Gaius Julius Caesar (Latin: Gaius Julius Caesar)

(July 12, 102 BC - March 15, 44 BC)

Also known as Caesar, he was an outstanding military commander and politician at the end of the Roman Republic.

Caesar was born into a noble family and served successively as treasurer, chief priest, chancellor, consul, censor, dictator and other positions. In 60 BC, he secretly formed the first three alliances with Pompey and Crassus, and then became the governor of Gaul. He spent eight years conquering all of Gaul (approximately what is now France), and also attacked Germany and Britain. In 49 BC, he led his army to occupy Rome, defeated Pompey, concentrated power in one body, and implemented dictatorship. The Julian Calendar was formulated.

In 44 BC, Caesar was assassinated by members of the Senate led by Ibrutus. After Caesar's death, his nephew and adopted son Octavian defeated Antony to create the Roman Empire and became the first emperor.

Life

Origin

Caesar was born in Rome on July 12, 102 BC. He was born into a pure aristocrat on both the paternal and maternal lines. In the family environment, it is well protected.

Among his immediate family, many people have served as consuls, justices and other positions. His uncle Sextus Julius was promoted to the position of consul in 91 BC, and his aunt Julia also married the famous Marius. His father served as financial officer, chancellor and other positions around 100 BC, and also served as governor of Asia Minor. Such a prominent life experience destined Caesar to at least obtain a position similar to an administrator in the future.

Caesar's mother Aurelia also came from the powerful O'Reilly Cotta family. Caesar's maternal grandfather, Lucius Aurelius Cotta, also served as consul in 119 BC. Especially at the beginning of Caesar's career, my grandfather's consistent support and responsiveness gave Caesar strong support.

Later, Caesar also worked hard to create a sacred family tree for himself: according to myths and legends, the ancestors of Romulus, the founder of the city of Rome, were the Trojan hero Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. The Trojan prince Aeneas was born to De (Venus of the Romans). Ascany, the son of Aeneas, was also called Julus. Caesar abused etymology and forced him to be the ancestor of his own clan (Julius), and thus asserted that he was a descendant of Venus.

Early Education

Caesar’s early years, especially his education, have been unclear due to lack of information. We know that, like any young Roman aristocrat of his time, Caesar was influenced by his mother until he was seven years old. Moreover, according to tradition, after learning the alphabet and numbers and the introductory knowledge of Latin (we also know that Caesar was proficient in Greek), Caesar should study oratory and debate with an eloquent teacher; Basic knowledge such as philosophy and law; finally, like all noble children, they received education in military technology, including reading various works on history, siege techniques and tactics, and participating in various military sports training.

At the age of 7, Caesar was sent to a school dedicated to training children of nobles. In school, Caesar's literature, history, geography and other subjects were always praised by teachers. He is lively and cheerful, with a sharp mind, and what surprises the teacher is that he has endless questions to ask, and he always has to break the casserole and ask to the end. When Caesar was a child, he admired his uncle Marius the most. He often pestered his uncle to tell him stories about his expeditions and wars. Caesar's mother believed that her son was not an ordinary person, so she strengthened his education. Caesar also lived up to his mother's expectations. He was well-read, his studies were improving day by day, and he wrote very well. He published "The Exploits of Hercules" and the tragedy "Oedipus" in his teens. He loves ancient Greek culture, especially Greek classical literature. In addition to literature, Caesar also likes sports. He is proficient in horse riding, swordsmanship, etc., with well-developed muscles and a very strong body.

At the age of 15, according to Roman custom, Caesar began to wear adult white robes.

Conflict with Sulla

In 86 BC and 84 BC, Marius and Cinna, leaders of the popular faction in the Senate, died successively. The former was Caesar's uncle and the latter had Caesar was nominated as the priest of Jupiter, and Caesar was regarded as a natural supporter of Marius due to kinship and other reasons. Although Caesar suddenly lost two protectors, he also gained the freedom to engage in a certain profession and achieve great achievements. In 84 BC, Caesar married Cornelia, daughter of Cinna. This marriage not only brought him a daughter, Yulia, but also gained the support of the popular members of the Senate.

