The Gabali ( Gaulish : * Gabli ) were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the later Gévaudan region during the Iron Age and the Roman period .
168-411: They are mentioned as Gabalos or Gabalis by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC), as Gabalei͂s (Γαβαλεῖς) by Strabo (early 1st c. AD), as Gabales by Pliny (1st c. AD), and as Tábaloi (Τάβαλοι) by Ptolemy (2nd c. AD). The ethnonym Gabali is a Latinized form of Gaulish * Gabloi . It derives from the stem gablo- (cf. Olr. gabul , Middle Welsh gafl , OBret. gabl ), initially designating
336-660: A besieging force, Caesar continued to Spain with a small bodyguard and 900 German auxiliary cavalry. He arrived in June ;49 and at Ilerda he defeated a Pompeian army under legates Lucius Afranius and Marcus Petreius . Pompey's remaining legate in Spain, Marcus Terentius Varro surrendered shortly thereafter, putting all of Spain under Caesar's control. Concurrent to Caesar's invasion of Spain, he sent his lieutenant Curio to invade Sicily and Africa assisted by Gaius Caninius Rebilus , where his forces were decisively defeated in
504-525: A bloody battle at Munda on 17 March 45 BC, Caesar narrowly found victory; his enemies were treated as rebels and he had them massacred. Labienus died on the field. While one of Pompey's sons, Sextus , escaped, the war was effectively over. 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. By this point he had started preparations for war on
672-518: A bridge across the river Rhine . These achievements and the support of his veteran army threatened to eclipse the standing of Pompey, who had realigned himself with the Senate after the death of Crassus in 53 BC. With the Gallic Wars concluded, the Senate ordered Caesar to step down from his military command and return to Rome. In 49 BC, Caesar openly defied the Senate's authority by crossing
840-529: A certain amount, and thrown games distributing food. 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. Caesar%27s Civil War Caesar's civil war (49–45 BC) was a civil war during the late Roman Republic between two factions led by Gaius Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey), respectively. The main cause of
1008-459: A collateral manner in the trial of 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. 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, the chance that he
1176-542: A constitutional impossibility – which led Caesar to distance himself from the proposals: hopes for a provincial command and need to repair relations with the aristocracy took priority. 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" – but there
1344-440: A consulship during the domination of Lucius Cornelius Cinna and instead chose retirement. During Cinna's dominance, Caesar was named as flamen Dialis (a priest of Jupiter ) which led to his marriage to Cinna's daughter, 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
1512-517: A crisis in Asia persuaded Caesar to leave Egypt in the middle of 47 BC, at which time sources suggest Cleopatra was already pregnant. He left behind three legions under the command of a son of one of his freedmen to secure Cleopatra's rule. Cleopatra likely bore a child, which she called "Ptolemy Caesar" and which the Alexandrians called "Caesarion", in late June. Caesar believed that the child
1680-465: A few weeks. Caesar's victory was so swift that in a letter to a friend in Rome, he quipped " Veni, vidi, vici " ("I came, I saw, I conquered"), a tag repeated on placards carried in his Pontic triumph; he also mocked Pompey for making his name fighting such weak enemies. At Rome, however, during these Egyptian and Pontic campaigns, politics continued. Publius Cornelius Dolabella was serving as one of
1848-480: A force of ten legions (likely understrength like Caesar's legions) and large contingents of allied cavalry under King Juba I of Numidia , who also led some 120 war elephants. With the benefit of surprise, Caesar had the time needed to find and reorganise his scattered forces, also sending orders to Sicily to return with reinforcements. As the Pompeians had already acquired most of the available food supplies, Caesar
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#17327758405382016-494: A guest of the king, Nicomedes IV , though later invective connected Caesar to a homosexual relation with the monarch. He then served at the 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
2184-503: A highly volatile political environment. This led to Pompey's sole consulship in 52 BC in which he took sole control of the city without convening an electoral assembly. Political agitation to strip Caesar of his command and his legions had already started in the spring of 51 BC: M Claudius Marcellus argued in that year that the capture of Alesia and victory over Vercingetorix meant that Caesar's provincia (i.e., task) in Gaul
2352-429: A last resort. At the start of 49 BC, Caesar's renewed offer that he and Pompey disarm was read to the Senate and was rejected by the hardliners. A later compromise given privately to Pompey was also rejected at their insistence. On 7 January, his supportive tribunes were driven from Rome; the Senate then declared Caesar an enemy and it issued its senatus consultum ultimum . There is scholarly disagreement as to
2520-498: A legion and five cohorts in the winter of 55–54 BC produced substantial concern in Rome about Caesar's command and competence, evidenced by the highly defensive narrative in Caesar's Commentaries . The death of Caesar's daughter and Pompey's wife Julia in childbirth c. late August 54 did not create a rift between Caesar and Pompey. At the start of 53 BC, Caesar sought and received reinforcements by recruitment and
2688-471: A major career for Caesar. In early 84 BC, Caesar's father died suddenly. After Sulla 's victory in the civil war (82 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 lists , though scholars are mixed. Caesar then went into hiding before his relatives and contacts among
2856-407: A meeting of the rump Senate on 1 April; the turnout was poor. There, Caesar repeated his grievances and requested senatorial envoys be sent to negotiate with Pompey; though the motion was passed, nobody volunteered. A meeting of the concilium plebis also was called; although Caesar promised every citizen a gift of 300 sestertii and a guarantee of the grain supply, the reception was muted. When one of
3024-415: A number of symbolic honours which saw Caesar's portrait placed on coins in Rome – the first for a living Roman – 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 Julius (now July). These were symbols of divine monarchy and, later, objects of resentment. The decisions on
3192-495: 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. Caesar then moved to extend his agrarian bill to Campania some time in May; this may be when Bibulus withdrew to his house. Pompey, shortly thereafter, also wed Caesar's daughter Julia to seal their alliance. An ally of Caesar's, plebeian tribune Publius Vatinius moved
3360-433: A permanent veto for the entire year. This clearly violated the people's well-established legislative sovereignty and triggered a riot in which Bibulus' fasces were broken, symbolising popular rejection of his magistracy. 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. Caesar also brought and passed
3528-654: A plan. The decision to sell the confiscated properties at market price disappointed some of Caesar's allies, but also indicated his dire financial straits. Caesar ordered his men to gather in Lilybaeum on Sicily in late December. He placed a minor member of the Scipio family – one Scipio Salvito or Salutio – on this staff because of the myth that no Scipio could be defeated in Africa. He assembled six legions there and set out for Africa on 25 December 47 BC. The transit
