Julius Caesar - World History

Julius Caesar ( 50 ) Caesar seizes Rome.

In 50 Julius Caesar's political career was going through a critical moment. As soon as his proconsulate in Gaul was over, it would be easy for his enemies in Rome to prosecute him for any reason, for any Roman governor could be found guilty of any crime committed during his tenure as easily as he could be found innocent if so it was convenient The only way to avoid it was to be elected consul immediately. For technical reasons, the first consulate he could aspire to was 48, so he needed to extend his proconsulate until the 49 elections and arrange for the Senate to excuse him from presenting the candidacy in person. This time,

The last years he spent the profits obtained in the war to win friends in Rome. He built splendid buildings, planned to build a new forum, planned lavish games in honor of his late daughter Julia, and, in the words of Cicero, "as soon as he met someone brave and unscrupulous in debt or bankrupt, he included him in his circle of followers." friends". Among these were Sallust Crispus, who was restored to the Senate by Caesar's intervention, and Cayo Escribonio Curio, who was elected tribune. On the contrary, in the consulate there was a firm representative of the senatorial party, named Marcelo.

The Senate approved that Caesar and Pompey should give a legion each for an expedition against the Parthians, but Pompey gave up the one he had lent to Caesar a few years before, so it was Caesar who was forced to do without two legions. However, Marcelo did not send them to the east, but left them in Capua at the disposal of the Senate. Caesar moved some of his legions to Cisalpine Gaul.

Pompey was proconsul in Spain (although he had managed to stay in Rome), and was also ending his term. Curio defended that Caesar and Pompey should dissolve their legions simultaneously, since only thus "the Senate and the Roman People could act freely". However, there were no signs that Pompey would dispense with his legions. On the contrary, when Marcelo finished his consulship, he entrusted Pompey with the protection of Rome and transferred to him the two legions that should have been sent to the east.

The consuls of 49 were also conservatives, but Marco Antonio was on the tribune. At the first meeting of the Senate, Curio presented a letter from Caesar written three days earlier and carried on horseback. In it, Caesar was willing to renounce Cisalpine Gaul, and even Transalpine if necessary, in exchange for keeping the government of Illyria (associated with that of Cisalpine Gaul) and two legions until he took possession of the consulate. He later lowered his terms by changing the inauguration to election day, thus leaving a period in which he could be vulnerable, but in which he was confident he could defend himself.

However, this reduction and other previous events, such as the delivery of the two legions, were taken as signs of weakness, and the conservatives refused to negotiate. The tribunes succeeded in having Caesar's letter read in the senate, but the consuls prevented it from being discussed. Throughout the session it was decided that if Caesar did not immediately disband his legions and enter Rome as a citizen, he would be declared an outlaw. Cicero tried to take a conciliatory position, but Caesar's enemies were uncompromising. After several days of negotiations, the Senate issued a Senatus Consultum Vltimumby which the state of exception was decreed and full powers were conferred on Pompey.

Then Marco Antonio hatched a stratagem. He and the other tribune fled to Caesar's camp in Cisalpine Gaul, claiming their lives were in danger. Now Caesar could come out in defense of the tribunes, sacred representatives of the People, threatened by the Senate. It wasn't legal, but the people would consider it fair.

That same night Caesar crossed the Rubicon River with a legion, which marked the border of Cisalpine Gaul. According to the decisions of the Senate, this step made him an outlaw and thus began the Second Civil War. It is not very credible, but it is said that when crossing the river César he uttered the famous phrase alea iacta est (the die is cast). Thus he arrived in the city of Rimini, where he met the fleeing tribunes and harangued his men to defend them from the injustices being committed against them.

Pompey had assured the Senate that if Caesar rose in revolt, a word from him would be enough to put all of Italy on a war footing, but to his surprise, he found Caesar quickly occupying Etruria while he was forced to retreat. to the south, and many of his men were deserting to join his opponent. Pompey had to embark for Greece, and with him most of the senators fled. Within three months of crossing the Rubicon, Caesar ruled Italy and soon also occupied Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia, important for supplying food to Italy. Curio was sent to Africa.

Cicero had stayed in Rome and Caesar tried to win him over to his cause, but they could not come to any agreement and Cicero finally decided to meet with Pompey. Pompey was in Greece, but where he had the most legions was in Spain. César decided to move to Spain. He left Mark Antony in Italy, posted two legions in Illyria to prevent an attack from the east, and ordered a fleet to be assembled to defend the coasts of Italy in his absence. On leaving he said: "I am going to fight an army without a leader; when I return I will do it against a leader without an army."He chose the land route. On his way, the city of Massilia denied him entry, claiming neutrality, but later welcomed officials loyal to Pompey. Caesar left a contingent besieging the city and continued on his way. His vanguard had already reached Spain but, waiting for reinforcements, he did not openly confront Pompey's troops, but began a positional war. When César arrived, after suffering some mishaps, he managed to push his enemies to a desert place where they were forced to surrender due to lack of water. Caesar was magnanimous with the vanquished and most of them joined his army. The rest of the campaign was very easy, for most of the territory sided with him of its own free will. Caesar was magnanimous with those who surrendered and very generous with those who supported him. Many Spaniards obtained Roman citizenship.