In 82 BC, the dictator Sulla, who won the civil war and was supported by the elite members of the Senate, asked Caesar to divorce Cornelia. However, Caesar refused and cautiously left Rome. With the help of relatives and friends, Caesar avoided exile and death. Although Sulla later yielded to strong pressure in the young Caesar's favor and pardoned the latter, Caesar still considered it more prudent to stay away from Rome.

The first trip to the East

Between 82 and 79 BC, Caesar traveled to the East, and in 81 BC he accompanied Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus ) to Asia Minor. After arriving in Asia Minor, he soon accepted a mission: to search for ships in Bidilia. Nicomede, king of Pesnia, had promised to supply ships to Rome, but had been slow to fulfill his promise. The fledgling Caesar successfully completed this task. Perhaps it was all too well done, and his opponents began to spread rumors that it was the Roman envoy's unusual charm that made the cunning king obey. Although this was only an episode, it left the impression that Caesar was gay, and the effect was so long-lasting that his soldiers (according to Suetonius) during a triumphal march much later The commander-in-chief was described as "a man for all women and a woman for all men."

In 80 BC, Caesar accompanied the army to Mytile. During the battle, Caesar showed extraordinary military and diplomatic talents and was awarded a wreath for his bravery. From 79 BC to 78 BC, he also participated in the battle to suppress the pirates of Cilicia.

Return to Rome

In 78 BC, Sulla died, and Caesar returned to Rome after an absence of several years. In the past few years, he has done nothing major and rarely cares about politics. He only acts as a defender to defend or prosecute himself or his supporters in courts and other places. For example: in 78 BC, after the failure of the consul Lepidus' rebellion, he asked for amnesty for his supporters; in 77 BC, he prosecuted his political opponent Dolabella for corruption; in 76 BC, he defended the Greeks and fought with Gaius Antonius confrontation.

Going to the East again

However, Caesar did not persist. In 76 BC, he embarked on a journey to the East again. In 75 BC, he was in Rhodes and became a disciple of Apollonius, the son of Myron and the master of eloquence. During his journey, he was kidnapped by Cilician pirates. The latter demanded 20 talents as ransom. Caesar mocked them for not knowing who they had captured and demanded 50 talents from the pirates. While waiting for the ransom for 38 days, he had to stay with the pirates. He joked to them that he would send them all to crosses after they were released. The first thing he did when he was released was to organize a fleet and capture all the pirates who hijacked him. Perhaps because the pirates were kind to them, Caesar cut their throats to ease their pain before crucifying them.

Early positions

In 74 BC, Caesar returned to Rome and soon succeeded his uncle Aurelius Cotta as a priest. In 72 BC, he received the first low-level elected office - military tribune - the lowest level in the Roman official system. However, due to lack of information, it is unclear whether Caesar participated in the suppression of the slave uprising led by Spartacus (73 BC - 71 BC) during his tenure.

Treasurer

In 70 BC, the 32-year-old Caesar participated in the election again and was successfully elected as Treasurer in 69 BC. This position was the first in the Roman official system. Formal official positions, and only those over 30 years old can run for a one-year term, and the winner will automatically qualify as a member of the Senate. Caesar went to Spain in 69 BC to serve as deputy to the governor and in charge of the province's finances.

When I was touring various cities in Spain to hear cases, one day I saw the statue of Alexander the Great in the Temple of Hercules. I thought that Alexander had conquered the world at his age, and he was still Being unable to do anything, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion, and then he asked to be relieved of his post and left Spain.

Alderman

After returning to Rome, in 66 BC Caesar was appointed as the "keeper of the Appian Way", responsible for maintaining this road connecting Rome and Brindisi. thoroughfare. Later that year, he volunteered to serve as the new alderman for the following year and was elected.