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#17327758405383696-470: A post in Cilicia and thence to Pompey's camp. Caesar's most trusted lieutenant in Gaul, Titus Labienus also defected from Caesar to Pompey, possibly due to Caesar's hoarding of military glories or an earlier loyalty to Pompey. Caesar's timing was far-sighted: Italy was totally unprepared for an invasion. Caesar captured Ariminum (modern day Rimini ) without resistance, his men having already infiltrated
3864-540: A private deal with Pompey before two years of largely unsuccessful campaigning against Gallic insurgents. In the same year, Crassus's campaign ended in disaster at the Battle of Carrhae , culminating in his death at the hands of the Parthians . When in 52 BC Pompey started the year with a sole consulship to restore order to the city, Caesar was in Gaul suppressing insurgencies; after news of his victory at Alesia, with
4032-458: A rearguard of two legions waiting for transport. While Caesar tried to block the harbour with earthworks and reopen negotiations, the earthworks were unsuccessful and Pompey refused to negotiate, escaping east with almost all of his men and all the ships in the region. Following this setback and taking advantage of Pompey's escape east, Caesar marched west to Hispania . While in Italy, he assembled
4200-493: A rebel". On both sides, the rank and file soldiers followed their leaders: "the Gallic legions obeyed their patron and benefactor [who] deserved well of the res publica ... others followed Pompey and the consuls [who] represented the res publica ". Caesar made sure to address his men: according to his own account, he spoke of injustices done to him by his political enemies, how Pompey had betrayed him, and focused mostly on how
4368-617: A reserve line of Caesar's troops, leading to the collapse of the Pompeian infantry against Caesar's veterans. Shortly after the battle and sometime in October, Caesar was named dictator for the second time, for an entire year. Pompey, despairing of the defeat, fled with his advisors overseas to Mytilene and thence to Cilicia where he held a council of war; at the same time, Cato's supporters regrouped at Corcyra and went thence to Libya. Others, including Marcus Junius Brutus sought Caesar's pardon, travelling over marshlands to Larissa where he
4536-445: A second consulship and triumph, in which failure to do so would have jeopardised his political future. Moreover, war in 49 BC was advantageous for Caesar, who had continued military preparations while Pompey and the republicans had barely started preparing. Even in ancient times, the causes of the war were puzzling and perplexing, with specific motives "nowhere to be found". Various pretexts existed, such as Caesar's claim that he
4704-417: A second consulship – first mooted in 52 as colleague to Pompey's sole consulship – and a triumph. He feared that his opponents – then holding both consulships for 50 BC – would reject his candidacy or refuse to ratify an election he won. 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 ), to suppress
4872-497: A siege. After Ahenobarbus received a letter from Pompey denying support, he claimed help was on the way but was caught planning a personal escape; in response, his men arrested him and sent envoys to surrender to Caesar after a short week-long siege. Among the surrendered were some fifty senators and equestrians, all of whom Caesar allowed to go free. When Corfinium's local magistrates handed over some six million sestertii that Ahenobarbus had brought to pay his men, Caesar returned it to
5040-524: 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. 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
5208-403: A well-accepted member of the aristocracy with great future prospects in his political career. Caesar decided to return shortly thereafter and on his return was elected one of the military tribunes for 71 BC. There is no evidence that Caesar served in war – even though the war on Spartacus was on-going – during his term; he did, however, agitate for the removal of Sulla's disabilities on
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5376-494: A year, and by April 46 BC he was given a new dictatorship annually. The task he was assigned revived that of Sulla's dictatorship: rei publicae constituendae . 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. Through
5544-531: A year-long dictatorship, after news of his victory at Pharsalus arrived to Rome. While in Alexandria, he started an affair with Cleopatra and withstood a siege by Ptolemy and his other sister Arsinoe until March 47 BC. Reinforced by eastern client allies under Mithridates of Pergamum , he then defeated Ptolemy at the Battle of the Nile and installed Cleopatra as ruler. Caesar and Cleopatra celebrated
5712-492: 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
5880-465: Is considered by many historians to be one of the greatest military commanders in history. His cognomen was subsequently adopted as a synonym for " Emperor "; the title " Caesar " was used throughout the Roman Empire, giving rise to modern descendants such as Kaiser and Tsar . He has frequently appeared in literary and artistic works . Gaius Julius Caesar was born into a patrician family,
6048-564: Is no indication that Caesar supported Clodius in any way. After his praetorship, Caesar was appointed to govern Hispania Ulterior pro consule . 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. He campaigned against the Callaeci and Lusitani and seized the Callaeci capital in northwestern Spain, bringing Roman troops to
6216-435: The gens Julia on 12 July 100 BC. The family claimed to have immigrated to Rome from Alba Longa during the seventh century 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
6384-439: The lex Pompeia Licinia extending Caesar's command and the lex Trebonia giving them respective commands in Spain and Syria, though Pompey never left for the province and remained politically active at Rome. The opposition again unified against their heavy-handed political tactics – though not against Caesar's activities in Gaul – and defeated the allies in the elections of that year. The ambush and destruction in Gaul of
6552-446: The lex Vatinia assigning the provinces of Illyricum and Cisalpine Gaul to Caesar for five years. Suetonius' claim that the Senate had assigned to Caesar the silvae callesque ("woods and tracks") is likely an exaggeration: fear of Gallic invasion had grown in 60 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'". The Senate
6720-466: The Battle of Ilerda before forcing surrender of the third ; his legates moved into Sicily and into Africa , though the African expedition failed. Returning to Rome in the autumn, Caesar had Lepidus, as praetor, bring a law appointing Caesar dictator to conduct the elections; he, along with Publius Servilius Isauricus , won the following elections and would serve as consuls for 48 BC. Resigning
6888-796: The Battle of Vosges . 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 BC suppressing the Belgae and dispersing his troops to campaign across much of Gaul, including against the Veneti in what is now Brittany . At this point, almost all of Gaul – except its central regions – fell under Roman subjugation. Seeking to buttress his military reputation, he engaged Germans attempting to cross
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7056-663: The Battle of the Bagradas River in August 49 BC. Curio was killed in battle. Returning to Rome in December 49 BC, Caesar left Quintus Cassius Longinus in command of Spain and had praetor Marcus Aemilius Lepidus appoint him dictator . As dictator, he conducted elections for the consulship of 48 BC before using the dictatorial powers to pass laws recalling from exile those condemned by Pompey's courts in 52 BC, excepting Titus Annius Milo , and restoring
