No, Julius Caesar was not a Roman emperor ... he was much more dangerous than that
Julius Caesar was born on 12 July 100 BC in Rome to his father, Gaius Julius Caesar, who served as praetor, and his mother Aurelia Cotta, who was from an important plebeian family.
He began his political career as quaestor in Hispania Ulterior (Spain) in 69 BC, served as aedile in 65 BC, and became pontifex maximus (high priest) in 63 BC.
Finally, he reached the most powerful position in Rome when he became consul in 59 BC.
How Julius Caesar became a powerful leader
However, to earn his consulship, he formed a secrete alliance called the First Triumvirate with two other powerful Roman leaders, Pompey and Crassus, in 60 BC.
After his year in power, in 58 BC, he gave himself the role of governor of Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul, where he invaded with eight legions, about 40 000 soldiers.
While there, he won key battles against the Helvetii, the Belgae, and other tribes.
His greatest achievement was at the siege of Alesia in September 52 BC, where he surrounded about 80,000 Gallic fighters and accepted their surrender.
Why he declared war on Rome
These incredible victories began to worry the Senate back in Rome, as well as his former ally Pompey.
At the beginning of 49 BC, Caesar's political enemies ordered him to disband his army and return to Rome as a private citizen in order to be arrested for the secret alliance he created back in 60 BC.
Caesar was not going to give in to the demands. Instead, on 10 January 49 BC, he crossed the Rubicon River with his army and declared “Alea iacta est”, which meant “the die is cast”.
This was a poetic phrase that meant that it was “all or nothing” for him: he would march into Rome and conquer it or die trying.
This started a civil war, with Romans attacking Romans. Soon, he beat Pompey and the Senate’s forces at the Battle of Pharsalus on 9 August 48 BC.
After this defeat, Pompey fled from Caesar to Egypt where he was captured and killed by the Egyptian pharaoh.
Why was Julius Caesar assassinated?
With his victory secured, Caesar returned to Rome and was named dictator for one year in 49 BC, and dictator for ten years in February 46 BC. Finally, he became dictator for life in February 44 BC.
During his rule as dictator, he passed laws that were aimed at improving the lives of the poor people.
For example, he wiped out common people’s debts, divided public land among his soldiers, and founded new settlements at Corinth and Carthage.
He also cut the size of the Senate down to 900 members and introduced a new and improved calendar, known as the Julian calendar.
He also took the time to write his first-hand accounts of his wars in Gaul (Commentarii de Bello Gallico) and against Pompey (Commentarii de Bello Civili).
However, despite his achievements, many Romans feared that he wanted to become a permanent king, which went against Rome's republican values.
So, on 15 March 44 BC (known as the Ides of March), when he went to a Senate meeting in the Curia of Pompey’s Theatre, a group of about sixty senators, led by Brutus and Cassius, stabbed him 23 times.
His murder led to the formation of a Second Triumvirate in 43 BC, which included Octavian, Mark Antony, and Lepidus.
They started another civil war. Ultimately, Octavian, who was Julius Caesar’s adopted heir, became Augustus in 27 BC. He was the first emperor, which became the start of the Roman Empire.
As a result, Julius Caesar is remembered as one of the greatest military commanders in history and a was an important figure in the transformation of Rome from a republic to an empire.
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