The alderman of ancient Rome was similar to today's mayor. He was mainly responsible for the construction and maintenance of the city's public facilities (especially temples), managing the market and other aspects of daily life in Rome. affairs. And this position is also considered to be very difficult, because the alderman is also responsible for organizing the activities of the Hippodrome, one of the most popular sports events among the Romans. However, the funds for this event were very limited, but if the alderman wanted to further his political career, he had to dedicate a grand athletic event to the entire city of Rome, and this meant that the alderman himself had to pay for it himself.

In order to please the common people, Caesar provided many fascinating competitive games for the public, built or renovated many impressive public buildings, and ended the year of municipal affairs with great glory. He served as an official for a long time, but he went bankrupt. He was in debt of hundreds of talents (approximately millions of euros in today's currency), which seriously threatened his future political career.

Chief Priests and Chancellors

63 BC was the consulship year of the famous orator Cicero. He chose to cooperate with the elites in the Senate and with the Roman Empire. The civilian class broke up, and the result was inaction during the term. On the contrary, Caesar was victorious at this time.

At this time, Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius, the chief priest of Rome, died, and Caesar proposed to run for office. Although Caesar was already deeply in debt due to the huge expenditures and bribery during his term as alderman, so much so that he swore on the day of the election that he would obtain the status of chief priest or never return home, but Caesar was still successfully elected to this great honor. and authoritative tenure-track positions.

Later in the same year, Caesar obtained another position - chancellor. This position should not have been obtained until the age of 40, but Caesar obtained it at the age of 39. Of course, some historians point out that Caesar's noble status could help him lower the one-year age limit. In any case, the fact that Caesar obtained the offices of chief priest and chancellor in the same year itself shows that Caesar had risen to a very powerful position in Rome.

Also in the same year, Caesar married Pompeia Sulla, Sulla's granddaughter. Because Publius Clodius Pulcher pretended to be a maid to enter a ceremony dedicated to the goddess of mercy that only allowed women to participate, although after interrogation, everyone (including Caesar himself) believed that no participant was tainted, but Caesar still The reason for divorce from Pompeia was that "Caesar's wife was beyond doubt".

Provincial Governor

In 61 BC, when the term of the Chancellor expired, Caesar obtained the position of Governor of the Far Spanish Province. Meanwhile, Pompey returned to Rome from the east. This time, Caesar once again fell into financial difficulties, so much so that Crassus had to repay his loans.

As soon as he arrived in Iberia, Caesar launched an attack on the Lusitans and Galaesi, which brought rich loot for a period of time. After restoring order to the province, and without waiting for the arrival of his successor, he hastily left the province and returned to Rome, making two demands: a triumph and a consulship. But since the election was imminent, he had to wait outside Rome or enter Rome as a private citizen, otherwise he could not become a candidate. Therefore he had to give up his triumphal ceremony in exchange for his candidacy for the consulship.

The Triumvirate and the Gallic War

In 60 BC (some say 59 BC), Caesar was elected by the Congress of Centulia as the ruler of the Roman Republic. official. Caesar thus became the highest official, but the nobles were afraid that if another colleague appeared to cooperate with Caesar, Caesar would be able to do whatever he wanted without scruples. So many nobles donated money to his main political opponent, Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus, a representative of the elite Senate and a friend of Cato, so that he could also be elected consul. Cato once said frankly that in this case, vote bribery is beneficial to the country. Caesar therefore had a unique need to assemble his political alliances, and he found partners that his political opponents had not anticipated.

At this time, Pompey was fighting for land to settle his veterans in the Senate, but failed; Marcus Licinius Crassus, who had become the richest man in Rome, was also fighting to obtain land against Pompey. Tia needed control of the army; and the consul Caesar also needed Pompey's reputation and Crassus' money. Thus, Caesar successfully reconciled the two men (Pompey and Crassus had been at odds since they became consuls in the coup of 70 BC). The three men entered into a covenant in 60 BC with the purpose that "no measure in this country shall be contrary to the will of one of the three of them" (Suetonius). Historians call this alliance the "First Triumvirate." In order to consolidate this political alliance, the fifty-year-old Pompey also married Caesar's only daughter Julia, who was only 14 years old.

