Who was Julius Caesar? - Random Wednesday

Hey all my dear readers! :D How are you all?! :) I hope everyone is doing fine! :)



So it's Wednesday, Random Wednesday to be precise! :D How is it going on for you all?! :D I thought it's been long when I last discussed something about some person, so thought since there have been so many people(living or dead) who are popular, and writing about them would be so knowledgeable for me and my readers(and I'll only have to copy things since I cannot take chances of being incorrect about a person, who knows if someone sues me over that?! :O LOL! haha! just kidding! ;) ) I think it would be great idea to keep talking about people every Wednesday since it would be cool in all senses! :D :D (Moreover, I'll have something to post every Wednesday atleast! hahahaha!)

Okay, enough of me speaking speaking and speaking! Let's come back to our original topic. What were talking about? yes! We were talking about the great Roman Emperor who had a sad assassination in a time when he could have glorified Rome even more! You all must have heard about the famous play by William Shakespeare - "Julius Caesar". There was an excerpt from the original play in our textbook at school and I really enjoyed Mark Antony's speech in that, it was seriously a superb piece of art!

Gaius Julius Caesar
(July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC)

Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.

In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus and Pompey formed a political alliance that was to dominate Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to amass power through populist tactics were opposed by the conservative elite within the Roman Senate, among them Cato the Younger with the frequent support of Cicero. Caesar's conquest of Gaul, completed by 51 BC, extended Rome's territory to the English Channel and the Rhine. Caesar became the first Roman general to cross both when he built a bridge across the Rhine and conducted the first invasion of Britain.

These achievements granted him unmatched military power and threatened to eclipse Pompey's standing. The balance of power was further upset by the death of Crassus in 53 BC. Political realignments in Rome finally led to a standoff between Caesar and Pompey, the latter having taken up the cause of the Senate. Ordered by the Senate to stand trial in Rome for various charges, Caesar marched on Rome with one legion—legio XIII—from Gaul to Italy, crossing the Rubicon in 49 BC. This sparked a civil war from which he emerged as the unrivaled leader of the Roman world.



After assuming control of government, he began extensive reforms of Roman society and government. He centralised the bureaucracy of the Republic and was eventually proclaimed "dictator in perpetuity". A group of senators, led by Marcus Junius Brutus, assassinated the dictator on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC, hoping to restore the constitutional government of the Republic. However, the result was a series of civil wars, which ultimately led to the establishment of the permanent Roman Empire by Caesar's adopted heir Octavius (later known as Augustus). Much of Caesar's life is known from his own accounts of his military campaigns, and other contemporary sources, mainly the letters and speeches of Cicero and the historical writings of Sallust. The later biographies of Caesar by Suetonius and Plutarch are also major sources.



That could be a short caricature of the great personality that lived once! Now let's talk about some aspects/facts that are worth noting:

• Though the term "Caesar" means "the Emperor" in Roman, still most people associate it uniquely with Julius Caesar. You can assume how great a man he had been!
• The young Julius went to Rhodes to study oratory, but on his way he was captured by pirates whom he charmed and seemingly befriended. After he was freed, Julius arranged to have the pirates executed.
• Julius Caesar himself was guilty of many extra-marital affairs, -- with Cleopatra, among others. One of the most significant relations was with Servilia Caepionis, the half-sister of Cato the Younger. Because of this relationship, it was thought possible that Brutus was Julius Caesar's son.
• Second-year Latin students are familiar with the military side of Julius Caesar's life. As well as conquering the Gallic tribes, he wrote about the Gallic Wars in clear, elegant prose, referring to himself in the third person. It was through his campaigns that Julius Caesar was finally able to work his way out of debt, although the third member of the triumvirate, Crassus, also helped.
• Although Julius Caesar had a living son, Caesarion (not officially acknowledged), Caesarion was an Egyptian, the son of Queen Cleopatra, so Julius Caesar adopted a great nephew, Octavian, in his will. Octavian was to become the first Roman emperor, Augustus.

• ulius Caesar married 3 times. His first marriage was to Cornelia Cinnilla, from 83 BCE until her death in childbirth in 69 or 68 BCE. His second marriage was to Pompeia, from 67 BC until he divorced her around 61 BCE. His third marriage was to Calpurnia Pisonis, from 59 BC until Caesar's death.
• )Julius Caesar invented the first recorded encryption technique known now as the Caesar cipher. It was a code technique to send military messages. This simple and effective code involved letter shifting of 2 to the right, A becomes C, B becomes D, etc…so "CAESAR" would read ‘ECGUCT’.
• Julius Caesar is credited with creating the concept of "Leap Year" in 45 B.C.

Some great quotes by the great man:

• As a rule, men worry more about what they can't see than about what they can.
• Cowards die many times before their actual deaths.
• Experience is the teacher of all things.
• I came, I saw, I conquered.
• Fortune, which has a great deal of power in other matters but especially in war, can bring about great changes in a situation through very slight forces.
• I love the name of honor, more than I fear death.
• If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it.
• In war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes.
• It is better to create than to learn! Creating is the essence of life.
• It is not these well-fed long-haired men that I fear, but the pale and the hungry-looking.
• Men are nearly always willing to believe what they wish. Men freely believe that which they desire.
• No one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected.

So that's all for today, I take a leave now friends! :) I hope you liked the post and as always the comments and suggestions are welcomed! My great apologies if it were copied material, I just wanted to keep it as right as I could, though I have added little bits somewhere to make it atleast 0.01% original if not more than that! :) Se you all soon, Good evening! :)