The Life of Julius Cesar

Introduction

“Et tu Brutus” is not just any dramatic phrase known and used by many in the world but it marks the very last words said by perhaps the most famous and popular of any roman emperor Julius Caesar. The man who became the supreme and was known for his immense political capabilities certainly lived his live majestic and is a matter of interest to many. This Roman military and political genius was born on July 12th 100 BC in Rome into a patrician family believed to trace its ancestry to Iulus, the son of the Trojan prince Aeneas. An interesting believe is that Cesar was born by caesarean section, though the factual evidence is lacking in this regard. His family was not a rich one and can only be considered as one among the ordinary families in Rome. His father Gaius Julius Cesar and mother Aurelia Cotta however had always cared for their children. The paternal aunt of Caesar, Julia was married to the talented general and the reformer in the Roman army, Gaius Marius and because of such influence the Caesar family gained wealth in later stage. (Freeman, 6-15)

Political Career

However, towards the 86 BC things started changing in the adverse direction when Roman politics was grossly divided into two broad major fraction - the Populares including Marius and the Optimates including Lucius Cornelius Sulla. The former believed in some radical changes while the later wanted to be the same as the prevailing conditions. The difference was such that it led to the civil war and ultimately sulla's dictatorship (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/suetonius/12caesars/julius*.html). Julius Caesar was on the Populares side not only by the virtue of being nephew of Marius but also because of the fact that he was married to Cornelia, the daughter of Lucius Cornelius Cinna a supporter of Marius and enemy of Sulla. Caesar was father less at the mere age of 15, but by that time he had enough property in his name by the way of will of his father and Marius. In 82 BC Sulla, now in power ordered Caesar to divorce Cornelius which was refused by him and led him to flee from Rome. The next destination of Cesar was Asia and Cilicia. At this point of his life Cesar did wonders in political and military skills performance however certain controversy resulted in the due course which followed him like a shadow throughout his life. During the Roman siege of Mytilene, on the island of lesbos he was dispatched to Bithynia to persuade the king Nicomedes, IV Philopator to make his fleet available to Marcus Minucius Thermus. The deal was finalized but the ease with which it is agreed led many a believe that it was against some sexual favours. The controversy remained till the end of Caesar's life.

Self-development

Caesar was not only a man of words but also of action. He was awarded the corona civica for extraordinary bravery showed in the siege of Miletus in 80 BC, in saving the lives of ...