, my servants raised the money to free me. I promptly borrowed money for a
fleet of ships and proved to the pirates that I wasn’t lying6. I then
continued on to Rhodes.
Peace
was elusive and in A.U.C. 678, I found myself raising a small army and
defending some towns from Mithridates of Pontus. Mithridates was
aiming for Bithynia,
but since I had held off parts of the attackers, Rome
was able to send a general to defeat him. Of course, the king of Bithynia
was grateful and when he died later the same year, he bequeathed Bithynia
to Rome, BECAUSE he was grateful,
NOT because I had an affair with him. Since I was now a famous war hero, I
could return to Rome with honor.
During this time, I formed a bond with someone who would become one of my
closest allies, Marcus Crassus.
In
A.U.C. 684, my aunt Julia died (the one who had been married to Marius) and I
saw my chance to make myself the new Marius, the new “man of the people.” At
her funeral, I went on and on about how great Marius was and indirectly, the
Caesars’ accomplishments throughout history. The people flocked to me,
considered me one of their own, and elected me quaestor the next year. My wife Cornelia had died around the same time
as my aunt, and even though no one could ever replace her, I married Pompeia, the granddaughter of Sulla, as a unification measure in A.U.C. 686. In A.U.C. 688, I was elected aedile, the person responsible for the average Roman
citizen’s entertainment. This was a great political move, because I arranged
huge games for the Roman people, with my name humbly displayed, just so the
Roman people knew who had set the games up. Two years later, I was elected the
high priest of all Rome and my young nephew Octavian was born. He’ll be a great leader
someday…if he gets a little healthier. Anyway, in A.U.C. 671, I was elected
praetor. This year was particularly hard on me, since I had to divorce my wife
because of a scandal involving a young man named Clodius
who had ruined the Good Goddess festival, which as you know has to be
celebrated by women only in the house of the High Priest of Rome’s house... and
since I hadn’t let him in, Pompeia was under
suspicion. Better she becomes tainted
instead of my fledgling political career7. The next year, I became governor of Hispania.
Since there was some unrest in Hispania, I restored order. Is it my
fault those rebels had conquered the silver mines of Gallaecia
and I was forced to plunder them? Of course not! The Roman people agreed with
me and elected me Consul in A.U.C 674...with the help of Crassus and Pompey.
Thus the Triumvirate was formed. Of course, Pompey and Crassus got favors for
helping me out. I forced land reforms through the Senate for Pompey's soldiers,
making sure they had land. Crassus' tax-farming proposals were passed, which of
course would lead to more wealth for him. I also let Pompey marry my beloved
daughter, Julia and I married my fourth wife, Calpurnia.
As one of my final acts as Consul, I made sure to receive Cisalpine
Gaul, Illyricum,
and, since the governor of Transalpine Gaul had just
died, I received it too. Why did I specifically want these provinces? Well, in
each province, there were four legions8. Since I owed a lot of money
to creditors, what safer place was there to be?
Ah,
Gaul. Gaul has given me much of
the fame I have today. And to think, I never intended to attack anyone.
However, the migration of the Helvetians,
one of the many tribes in the area, wanted to migrate to the southern part of Gaul
and had to cross through Roman territories.
There wasn’t anyway I was going to let them cross. Besides, I could
impress the Senate if I stopped the “invasion.”
Even better (or worse), there were reports about Germans that were
attacking the Aedui,
another Gallic tribe that was allied to Rome.