After the three formed an alliance, their power increased greatly. When Bibulus announced that there were ominous signs and wanted to terminate the meeting, Caesar violently used force to drive his colleague out. At the Senate meeting the next day, no one dared to criticize or criticize this. Discussion, and in the past, laws were passed for incidents that were not as serious as this. Bibulus was so disappointed that his first decree as consul was to withdraw from all political activities. From then on, Caesar's political opponent could only hide at home and send ominous signs to the Senate or the Citizens' Assembly through messengers until the end of his term. In this way, Caesar took over all the power, and "the years of Bibulus and Caesar" became "the years of Julius and Caesar."

After completing his term as consul, Caesar was granted the governorship of Alpine Gaul (today's southern France) and Illyria (today's Adriatic coast of the Balkans) for five years (58 BC). year - 53 BC) power. But the ambitious Caesar seemed not to be satisfied with this. Almost as soon as he took office, he launched the Gallic War (58 BC-49 BC).

During the nine years of commanding the army to fight in various places, Caesar captured the entire Gaul region (approximately equivalent to today's France) and divided this region into the Pyrenees, Alps, The area bounded by the Severn Mountains, the Rhine and the Rhone, with a circumference of more than 3,000 miles (except for some cities of the allies), was all turned into a province (Gaul Province), which was also required to surrender to him every year. Lots of money. In addition, Caesar was the first Roman to cross the Rhine and go to the other side (Germania) to attack the Germans.

Civil War

The great popularity gained by the Gallic War made Pompey uneasy in Rome. In addition, in 53 BC, Crassus, who was conquering Parthia, was defeated and killed. The political instability of the three heads led to the Senate taking advantage of the opportunity to win over Pompey. In 49 BC, the Senate issued a recall order to Caesar, ordering him to return to Rome. Caesar responded by expressing his wish to extend the term of the Governor of Gaul. The Senate not only refused, but also issued the Senate's final advice, stating that if Caesar did not return to Rome immediately, he would declare Caesar is an enemy of the country.

Caesar led his legions to the Rubicon River (Rubicon), the national border. Roman law stipulated that no commander could lead his army across the Rubicon, otherwise he would be betraying Rome. After Caesar thought for a long time, he said a famous saying, "After crossing the river, it will be a tragedy in the world; if I don't cross the river, it will be my own destruction." So he led the army across the Rubicon. Caesar's actions shocked Pompey and the peaceful members of the Senate. They did not expect Caesar to be so bold and hurriedly fled the Italian peninsula with their belongings. So Caesar entered the city of Rome without bloodshed and asked the remaining senators to elect him dictator.

He then conquered Spain and Greece, completely defeated Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, and pursued Pompey to Egypt. In order to please Caesar, the Egyptians asked him to support the current king Ptolemy XIII. After assassinating Pompey, they presented Pompey's head to Caesar. However, Caesar declared that the throne of Egypt was shared by Ptolemy XIII and his sister Cleopatra (Cleopatra). This move angered the Egyptians and led to the Battle of Alexandria. The Sixth Legion led by Caesar fought hard against the Egyptian army, and with the arrival of reinforcements, they completely defeated the Egyptian army. Ptolemy XIII was killed in battle, and Cleopatra ascended the throne of Egypt. Unfortunately, during the battle, a rocket fired by Caesar's soldiers hit the Great Library of Alexandria, destroying more than 600,000 books. After the Battle of Alexander, Caesar and Cleopatra went on a two-month trip to the Nile River, and then conquered the Kingdom of Pentes, which had broken the treaty with Rome. After the victory, he wrote a letter to the Senate, There are only three words in it, "Veni, Vidi, Vici (I come, I see, I conquer)."

After returning to Rome in 46 BC, Caesar once again gathered his army to attack those who fled to North Africa and Nubia. The remnants of Pompey, allied with King Jubal of Media, won a complete victory at the Battle of Tarsos. Afterwards, Caesar returned to Rome for a ten-day triumphal ceremony.

