However, he adds, a dangerous outsider who used her beauty to grasp for power “is far more interesting than a competent administrator and ruler, and so that was the version that survived.” “She was a highly educated and skilled administrator,” says historian Duane Roller, author of Cleopatra: A Biography, “who fought very hard-yet unsuccessfully-to save her kingdom in a changing world.” Though she failed in the end, she proved to be one of the most adept rulers in history. For nearly 20 years, she safeguarded the legacy of Egypt’s ancient civilization and almost did the impossible: keeping Egypt independent from Rome. Her name alone evokes images of striking beauty.īut the story many people know of Cleopatra, the famous Egyptian queen, overshadows who she really was, historians say. The Senate posthumously granted him the title Divine Julius, making him the first historical Roman to be deified.She’s been the subject of countless movies, plays, and books. In keeping with Caesar’s eternal quest for glory, in death he acquired one last title and tribute. His designated heir, Octavian, outlasted Caesar’s antagonists and became the first Roman emperor. Though the conspirators eliminated Caesar himself, they neither thwarted his plans nor saved the republic. On the Ides of March (March 15), 44 B.C., Caesar was assassinated, stabbed 23 times. Threatened by Caesar’s tyranny, a group of conspirators-led by Brutus-plotted against him. When he declared himself dictator for life in 45 B.C., he sealed his fate. He also was magnanimous to his opponents, including Marcus Junius Brutus, a supporter of Pompey.Ĭaesar’s ambitious power grabs through political reform alienated many senators. He increased the size of the Senate for broader participation and opened citizenship to more foreigners. As ruler, he enacted several beneficial measures for Rome. As Caesar pursued Pompey loyalists in North Africa, he became politically and romantically entangled with the queen Cleopatra and had a son with her named Caesarion.Ĭaesar returned, triumphant, to Rome in 46 B.C. Pompey fled to Egypt, but he was betrayed and killed when he came ashore. Learn about the rise and fall of Ancient Rome and how its influence still endures today. Though Pompey had assembled an army twice the size of Caesar’s, Caesar defeated him decisively at Pharsalus in 48 B.C. Caesar drove Pompey out of Italy and chased him to Greece. The act was a declaration of civil war and a direct challenge to Pompey and his troops, who were enlisted to protect the interests of the Senate. In January 49 B.C., Julius Caesar and his army crossed the Rubicon River into Italy, the boundary beyond which he could not legally command troops.
In all, Caesar’s campaign killed or enslaved more than a million Gauls, a crushing victory that deepened the growing rivalry with Pompey, who had taken Caesar’s place as consul. The Gaul leader Vercingetorix was paraded in chains through Rome before being ritually strangled. Caesar’s seven-year Gaul campaign ended triumphantly in 51 B.C. He knew he needed a great military victory to win lasting glory beyond politics, so he set out to conquer the long-defiant Gauls-Celts who lived in modern-day France. But when he led his troops across the Rubicon River in defiance of the Roman Senate, he distinguished himself for the ages and set Rome on a path of transformation from republic to empire.Ĭaesar made the political prime time at around age 40 by forging the First Triumvirate with Pompey the Great, noted general and statesman, and Marcus Licinius Crassus, one of Rome’s richest men. Few Romans would have chosen young Julius Caesar (ca 100–44 B.C.) as the man most likely to succeed on a grand scale and dominate their world.
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