7224-486: The Black Sea in northern Anatolia. His invasion had swept aside Caesar's legates and the local client kings, but Caesar engaged him at Zela and defeated him immediately, leading Caesar to write veni, vidi, vici ("I came, I saw, I conquered"), downplaying Pompey's previous Pontic victories. He then left quickly for Italy. Caesar's absence from Italy put Mark Antony, as magister equitum , in charge. His rule
7392-468: The Cimbri . According to Plutarch's narrative, the trophies were restored overnight to the applause and tears of joy of the onlookers; 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. It is more likely that Caesar
7560-751: 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 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 invaded Britain and built
7728-607: The Parthians to avenge Crassus' death at Carrhae in 53 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 BC. Prior to Caesar's assumption of the title dictator perpetuo in February 44 BC, he had been appointed dictator some four times since his first dictatorship in 49 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
7896-564: The Senate to demand Caesar give up his provinces and armies in the opening days of 49 BC. Caesar refused and instead marched on Rome . The war was fought in Italy, Illyria , Greece , Egypt , Africa , and Hispania . The decisive events occurred in Greece in 48 BC: Pompey defeated Caesar at the Battle of Dyrrhachium , but the subsequent larger Battle of Pharsalus was won by Caesar and Pompey's army disintegrated. Many prominent supporters of Pompey (termed Pompeians) surrendered after
8064-494: The Vestal Virgins were able to intercede on his behalf. 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" is apocryphal. 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
8232-540: The last civil war of the Roman Republic . Octavian set about solidifying his power, and the era of the Roman Empire began. Caesar was an accomplished author and historian as well as a statesman; 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
8400-625: The 'forked branch of a tree', then more generally a 'fork'. The name is related to the Gallo-Latin * gabalottus ('spear'), which may have given the word javelot in French. The city of Javols , attested ca. 400 AD as civitas Gabalum (' civitas of the Gabali', Javols in 1109), and the Gévaudan region, attested in the 1st c. AD as Gabalicus pagus ( Gavuldanum in the 10th c., Gavalda in
8568-703: The 13th c.), are named after the Gallic tribe. The Gabali dwelled in the Gévaudan region, on the north-western foot of the Cevennes. Their territory was located south of the Arveni , and north of the Ruteni . Their chief town was Anderitum (present-day Javols ). They were subject, and allied to the Averni . They are mentioned in Book VII of Caesar's Commentaries . During Caesar's conquest of Gaul they were raiding
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#17327758405388736-528: The Adriatic. Arriving at Brundisium, Caesar did not have enough transports to sail his entire force, meaning that multiple voyages across the Adriatic would be needed; this was complicated by a Pompeian fleet stationed on the eastern side of the Adriatic under the command of Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus . Sailing on 4 January 48 BC – in reality, due to drift from the Roman calendar , late autumn – Caesar took
8904-524: The Athenian playwright Menander , in Greek, " let the die be cast ". Pompey and many senators fled south, believing that Caesar was marching quickly for Rome. Caesar, after capturing communication routes to Rome, paused and opened negotiations, but they fell apart amid mutual distrust. Caesar responded by advancing south, seeking to capture Pompey to force a conference. Pompey withdrew to Brundisium and
9072-461: The Atlantic and seizing enough plunder to pay his debts. Claiming to have completed the peninsula's conquest, he made for home after having been hailed imperator . When he arrived home in the summer of 60 BC, he was then forced to choose between a triumph and election to the consulship: either he could remain outside the pomerium (Rome's sacred boundary) awaiting a triumph or cross
9240-553: The Mediterranean and also supported the lex Manilia in 66 BC to reassign the Third Mithridatic War from its then-commander Lucullus to Pompey. Four years after his aunt Julia's funeral, in 65 BC, Caesar served as curule aedile and staged lavish games that won him further attention and popular support. He also restored the trophies won by Marius, and taken down by Sulla, over Jugurtha and
9408-424: The Pompeians by surprise, with Pompey's troops dispersed to winter quarters and Bibulus' fleet not ready. Bibulus' fleet, however, quickly sprung into action and captured some of Caesar's transports as they returned to Brundisium, leaving Caesar stranded with some seven legions and little food. Caesar then pushed to Apollonia with little local resistance, allowing him to secure a base and some food stores; seeing that
9576-477: The Rhine, which marked it as a Roman frontier; displaying Roman engineering prowess, he here built a bridge across the Rhine in a feat of engineering meant to show Rome's ability to project power. Ostensibly seeking to interdict British aid to his Gallic enemies, he led expeditions into southern Britain in 55 and 54 BC, perhaps seeking further conquests or otherwise wanting to impress readers in Rome; Britain at
9744-511: The Romans arrived near the hilltop town of Zela, Pharnaces launched an all-out attack as the Romans were entrenching. The attack caused confusion among Caesar's forces but they quickly recovered and drove Pharnaces' forces down the hill. After a breakthrough on the Caesarian right, Pharnaces' army routed. He fled back to his kingdom but was promptly assassinated. The whole campaign had taken just
9912-636: 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, Caesar began a programme of social and governmental reform, including the creation of the Julian calendar . He gave citizenship to many residents of far regions of the Roman Republic. He initiated land reforms to support his veterans and initiated an enormous building programme. In early 44 BC, he
10080-439: The Senate at the end for execution. 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. He then supported the attempt by plebeian tribune Metellus Nepos to transfer
10248-539: The Senate by 370 in favour to 22 against on 1 December 50 BC, it was rejected by Pompey and the consul. The consul, C Claudius Marcellus then seized upon rumours that Caesar was preparing to invade Italy and charged Pompey with defending the city and the Republic. One of the reasons given as to why Caesar decided to go to war was that he would be prosecuted for legal irregularities during his consulship in 59 BC and violations of various laws passed by Pompey in
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#173277584053810416-575: 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 BC. 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. The three allies' relations broke down in 57 BC: one of Pompey's allies challenged Caesar's land reform bill and
10584-477: The Senate ignored it and moved the senatus consultum ultimum , empowering the magistrates to take whatever actions were necessary to ensure the safety of the state. In response, a number of those pro-Caesarian tribunes, dramatising their plight, fled the city for Caesar's camp. On the 10th or 11 January, Caesar crossed the Rubicon , a small river marking the boundary between the province of Cisalpine Gaul to
10752-435: The Senate in hope that it would take up the matter to show its beneficence for the people, 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. Unable to overcome Cato's filibustering, he moved the bill before the people and, at a public meeting, Caesar's co-consul Bibulus threatened