After the war

Caesar, who returned to Rome, promoted various reforms, including granting Roman citizenship to the people of Northern Italy and Sicily, inviting experts to produce a Julian calendar, and establishing the Peace Square. In 45 BC, Pompey's two sons fled to Spain to launch a rebellion. Caesar once again went on an expedition to Spain and defeated the rebels at the Battle of Menda. Pompey's eldest son, Laus, was killed in battle, and his second son fled to Sicily. After Caesar returned to his country, he declared himself dictator for life in 44 BC.

Assassination

In 44 BC, in order to save the nine thousand Roman soldiers captured in the Battle of Carrhae, Caesar announced an expedition to Parthia. However, the fortune teller at that time said that "only a king can conquer Parthia." This move further deepened the uneasiness of the peaceful MPs, who believed that Caesar would eventually become king. In February, during a ceremony, the consul Antony presented a wreath of flowers to Caesar and called him king. Although Caesar refused, the anti-Caesar faction became even more frightened and plotted to murder Caesar.

About 60 people participated in the conspiracy against Caesar, headed by Gaius Cassius, Marcus Brutus, and Decimus Brutus . They called themselves the Liberators. Before assassinating Caesar, these men met with Cassius, who told them that they would have to commit suicide if the incident was revealed. On March 15, 44 BC, a group of senators called Caesar to the Senate to read a petition. The petition was written by the senators asking Caesar to return power to the Senate. But this love letter is fake. When Mark Antony heard the news from a liberator named Casca, he rushed to the steps of the Senate to stop Caesar. However, these senators who participated in the premeditation found Caesar in front of the theater built in Pompeii and led him to the east porch of the theater.

While Caesar was reading the fake petition, Casca took off Caesar's coat and stabbed him in the neck. Caesar was alerted to Casca, turned around, grabbed Casca's hand, and said in Latin: "Wicked Casca, what are you doing?" The frightened Casca turned to the other senators and said in Greek: "Brothers, help me!" ("αδελφ? βο?θει!"). Suddenly everyone, including Brutus, began to stab Caesar. Caesar tried to escape, but was blinded by the blood and fell, and the men killed him as he fell to the ground. According to the historian Eutropius, more than sixty people were involved in the murder.

In Shakespeare's play, when Caesar takes his seat in the Senate, the conspirators all surround him. Tillius Simbule immediately walked up to Caesar, as if he wanted to ask something, but took advantage of the situation and grabbed his Toga shoulders. At this time, Caesar was stabbed in the neck by a man named Casca. Caesar stabbed Casca in the arm with his stylus, but was stabbed again.

When he found that he was being attacked with daggers from all directions, especially when he saw Marcus Brutus rushing towards him, he gave up resistance and only spoke Greek to Marcus Brutus. After saying: Και συ τ?κνον? (My child, are you there too?), he fell down. In this way, Caesar was stabbed 23 times (only one of which was fatal) and fell to his death under Pompey's statue.

The conspirators wanted to throw his body into the Tiber, but were overawed by the consul Mark Antony and the cavalry commander Lepidus and did not do so.

Caesar's will was unsealed and read out at the home of Mark Antony at the request of his father-in-law. This will was made on September 13 of the previous year and has been kept in the hands of the Vesta Virgin. In this will, Caesar named his sister's three grandsons as his heirs: three-quarters of Octavian's property, and the remaining one-quarter to Lucius Pinarius and Cventus. ·Petius shared; he appointed guardians for his possible children, several of whom were actually murderers involved in the conspiracy; he also appointed Octavian as a member of his family, passed his name to him, and stipulated that Dechi Moss Brutus was the second in line of succession; in addition, he reserved the gardens on the Tiber for public use and gave each citizen 300 sestertius.

Among those who conspired to assassinate him, almost no one survived more than three years after his death. All were found guilty and died in different ways: some in shipwrecks, some in the ensuing wars waged by Octavian and other members of Caesar's tribe, and some committed suicide with the same dagger that had been used to assassinate Caesar.

Caesar was 58 years old when he died. After his death, he was included in the ranks of the gods according to the decree and was revered as "Holy Julius".