If I defeated them all, I would be as great as Marius and Sulla…no even better
than them! I went after the Helvetians first and stopped them in their tracks,
decimating their army. Once the Helvetians were defeated, I went after the
Germans. Of course, with my superior tactics, I won. Lesser men would have
rested, but not me! I decided to conquer all of Gaul, so
I could prevent other tribes from rising up to attack Rome,
of course. But when everything was finally calm in northern Gaul,
I had to deal with the Triumvirate. Pompey and Crassus were at each other’s
throats and the whole Senate was against them. We decided to let bygones be bygones, and I
helped both of them be elected to the Consulate in A.U.C. 698. With their
Consulship, they let me stay in Gaul to fight the Gallic
tribes in case they threatened Rome,
which they did, specifically the ones from Brittany
and Normandy. But they were not
alone, German tribes had come to support them. I decimated the Gallic tribes
and their German supporters. Then, I crossed the Rhine
to teach all of the other German tribes who had supported the Gallic tribes a
lesson. Then, I went to Britain
on a simple reconnaissance mission. In A.U.C. 699, however, tragedy struck.
First, my mother died and then my beloved daughter died in childbirth. When it
rains, it pours, so it did in my private life and in Rome
in A.U.C. 700. Crassus died (personal) and Rome
had continued riots until Quintillis of that year. In A.U.C. 701, the disorder
in Rome broke out again, and
because of it, Pompey is elected as a consul without a partner. He has to serve
alone until order is restored in Sextilis. However,
I’m getting rather tired of Gaul and I negotiate to run
for the consulship in A.U.C. 704. After
conquering a united Gallic front, I’m ready to go home. Then the trouble
started. In A.U.C. 703, the Roman senate demanded that Pompey and I disband our
legions, since they feared civil war. However, if I disbanded, my enemies would
be free to take me to court. I couldn’t disband, I wouldn’t disband! In Januarius A.U.C. 704, I crossed the Rubicon and started the
Second Civil War. It didn’t turn out that bad. In the end, Pompey was killed, I
met Cleopatra (a very fascinating woman who holds Egypt in her hands now, thanks to me) and had a
son9. I then hurried over to Asia Minor, where I subdued the rebelling factions.
Finally, with everything settled, I could return to Rome…where everyone had rioted yet again. I subdued
the rioters (funny how by talking to them and making them feel listened to, you
can make them stop). Most of my enemies had taken refuge in Africa, where they hoped to gather enough forces
to reclaim Rome. A.U.C. 707 brought things to a head. I was
reelected consul, I attacked their forces, they were defeated, and I won. With my
being reelected as consul last year, and the ceremony to make me dictator for
life this year, everything within Rome is under my control. And that’s a good
thing, because I have a meeting on the Ides of Martius
with the Senate to finalize my campaign in Parthia three days later.
1 Every
Roman month contained three days of particular importance:
- Calends Occurred on the first day of every month.
- Ides Occurred on the 15th day of every month which contained 31 days,
and the 13th day of all other months.
- Nones Occurred always nine days before the Ides,
on either the 5th or 7th of the month.
A.U.C. -Ab Urbe Condita - From the Founding of the City
Unlike our modern Christian calendar which
enumerates the years from the birth of Jesus Christ, the Roman calendar counted
the years ab urbe condita or "from
the founding of the city". The city of Rome was founded in 753 BC or A.U.C. 1.
2. Probably born in Rome, no one’s really sure
3. Only one source backs this up.
4. Never officially sworn in
5.
Plutarch, “Caesar”
6. Highly documented as a demonstration of
Caesar’s drive
7. Caesar actually said, “Caesar's wife must
be above suspicion.”
8. A legion was an army unit of some 4,800
heavily armed, professional infantrymen
9. Caesarion,
Caesar’s son, was later illed by Octavian.
BIBLIOGRPHY
“History of the Hellenistic and Roman World
:Biographies: Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44)”
<http://www.fenrir.dk/history/bios/caesar>.
(23.Nov.2004)
Lendering, Jona.
“Caius Julius Caesar Sr.”
<http://www.livius.org/jo-jz/julius/caius_julius_caesar_sr.html>.
(25.Nov.2004)
Plutarch, translated by John Dryden. “Caesar.”
<http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/caesar.html>.
(19.Nov.2004)
“Roman
Calendar.” 2004.
<http://www.roman-britain.org/calendar.htm>.
(22.Nov.2004)