10920-514: The Senate stalled and was regardless dropped. He stayed near the city until some time around mid-March. 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 BC. Each
11088-418: The allies had a poor showing in the elections that year. With a real threat to Caesar's command and acta brewing in 56 BC under the aegis of the unfriendly consuls, Caesar needed his allies' political support. 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 and his younger brother Clodius for
11256-410: The autumn, Cicero and others sought disarmament by both Caesar and Pompey, and on 1 December 50 BC this was formally proposed in the Senate. It received overwhelming support – 370 to 22 – but was not passed when one of the consuls dissolved the meeting. 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
11424-443: The battle, such as Marcus Junius Brutus and Cicero . Others fought on, including Cato the Younger and Metellus Scipio . Pompey fled to Egypt, where he was assassinated upon arrival. Caesar led a military expedition to Asia Minor before attacking North Africa, where he defeated Metellus Scipio in 46 BC at the Battle of Thapsus . Cato and Metellus Scipio killed themselves shortly thereafter. The following year, Caesar defeated
11592-533: The beginning he had taken great pride in his clemency". Egypt by this time had been embroiled in repeated civil wars, also frequently arbitrated by Rome – helped in part due to the massive bribes Egyptian monarchs gave to Roman leaders – which eroded the realm's independence. While in Egypt, Caesar started to get involved in a dynastic dispute between Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra , who in the will (registered in Rome) of
11760-456: The body of the traditional structure". The most important of Caesar's reforms was to the calendar, which saw the abolition of the traditional republican lunisolar calendar and its replacement with a solar calendar now called the Julian calendar . 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
11928-479: The boundary, giving up his command and triumph, to make a declaration of consular candidacy. 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. Faced with the choice between a triumph and the consulship, Caesar chose the consulship. Caesar stood for the consulship of 59 BC along with two other candidates. His political position at
12096-468: The capture of Mytilene, Caesar transferred to the staff of Publius Servilius Vatia in Cilicia before learning of Sulla's death in 78 BC and returning home immediately. He was alleged to have wanted to join in on the consul Lepidus ' revolt that year but this is likely literary embellishment of Caesar's desire for tyranny from a young age. Afterward, Caesar attacked some of the Sullan aristocracy in
12264-412: The city met with senatorial leaders with a more conciliatory message, with Caesar willing to give up Transalpine Gaul if he would be permitted to keep two legions and the right to stand for consul without giving up his imperium (and, thus, right to triumph), but these terms were rejected by Cato, who declared he would not agree to anything unless it was presented publicly before the Senate. The Senate
12432-446: The city; he captured three more cities in quick succession. News of Caesar's incursion into Italy reached Rome around 17 January. In response Pompey "issued an edict in which he recognised a state of civil war, ordered all the senators to follow him, [and] declared that he would regard as a partisan of Caesar any one who remained behind". Pompey and his allies left the city along with many uncommitted senators, fearing bloody reprisals of
12600-486: The civil war. Some of the Sullan nobles – including 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. Contra Plutarch, Caesar's action here was likely in keeping with a political trend for reconciliation and normalisation rather than a display of renewed factionalism. Caesar quickly remarried, taking
12768-404: 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 , the Senate passed a decree against Metellus – Suetonius claims that both Nepos and Caesar were deposed from their magistracies; this would have been
12936-631: The consulship of 54 BC, they planned second consulships with following governorships in 55 BC for both Pompey and Crassus. Caesar, for his part, would receive a five-year extension of command. 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 BC. During their consulship, Pompey and Crassus passed – with some tribunician support –
13104-628: The country of the Provincial Ruteni , and they were among the tribes that sent relief troops to the Gallic army trying to break the siege in Alesia . The Gabali were cattle breeders. Many of them were also miners, as their region was rich in silver mines. This article about an ethnic group in Europe is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC)
13272-546: The courts but was unsuccessful in his attempted prosecution of Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella in 77 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 BC) for profiteering from the proscriptions but was forestalled when a tribune interceded on Antonius' behalf. After these oratorical attempts, Caesar left Rome for Rhodes seeking
13440-404: The deck. Caesar pursued vigorously as Pompey's skill and client networks made him the largest threat; travelling first to Asia and then to Cyprus and Egypt, he arrived three days after Pompey's murder. There, he was presented with the head of Pompey, along with his signet ring; Caesar wept when he saw the ring and recoiled from the head: "his disgust and sorrow may well have been genuine, for from
13608-540: The dictatorship after eleven days, Caesar then left Italy for Greece to stop Pompey's preparations, arriving in force in early 48 BC. Caesar 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 at Pharsalus on 9 August 48 BC. Pompey then fled for Egypt; Cato fled for Africa; others, like Cicero and Marcus Junius Brutus , begged for Caesar's pardon. Pompey
13776-481: The dispute by the Senate, a counter-offer that Caesar rejected as doing so would have put him at the mercy of hostile senators while giving up all the advantages of his surprise invasion. Caesar continued to advance. After encountering five cohorts under Quintus Minucius Thermus at Iguvium, Thermus' forces deserted. Caesar quickly overran Picenum, the area from which Pompey's family originated. While Caesar's troops skirmished once with local forces, fortunately for him,
13944-499: The dynastic dispute: the will's terms were clear and both would have to be co-rulers. Ptolemy XIII impressed, probably already aware of Caesar and Cleopatra's relationship. After some months of siege, Caesar's forces were relieved by forces under Mithridates of Pergamum from Syria, bringing the Egyptians to battle with Caesar's forces where the Egyptians were utterly routed. Ptolemy XIII fled but drowned when his boat capsized. After
14112-440: The eastern Mediterranean coast, moving directly for Pharnaces' invasion, seeking to protect his prestige, which would suffer substantially if a foreign invasion were to go unpunished. Pharnaces attempted to treat with Caesar, who rejected all negotiations, reminding him of his treatment of Roman prisoners. Caesar demanded him to withdraw immediately from all occupied territories, return their spoils, and release all prisoners. When
14280-566: The election of magistrates to recall Cicero from exile on the condition that Cicero would refrain from criticism or obstruction of the allies. 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. Such reports were necessary for Caesar, especially in light of senatorial opponents, to prevent