Influence and Evaluation

Caesar was the founder of the Roman Empire, so he is regarded by some historians as the uncrowned emperor of the Roman Empire and is known as Caesar the Great. Some historians even regard him as the first emperor of the Roman Empire, and the day he took office as a lifelong dictator is the birth day of the Roman Empire. As a result of the influence, the Roman monarch used his name "Caesar" as the title of emperor; later the monarchs of the German Empire and the Russian Empire also used "Caesar" as the title of emperor.

Marriage and Children

In 84 BC, Cornelia Cinnilla (Cinnilla’s daughter) died in childbirth

● Julia Caesaris, married Pompey

In 63 BC, Pompeia Sulla (Pompeia Sulla, Sulla’s granddaughter), divorced in December of the same year

60 BC, Calpurnia Pisonis

47 BC, with Cleopatra VII

●Ptolemy The Fourteenth (Little Caesar, Caesarion, Caesarion), Pharaoh of Egypt

●Adopted Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, Emperor of the Roman Empire

Main Works< /p>

Caesar and his contemporary Cicero were later known as the two great writers of Latin literature. Caesar left a large number of private letters and articles during his lifetime, but because Augustus deified Caesar As a divine king, most of Caesar's works have been destroyed; currently, Caesar's main handed down works are his personal war memoirs, which are still used as Latin teaching materials in Western schools due to his high writing level.

"The Gallic War"

"The Civil War"

Related literary works

"Julius Caesar" It is one of Shakespeare's three plays based on Roman stories. This work tells the story of Brutus, a noble but impractical man. Because of his persistence in communist ideals, he was exploited and participated in the murder of Caesar. Conspiracy, causing national and personal tragedy. Brutus is the kind of person described by Shakespeare who conforms to humanistic ideals. Some people call Brutus the "embryonic Hamlet": they both often waver between thought and action. Brutus is a man who has the qualities to bear heavy burdens. He is strong-willed and level-headed. What constitutes the greatest obstacle to his actions is the excess of goodness in his character. He wants to fight but does not want bloodshed, which constitutes an irresolvable contradiction. This was also the main reason for his inner uneasiness and turmoil.

Death of Caesar

In 44 BC, Caesar was elected dictator for life. Although the Senate, the Citizens' Assembly, and various official offices were preserved in form, in reality everything was subject to Caesar's orders. His origins were deified, and he had become the supreme ruler of the Roman world.

During Caesar's dictatorship, a series of reform measures were adopted in order to strengthen centralization and consolidate the foundation of rule. Through these reform measures, Caesar on the one hand strengthened the alliance between the Roman Empire and other empires, and on the other hand, improved the status of the provinces and weakened the power of the senatorial aristocracy. Therefore, Caesar's dictatorship and reforms were firmly opposed by some senators and nobles, whose representatives were Brutus and Cassius. Brutus was a subordinate of Pompey, Caesar's main political enemy, and was now forgiven by Caesar and continued to trust and reuse him.

Caesar and Pompey served as consuls in their early years.

While Caesar was fighting in the western part of the Roman Empire, Pompey also made many military exploits in the eastern part of the empire (today's part of Turkey and Syria). Although Pompey was a close friend of Caesar, he was very jealous of Caesar. Caesar's conquests increased and his prestige among his soldiers grew, which made Pompey deeply uneasy. In 49 BC, he encouraged the Senate to remove Caesar from his military power and ordered him to return to Rome from Gaul immediately.

Caesar received the order and knew that this was Pompey's conspiracy. After repeated consideration, he decided to lead his army back to Rome and use this opportunity to establish a dictatorship in Rome.

Caesar led the army to a small river called the Rubicon. Roman law stipulated that no general could lead his army across this creek without receiving an order. Otherwise, it will be punished as treason. Caesar made a prompt decision and shouted to his men: "The dice have been cast!" He mounted his horse, jumped into the stream, and the army followed closely behind, and soon crossed the Rubicon River.

