Julius Caesar

by Read Listen Learn

The Roman Empire began to grow around 500 B.C. First, the Romans took all Italy and then went on to conquer lands across western and central Europe and around the Mediterranean Sea, from Palestine to Morocco in North Africa. Rome, a city of one million people at that time, became the capital of the ancient world's biggest empire. For an empire like this, good generals and strong leaders were needed. Roman generals who won wars sometimes wanted to become dictators and destroy the republic in Rome. The people loved them. They were, of course, winners.

On 15th March, 44 B.C., the Senate building in Rome was empty. All the senators were gone but not the dictator, Julius Caesar. He lay dead on the steps as blood ran down them. For three hours he lay there until the authorities came and took him away. At his funeral, there was trouble. Thousands of ordinary Romans were angry at the murder of their leader, the champion general. They wanted to kill the men who had stabbed him to death. But, who really was Julius Caesar?

He was born into an upper-class family in the Pompey region of Italy. He had exactly the same name as his father: Gaius Julius Caesar. We know little about his childhood but, when he was 16, his father died and Caesar, the son, became head of the family. This was a rich, powerful family with both fame and enemies.

Caesar, like so many high-born Romans, chose the army as his profession. He quickly became a general, and made the Roman empire in Europe much bigger by conquering all of France (called 'Gaul' at the time), and stopping German attacks on the new land. His invasion of Britain though was a military failure. But to the Romans, it didn't matter. His other victories were more than enough.

In Rome, he was a champion. Caesar saw that this could be his moment to take power from the corrupt politicians there. He would rule Rome and its empire simply and directly, for the good of all. His plans became known and, so, he marched on Rome with his army. There was a civil war and, when it ended, Caesar was victorious. He became dictator of all Romans and all the peoples of their empire.

He decided to organise the empire into a single unit, to give Roman citizenship to many people who lived outside Italy. There was a lot to do and, so, Caesar began to fill the Senate and government with his own allies. By doing this, he stopped the senators from fighting him politically. He even called himself 'Dictator for Life'.

His enemies became more and more unhappy as they saw that only death would end his power. Some senators did not want to wait for old age to take him. They hated Julius Caesar but he was both popular and successful. He continued to make war around the Mediterranean and, in Egypt, he fell in love with the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra. They had a child together, Caesarion, and because Cleopatra was the most beautiful woman in the world, this was good for his manly image in Rome.

He seemed unstoppable. A group of senators planned his assassination, in the Senate, for 15th March.

Julius Caesar arrived there on time for business. A young senator came near him, pretending to ask about a political problem. The other senators stood all around Caesar to listen. Suddenly, one, then another senator took out knives and started to attack the dictator. They only cut his arm, at first, and Caesar, always the soldier, began to fight back. Dozens of senators came at Caesar.

He was stabbed twenty-six times. When he saw his good friend, Brutus, among the killers, his last words were in Greek, "Kai su, teknon" – meaning "And you, boy!". Caesar died fighting and shouting insults at his enemies.

Caesar's funeral turned into a riot. Buildings were set on fire and the angry mob went to his assassins’ houses. They were stopped from killing the hated senators but only at the last moment. The Roman Empire fell into civil war and it was many years before there was peace and one single leader.

Gaius Julius Caesar is still the most famous Roman even today. Shakespeare wrote about his life in a famous play and his name, 'Caesar', became the German and Russian words for ‘king’: 'Kaiser' and 'Csar'.