14448-406: The end of 55 BC and following his death in battle in 53 BC, the alliance started to fracture more cleanly. With the death of Crassus, and that of Julia (Caesar's daughter and Pompey's wife) in 54 BC, the balance of power between Pompey and Caesar collapsed and "a faceoff between [the two] may, therefore, have seemed inevitable". From 61 BC, the main political fault-line in Rome
14616-517: The first century, but the clan's claimed descent from Venus was well established in public consciousness. 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. Despite their ancient pedigree, the Julii Caesares were not especially politically influential during
14784-561: The future historian Gaius Sallustius Crispus (also appointed praetor for 46 BC), to parley with the men, but Sallust was almost killed by a mob. Caesar then went in person to the troops, who were then nearing Rome under arms; he granted them immediate discharges, gave promises that they would receive their land and retirement bonuses, and addressed them as quirites (citizens). His men, shocked by their casual dismissal, begged Caesar to take them back into service; feigning reluctance, he allowed himself to be persuaded and made notes to put
14952-510: The hand of Sulla's granddaughter Pompeia . 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 BC granting Pompey an extraordinary command against piracy in
15120-926: The lack of any magistrates with imperium present meant that nobody was able to enforce it; only after some time did Antony return, restoring order with serious loss of life, dealing a serious blow to his popularity. At the same time, Cato led his forces from Cyrenaica across the desert to Africa (modern day Tunisia), linking up with Metellus Scipio; they, along with Labienus, induced the defection of one of Caesar's governors in Hispania Ulterior . Caesar returned to Italy and Rome late in 47 BC, meeting and pardoning Cicero, who had given up hope in Pompeian victory after Pompey's death, at Brundisium. Upon his return, he made it clear that his confidence in Antony, but surprisingly not Dolabella, had been lost. Caesar elected suffect magistrates for 47 and magistrates for
15288-462: The last Egyptian king ( Ptolemy XII Auletes ) had been made co-rulers. By 48 BC, relations between the two co-rulers had broken down, with the two shadowing each other with armies on opposite sides of the Nile. Caesar demanded a ten million denarii payment of a large debt promised to him by the previous king; a demand almost certainly motivated by the "massive financial commitments" needed to pay his troops; he also declared that he would arbitrate
15456-435: The last of the Pompeians, at the Battle of Munda in Spain, who were led by his former lieutenant Labienus . Caesar was then made dictator perpetuo ("dictator in perpetuity" or "dictator for life") by the Roman senate in 44 BC. He was assassinated by a group of senators (including Brutus) shortly thereafter. The civil war is one of the commonly recognised endpoints of Rome's republican government . Some scholars view
15624-413: The late 50s, the consequence of which would be ignominious exile. However, the prosecution theory emerging from Suetonious and Pollio is in "highly dubious territory" and "dubious in the extreme". There is no evidence from the period 50–49 BC that anyone was seriously planning on putting Caesar on trial. Caesar's choice to fight the civil war was motivated by his mostly stumbling in efforts to attain
15792-427: The later sources assert he instead wanted the conspirators imprisoned pending trial. Most accounts agree that Caesar supported confiscation of the conspirators' property. Caesar likely advocated the former, which was a compromise position that would place the Senate within the bounds of the lex Sempronia de capite civis , and was initially successful in swaying the body; a later intervention by Cato , however, swayed
15960-533: The liberty of the Roman people to elect Caesar and honour his accomplishments. Around 10 or 11 January 49 BC, in response to the Senate's "final decree", Caesar crossed the Rubicon – the river defining the northern boundary of Italy – with a single legion, the Legio XIII Gemina , and ignited civil war . Upon crossing the Rubicon, Caesar, according to Plutarch and Suetonius, is supposed to have quoted
16128-438: The main Pompeian supply base was at Dyrrachium, Caesar advanced on it but withdrew when Pompey arrived first with superior forces. After receiving the remainder of his army from Italy under Mark Antony on 10 April, Caesar advanced against Dyrrachium again, leading to the Battle of Dyrrachium . After attempting circumvallation of the Pompeian defenders, Caesar attempted to capture the vital Pompeian logistics hub of Dyrrachium but
16296-477: The men and asked them to take an oath of loyalty, which they did. Caesar's advance down the Adriatic coast was surprisingly clement and disciplined: his soldiers did not plunder the countryside as soldiers had during the Social War a few decades earlier. Nor did Caesar avenge himself on his political enemies as Sulla and Marius had. The policy of clemency was also highly practical: Caesar's pacificity prevented
16464-470: The middle republic. The first person known to have had the cognomen Caesar was a praetor in 208 BC during the Second Punic War . The family's first consul was in 157 BC, though their political fortunes had recovered in the early first century, producing two consuls in 91 and 90 BC. Caesar's homonymous father was moderately successful politically. He married Aurelia , a member of
16632-476: 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. Referring it to
16800-411: The mutiny's leaders in exposed and dangerous positions in the upcoming campaign. While in Italy, he also confiscated and sold at market price the property of Pompey and opponents now dead or still unpardoned, before also borrowing more funds. He handled Dolabella's proposed debt cancellation proposals by declining to take them up, arguing his large debts would have made him the chief beneficiary of such
16968-463: The new year (46 BC); he packed his men into the priestly colleges and the suffect magistracies, expanding the number of praetors from eight to ten, to reward them for their loyalty. For himself, he declined to continue the dictatorship, instead taking the consulship with Lepidus as his colleague. The mutineers in Campania were not calmed by Caesar's return. Caesar sent one of his lieutenants,
17136-419: 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. 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. Caesar, as far as
17304-422: The north and Italy proper to the south. Crossing the Rubicon , Suetonius claims Caesar exclaimed alea iacta est ("the die is cast"), though Plutarch maintains Caesar spoke in Greek quoting the poet Menander with anerriphtho kubos ("ἀνερρίφθω κύβος", "let the die be thrown"); Caesar's own commentaries do not mention the Rubicon at all. This marked a formal start to hostilities, with Caesar being "undoubtedly
17472-464: The other at the onset of hostilities. For example, Gaius Claudius Marcellus, who as consul in 50 BC had charged Pompey with defending the city, chose neutrality. The then-young Marcus Junius Brutus , whose father had been treacherously killed by Pompey during Brutus' childhood, whose mother was Caesar's lover, and who had been raised in Cato the Younger 's house, chose to leave the city, setting off
17640-537: The other would back down or, failing that, offer acceptable terms. Trust had eroded between the two over the last few years and repeated cycles of brinksmanship harmed chances for compromise. On 1 January 49 BC, Caesar stated that he would be willing to resign if other commanders would also do so but, in Gruen's words, "would not endure any disparity in their [Caesar and Pompey's] forces", appearing to threaten war if his terms were not met. Caesar's representatives in