Pompey did not expect that Caesar would march into Rome so decisively. He was unable to fight and had to flee to Greece in a hurry with 25,000 people. After Caesar entered Rome, he forced the Senate to agree that he would become the "dictator" of Rome, and then gained the power to rule the entire Italian peninsula. After the situation in Rome stabilized slightly, Caesar immediately marched into Greece to attack Pompey. Pompey was defeated and fled to Egypt. Caesar also pursued him into Egypt. In order to please Caesar, the king of Egypt sent people to assassinate Pompey and sent his bloody head to Caesar. Unexpectedly, Caesar's face sank and turned his head. The proud dictator was unwilling to see his political opponents killed by others, so he ordered the execution of Pompey's murderers.

At this time, there was a dispute over the throne in the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt. Caesar supported Queen Cleopatra, who was famous for her beauty, and lived in her palace for half a year.

Then, his army entered Asia Minor, and in just five days, it quelled the rebellion of Pompey's Pontic princes. He wrote a victory report in the most concise Latin and sent it back to the Senate, which read: "Veni, vidi, vici" (meaning "I came, I saw, I won"). This battle report fully demonstrates the characteristics of Caesar's rapid use of troops. Two years later, Caesar moved from North Africa to the West and suppressed the resistance of Pompey's two sons in Spain. But he spared Pompey's generals and took them into his own ranks. The most reused one is Brutus.

Caesar’s triumph was warmly welcomed by the Romans. Some people wanted to make him emperor. Rome has had no emperor since Tarquin was driven out in 509 BC. The Romans hated the emperor and opposed his restoration. Although Caesar wanted to be emperor very much in his heart, he did not dare to act rashly. At a festival, the consul Antony suddenly put a crown on Caesar's head. But only a few people applauded, and most people sighed. When Caesar saw this situation, he decided that it was not time to proclaim himself emperor, so he took off the crown and threw it to the ground. Antony quickly picked up the crown and put it on him again, but he threw it away again. When the people saw Caesar repeatedly refusing to wear the crown, they cheered and paid tribute to him.

Although Caesar did not become emperor, he already had many noble titles: "Tribune for Life", "Father of the Fatherland" and so on. The law requires him to sit on a throne of gold and ivory to conduct official business, and his portrait is placed with the gods. He was granted indefinite dictatorial power.

Some people saw that Caesar was getting more and more powerful and would one day wear a crown. So they organized a cabal determined to get rid of him. One of these conspirators was Brutus, who was trusted by Caesar.

On March 15, 44 BC, the Senate held a meeting. Caesar came to the council chamber alone. Although he had been warned in advance that someone was planning to assassinate him that day, he still refused to lead the guard. He said: "It is the work of a coward to ask for the guards to protect you." Caesar strode into the hall, sat on the golden throne, and said with a smile: "Isn't it March 15th now?" At this time, the conspiracy began. All of them were wearing daggers and gathered around him like friends. One of them ran up to him and grabbed his purple robe, as if he wanted to ask him for something. It turns out that this is the secret signal to take action. The crowd rushed forward and stabbed Caesar with their short swords. Caesar, who was unarmed, struggled to seize the purple robe and resisted. He was struck by a sword in the waist. Then, a sword pierced his thigh again. When he saw that the sword was struck by his most trusted Brutus, he couldn't help but exclaimed: "Ah, and you, Brutus!" He gave up resistance, fell down, covered his face with a purple robe, and let him go. The enemies stabbed and chopped at random. He was stabbed 23 times in one ***. Three of them were fatal, and they happened to die at the feet of Pompey's statue.

The day before attending the Senate meeting, Caesar and his cavalry captain Lepidus were dining together and suddenly raised a question, "What is the best way to die?" Everyone expressed their opinions one after another. , finally, Caesar expressed his willingness to die suddenly. Unexpectedly, his prophecy came true the next day.

After Caesar was killed, Brutus said: "I love Caesar, but I love Rome even more!" But no one in Rome was happy about Caesar's death. When the murderers walked out of the Senate with bloody daggers in hand, contrary to the cheering scene they expected, they saw only a crowd of people with indifferent expressions and suspicious eyes.