17808-434: The period after Pharsalus, the Senate showered Caesar with honours, including the title praefectus moribus ( lit. ' prefect of morals ' ) which historically was associated with the censorial power to revise the Senate rolls. He was also granted power over war and peace, usurping a power traditionally held by the comitia centuriata . These powers attached to Caesar personally. Similarly extraordinary were
17976-572: The pirates were sold into slavery per Velleius Paterculus . His studies were interrupted by the outbreak of the Third Mithridatic War over the winter of 75 and 74 BC; Caesar is alleged to have gone around collecting troops in the province at the locals' expense and leading them successfully against Mithridates' forces. While absent from Rome, in 73 BC, Caesar was co-opted into the pontifices in place of his deceased relative Gaius Aurelius Cotta . The promotion marked him as
18144-410: The plebeian tribunate and for those who supported Lepidus' revolt to be pardoned. These advocacies were common and uncontroversial. The next year, 70 BC, Pompey and 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. For his quaestorship in 69 BC, Caesar
18312-472: The political rights of the children of victims of the Sullan proscriptions. Holding the dictatorship would have been the only way to avoid giving up his imperium , legions, provincia , and right to triumph while within the pomerium . Standing in the same elections he conducted, he won a second term as consul with Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus as his colleague. He resigned the dictatorship after eleven days. Caesar then renewed his pursuit of Pompey across
18480-514: The politically influential Aurelii Cottae , producing – along with Caesar – two daughters. Buoyed by his own marriage and his sister's marriage (the dictator's aunt) with the extremely influential Gaius Marius , he also served on the Saturninian land commission in 103 BC and was elected praetor some time between 92 and 85 BC; he served as proconsular governor of Asia for two years, likely 91–90 BC. Caesar's father did not seek
18648-409: The pontifical election before the tribes , Caesar faced two influential senators: 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. Ancient sources allege that Caesar paid huge bribes or was shamelessly ingratiating; that no charge
18816-409: The population of Italy from turning on him. At the same time, Pompey planned to escape east to Greece where he could raise a massive army from the eastern provinces. He therefore escaped to Brundisium (modern Brindisi ), requisitioning merchant vessels to travel the Adriatic. Caesar pursued Pompey to Brundisium, arriving on 9 March with six legions. By then, most of Pompey's forces had departed, with
18984-539: The population was not hostile: his troops were refraining from looting and his opponents had "little popular appeal". In February 49 BC, Caesar received reinforcements and captured Asculum when the local garrison deserted. Only when he reached Corfinium did he encounter serious opposition led by Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus , recently appointed governor of Gaul by the Senate. Pompey had urged Ahenobarbus to retreat south and join him, but Ahenobarbus had responded with requests for support; regardless, Caesar prepared for
19152-426: The previous civil wars; other senators simply left Rome for their country villas, hoping to keep a low profile. In late January, Caesar and Pompey were negotiating, with Caesar proposing that the two of them return to their provinces (which would have required Pompey to travel to Spain) and then disband their forces. Pompey accepted those terms provided that they withdraw from Italy at once and submit to arbitration of
19320-694: The remaining anti-Caesarian leaders, including Metellus Scipio and Juba, also committed suicide shortly thereafter. 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 BC. 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
19488-416: The rest of the magistrates for 47 BC – no elections had yet been held – and also for those of 46 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 BC. Caesar's landing in Africa was marked with some difficulties establishing a beachhead and logistically. He
19656-447: The rights of tribunes had been trampled by the Senate's ignoring tribunician vetoes, parading the tribunes who had fled the city before the troops in their disguises. On the senatus consultum ultimum , Caesar argued it was unnecessary and should be confined only to circumstances in which Rome was under direct threat. For most Romans, the choice of what side to pick was difficult. Only a small number of people were committed to one side or
19824-479: 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. The royal power of naming patricians was revived to benefit the families of his men and the permanent courts jury pools were also altered to remove the tribuni aerarii , leaving only the equestrians and senators. He also took further administrative actions to stabilise his rule and that of
19992-450: The so-called First Triumvirate during his consulship. The alliance of three men "induced a sharp restructuring of alliances and alignments" with temporary benefit to them but harm in the long-run with aristocratic groups coalescing in opposition. The short-term benefits to the three emerged from their own purposes: ratification of Pompey's eastern settlement , agrarian measures involving Pompey and Crassus. The political alliance between
20160-454: 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. Whether Caesar actually would have been prosecuted and convicted is debated. Some scholars believe the possibility of successful prosecution was extremely unlikely. Caesar's main objectives were to secure
20328-505: The state. 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. Plans were drawn for the conduct of a census. Citizenship was extended to a number of communities in Cisalpine Gaul and to Cádiz . 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
20496-443: The succession dispute between Ptolemy XIII and Cleopatra. In response, Pothinus (Ptolemy XIII's eunuch regent), apparently summoned an army to the city and besieged Caesar's occupation of the royal quarter; Caesar summoned reinforcements from Roman Asia. While under siege in Alexandria , Caesar met Cleopatra and became her lover when she secreted herself into the royal quarter. Around this time, Caesar also produced his decision on
20664-450: The summer of 50, "positions had been hardened and events progressed irreversibly toward cataclysm", with Pompey now rejecting Caesar's standing for a second consulship until he gave up his army and provinces. The Senate as a whole was relatively pacific, strongly supporting a proposal by Caesar's ally C Scribonius Curio , who was then tribune of the plebs , that both Pompey and Caesar give up their armies and commands. The proposal passed in
20832-482: 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. From the period 52 to 49 BC, trust between Caesar and Pompey disintegrated. In 51 BC, the consul Marcellus proposed recalling Caesar, arguing that his provincia (here meaning "task") in Gaul – due to his victory against Vercingetorix in 52 –
21000-467: The three began to fray in the mid 50s BC, but was put on hold with a renegotiation and the joint consulship of Pompey and Crassus in 55 BC. Their joint consulship assigned new provincial commands to the consuls, with Pompey receiving Hispania while Crassus went to Syria to fight the Parthians; Caesar, for his part, had his proconsulship in Gaul renewed. After Crassus' departure from Rome at
21168-476: The three so-called triumvirs sought to maintain the goodwill of the extremely popular Publius Clodius Pulcher , who was plebeian tribune in 58 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
21336-446: 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. With the support of Crassus, who supported Caesar's joint ticket with one Lucius Lucceius , Caesar won. Lucceius, however, did not and
21504-486: The time was to the Romans an "island of mystery" and "a land of wonder". He, however, withdrew from the island in the face of winter uprisings in Gaul led by the Eburones and Belgae starting in late 54 BC which ambushed and virtually annihilated a legion and five cohorts. Caesar was, however, able to lure the rebels into unfavourable terrain and routed them in battle. The next year, a greater challenge emerged with
21672-436: The tribunes for 47 BC. During his term, he proposed the abolition of all debts and a rent holiday. This led to Antony, who was serving as Caesar's magister equitum in the dictatorship, to intervene against the proposals. When Antony had left for Campania to deal with a mutiny in Caesar's Ninth and Tenth legions, domestic violence again flared up in Rome, leading to the Senate to invoke the senatus consultum ultimum but
21840-420: The tribunes, Lucius Caecilius Metellus interposed his veto against Caesar's attempt to raid the state treasury , Caesar threatened Metellus' life until he gave way. Some scholars view the episode as showing the disingenuousness of Caesar's championing of tribunician rights at the start of the civil war. The raid captured some 15 thousand gold bars, 30 thousand silver bars, and 30 million sestertii. The episode
22008-409: The tutelage of the rhetorician Apollonius Molon . 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 talents 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
22176-429: The uprising of most of central Gaul, led by Vercingetorix of the Averni . Caesar was initially defeated at Gergovia before 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 BC suppressing any remaining resistance. In the initial years from the end of Caesar's consulship in 59 BC,
22344-527: 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 . When Caesar landed at Antioch , he learnt that during his time in Egypt, the king of what is now Crimea, Pharnaces , had attempted to seize what had been his father's kingdom, Pontus, across
22512-491: The victory, Caesar gave the Roman province of Cyprus to Egypt, likely secured payment of his financial demand, and invested Cleopatra (along with a new co-ruler Ptolemy XIV Philopator , Cleopatra's younger brother) with rule of Egypt. While Caesar's Alexandrian War implies he left Egypt forthwith, he actually stayed for some three months cruising with Cleopatra along the Nile, mostly to rest and perhaps also partly to make clear Rome's support for Cleopatra's new regime. News of
22680-401: The voters returned Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus instead, one of Caesar's long-standing personal and political enemies. After the elections, Caesar reconciled Pompey and Crassus, two political foes, in a three-way alliance misleadingly termed the "First Triumvirate" in modern times. Caesar was still at work in December of 60 BC attempting to find allies for his consulship and the alliance
22848-468: The war as the proximate cause of the republic's fall, due to its polarising interruption of normal republican government. Caesar's comprehensive victory followed by his immediate death left a power vacuum; over the following years his heir Octavian was eventually able to take complete control, forming the Roman Empire as Augustus . The main issue at hand in the lead-up to the war was how Caesar, who had been in Gaul for almost ten years before 49 BC,
23016-444: The war to extend his command, Pompey sought to engage Caesar in a decisive battle. After meeting up with Scipio Nasica's Syrian reinforcements, Pompey led his forces after Caesar in early August, seeking favourable ground for a battle. After several days of cavalry skirmishes, Caesar was able to lure Pompey off of a hill and force battle on the plain of Pharsalus . During the battle, a flanking manoeuvre led by Labienus failed against
23184-452: The war was political tensions relating to Caesar's place in the republic on his expected return to Rome on the expiration of his governorship in Gaul . Before the war, Caesar had led an invasion of Gaul for almost ten years. A build-up of tensions starting in late 50 BC, with both Caesar and Pompey refusing to back down, led to the outbreak of civil war. Pompey and his allies induced
23352-432: The year. This opposition caused serious political difficulties to Caesar and his allies, belying the common depiction of triumviral political supremacy. Later in the year, however, Caesar – with the support of his opponents – brought and passed the lex Julia de repetundis to crack down on provincial corruption. When his consulship ended, Caesar's legislation was challenged by two of the new praetors but discussion in
23520-507: Was a 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 a civil war , and subsequently became dictator from 49 BC until his assassination in 44 BC. He played a critical role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire . In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus , and Pompey formed
23688-434: Was a participant is extremely small. Caesar won his election to the praetorship in 63 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. Caesar's proposal at the time is not entirely clear. The earlier sources assert that he advocated life imprisonment without trial;
23856-414: Was able to escape to Greece, abandoning Italy in face of Caesar's superior forces and evading Caesar's pursuit. 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 – and left Lepidus in charge of Italy while he attacked Pompey's Spanish provinces. He defeated two of Pompey's legates at
24024-489: Was allotted to serve under 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 . He gave eulogies for both at public funerals. During Julia's funeral, Caesar displayed the images of his aunt's husband Marius, whose memory had been suppressed after Sulla's victory in
24192-791: 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. Some time in the year, perhaps after the passing of the bill distributing the Campanian land 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. 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
24360-522: 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. The first engagement was in April 58 BC when Caesar prevented the migrating Helvetii from moving through Roman territory, allegedly because he feared they would unseat a Roman ally. Building
24528-666: Was complete; it evidently was incomplete as Caesar was that year fighting the Bellovaci and regardless the proposal was vetoed. 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. Cato, Bibulus, and their allies, however, were successful in winning Pompey over to take a hard line against Caesar's continued command. As 50 BC progressed, fears of civil war grew; both Caesar and his opponents started building up troops in southern Gaul and northern Italy, respectively. In
24696-426: Was completed and therefore his command had lapsed. He also argued that Caesar's expected desire to stand for a second consulship in absentia was no longer justified after his victory. Regardless, the Senate rejected Marcellus' motion, as well as his later motion to declare Caesar's term in Gaul to end on 1 March 50 BC. At this time, Pompey was also instrumental in rejecting the proposed motions. Subsequent to
24864-485: Was counterbalancing against the influence of Pompey, leading to his seeking allies outside the core senatorial aristocracy, i.e. Crassus and Caesar; but the rise of anarchic political violence from 55 to 52 BC finally forced the Senate to ally with Pompey to restore order. The breakdown of order in 53 and 52 BC was extremely disturbing: men like Publius Clodius Pulcher and Titus Annius Milo were "essentially independent agents" leading large violent street gangs in
25032-501: Was defeated by Titus Labienus at Ruspina on 4 January 46 BC and thereafter took a rather cautious approach. After inducing some desertions from the republicans, Caesar ended up surrounded at Thapsus . His troops attacked prematurely on 6 April 46 BC, starting a battle ; they then won it and massacred the republican forces without quarter . Marching on Utica, where Cato commanded, Caesar arrived to find that Cato had killed himself rather than receive Caesar's clemency. Many of
25200-465: Was defending the rights of tribunes after they fled the city, which was "too obvious a sham". Caesar's own explanation was that he would protect his personal dignitas ; both Caesar and Pompey were impelled by pride, with Caesar refusing to "yield submissively to the blusterings of the conservatives, much less to the bullying of Pompey" in Gruen's words, and Pompey similarly refusing to accept Caesar's proposals, delivered as if they were directives. There
25368-424: Was disrupted by a storm and strong winds; only around 3,500 legionaries and 150 cavalry landed with him near the enemy port of Hadrumentum . Apocryphally, when landing, Caesar fell onto the beach but was able to successfully laugh the bad omen off when he grabbed two handfuls of sand, declaring "I have hold of you, Africa!". At the start of the campaign, Caesar's forces were greatly outnumbered: Metellus Scipio led
25536-466: Was ever laid alleging this implies that bribery alone is insufficient to explain his victory. 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. 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. Caesar also engaged in
25704-467: Was executed. 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. 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 magister equitum . At
25872-407: Was finalised only some time around its start. 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. Caesar's first act was to publish
26040-405: Was forced to move quickly. He bypassed Hadrumentum after it refused to surrender and established bases at Ruspina, where he led a large foraging party which then engaged in an encounter battle forces under Labienus. Caesar's inexperienced troops wavered under attack from Numidian skirmisher cavalry for most of the day before retreating after a counterattack, resulting in a strategic defeat, as Caesar
26208-589: Was his, as he allowed use of the name. Aware of the civil war, Pharnaces II desired to reclaim his father's lands lost during the Third Mithridatic War and promptly invaded large parts of Cappadocia, Armenia, eastern Pontus, and Lesser Colchis. Roman sources paint him cruelly, ordering the castration of any captured Romans; these attacks were uncontested after Pompey stripped the east for troops until Caesar's legate Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus fought him unsuccessfully near Nicopolis in December 48 BC with an inexperienced force. Caesar moved from Egypt north along
26376-406: Was in charge of the remaining republicans; they allied with 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. Caesar demoted Antony on his return and pacified the mutineers without violence before overseeing the election of
26544-463: Was killed when he arrived in Alexandria , the capital of Egypt . Caesar arrived three days later on 2 October 48 BC. Prevented from leaving the city by Etesian winds , Caesar decided to arbitrate an Egyptian civil war between the child pharaoh Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator and Cleopatra , his sister, wife, and co-regent queen. In late October 48 BC, Caesar was appointed in absentia to
26712-417: Was likely produced in the year following the events described and was likely aimed at the general, or at least literate, population in Rome; 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. Gaul in 58 BC was in the midst of some instability. Tribes had raided into Transalpine Gaul and there
26880-458: Was little conscious desire for war until the last weeks of 50 BC, but "the boni had entrapped themselves... in a political vise from which they could not emerge with dignity except by aggressive self-assertion" while Caesar could not "permit [his status and reputation] to collapse through submission". For the months leading up to January 49 BC, both Caesar and the anti-Caesarians composed of Pompey, Cato, and others seemed to believe that
27048-475: Was merely restoring his family's public monuments – consistent with standard aristocratic practice and the virtue of pietas – and, over objections from Catulus, these actions were broadly supported by the Senate. In 63 BC, Caesar stood for the praetorship and also for the post of pontifex maximus , who was the head of the College of Pontiffs and the highest ranking state religious official. In
27216-401: Was persuaded on the eve of war (7 January 49 BC) – while Pompey and Caesar continued to muster troops – to demand Caesar give up his post or be judged an enemy of the state. A few days later, the Senate then also stripped Caesar of his permission to stand for election in absentia and appointed a successor to Caesar's proconsulship in Gaul; while pro-Caesarian tribunes vetoed these proposals,
27384-523: Was proclaimed "dictator for life" ( dictator perpetuo ). Fearful of his power and domination of the state, a group of senators led by Brutus and Cassius assassinated Caesar on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC. A new series of civil wars broke out and the constitutional government of the Republic was never fully restored. Caesar's great-nephew and adopted heir Octavian, later known as Augustus , rose to sole power after defeating his opponents in
27552-429: Was sufficiently embarrassing that it was omitted from Caesar's Commentaries on the civil war. Leaving Mark Antony in charge of Italy and the praetor Lepidus in Rome, Caesar set out west for Spain resentful for the embarrassing episodes before the senate and Metellus. En route, he started a siege of Massilia when the city barred him entry and came under the command of the aforementioned Domitius Ahenobarbus. Leaving
27720-470: Was then welcomed graciously by Caesar in his camp. Pompey's council of war decided to flee to Egypt, which had in the previous year supplied him with military aid. When Pompey arrived in Egypt , he was greeted by a welcoming delegation made up of several Egyptians and two Roman officers who had served with him years before. Shortly after boarding their boat, he was murdered in sight of his wife and friends on
27888-409: Was to be re-integrated into the political fabric of Rome after accumulating immense power and wealth in Gaul. Starting from 58 BC, the year after his consulship in 59, Caesar had held the proconsulship of Cisalpine Gaul along with Illyricum under the terms of the lex Vatinia and Transalpine Gaul at the assignment of the Senate. Caesar had allied himself with Crassus and Pompey in
28056-403: Was unpopular: Publius Cornelius Dolabella , serving as plebeian tribune in 47 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 and there Metellus Scipio
28224-534: Was unsuccessful after Pompey occupied it and the surrounding heights. In response, Caesar besieged Pompey's camp and constructed a circumvallation thereof, until, after months of skirmishes, Pompey was able to break through Caesar's fortified lines and force Caesar into a strategic withdrawal for Thessaly. After the victory, seeking to spare Italy from invasion, prevent Caesar from defeating in detail Scipio Nasica 's forces arriving from Syria, and under pressure from his overconfident allies who accused him of prolonging
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