Meanwhile Massilia capitulated. Now Caesar controlled the entire western part of the Roman possessions, at least in Europe, since in Africa things were not going well for him: King Juba I of Numidia was winning victories in favor of Pompey.

In preparation for his campaign in the east for the following year, Caesar released Aristobulus II, the king of Judea deposed by Pompey, along with his eldest son, Alexander, and sent them to Judea. If they gained enough supporters for Aristobulus II to reclaim the throne from him, Judea would certainly become Caesar's supporter. However, Pompey managed to have both killed.

That year the Chinese Emperor Xuandi died. He had known how to seize the reins of power to the detriment of the court, but his successor, Yuandi, became disinterested in politics and palace intrigues returned to being the order of the day. One of the questions that were raised at the time was the advisability of moving the capital to Luoyang, further east, as a way of attenuating the political wear and tear that the Han dynasty had suffered in recent decades.

In 48 Caesar had himself elected consul by the remnants of the Senate that remained in Rome. He then embarked with his troops to Illyria accompanied by Mark Antony and laid siege to Dyrrhachium.Apparently, Caesar was unaware that Pompey had spent the year raising legions and building a fleet, so he was not the "leader without an army" he expected to find. Pompey's fleet appeared unexpectedly and Caesar understood that he had to flee. He went into Greece. Pompey would probably have done well to seize the opportunity by going to Italy, but he was eager to take on Caesar and prove to the world that he was the better of the two. He left Cato in Dyrrhachium with part of the army and went in pursuit of Caesar. He caught up with him in Farsalia, a city in Thessaly. There the battle that he had so longed for took place.

Pompey's army doubled Caesar's in number of soldiers. The attack was started by the cavalry, which tried to encircle Caesar's army and wreak havoc in his rear. But Caesar knew that the horsemen were young Roman aristocrats, so he had arranged some men to face them with orders not to throw their spears, but to use them only against the faces of the horsemen. Caesar foresaw that the conceited aristocrats would sooner fall from their horse than risk having their faces scarred, and so it was, the cavalry was neutralized. Caesar's infantry disrupted Pompey's army.

After the victory at Pharsalus, Greece and the provinces of Asia Minor realized that, in reality, they had always been on Caesar's side. Some of Pompey's generals also sided with him. Among them Junius Brutus, who after the battle went looking for him and immediately obtained his forgiveness. César assigned him a relevant position.

Pompey had to flee to Egypt. There he could raise a new army with which to face Caesar again. He was the tutor of the young King Ptolemy XIII, he had been the one who put his father on the throne and, therefore, he was king thanks to him. There was no doubt that he owed her favors. When he arrived, he found the country at a critical time. In practice, Egypt was being ruled by several courtiers: mainly the eunuch Pothinus, the tutor of King Theodotus and the strategist Aquilas.The most influential was Pothinus. Cleopatra, the king's sister, soon had disagreements with all of them, so a few months before she had left Alexandria and now she returned with an army ready to seize the throne.

In these circumstances, the arrival of Pompey was a real problem for the court. If they received the general, Caesar could side with Cleopatra, and if they denied him her asylum, it would be Pompey who would support her. Pothinus found a solution to the dilemma: he sent a boat to Pompey's galley with emissaries who showed great joy and begged him to disembark so that the people could acclaim him as he deserved. Pompey disembarked and, as soon as he set foot on land, in the sight of his wife and his son, who were looking at him from the ship, he was stabbed. The plan was brilliant: Pompey was dead and he couldn't help Cleopatra,

After the battle of Farsalia, the conservatives proposed to Cicero to direct the "republic in exile", but he refused and returned to Rome. Cato took the troops that Pompey had left in Dyrrhachium and transferred them to Africa, to unite them with those of King Juba I. For his part, Caesar made some arrangements in the East, among which was the ratification of Antipater at the head of Judea, the who in turn appointed his eldest son, Phasael, governor of Jerusalem and his son Herod Governor of Galilee. Then he sent Mark Antony to Rome and, unaware of Pompey's death, he arrived in Egypt with four thousand men ready to take him prisoner. Pothinus brought his head to him and asked for his help against Cleopatra. She sent an embassy asking Caesar for an audience, while she brought him some gifts. Pothinus probably would have prevented the interview from taking place one way or another, but there was no reason to deprive Caesar of his gifts. Among them there turned out to be a carpet inside which Cleopatra herself turned out to be, that she presented herself like this in Caesar's chambers.

Cleopatra had no difficulty in convincing Caesar that her claim to the throne of Egypt was legitimate. The main reasons that she gave of her had been given to her by her Nature, and Pothinus had no similar arguments with which to refute them. Caesar ordered that the will of Ptolemy XII be respected: Cleopatra and her brother were to rule jointly. This did not satisfy Pothinus, who realized that Cleopatra, with Caesar's support, would soon get rid of him and all her adversaries. His response was to order Aquilas to attack Caesar. The Romans had to defend themselves through the streets of Alexandria, and with difficulty they reached the port, where Caesar had all the Egyptian ships set on fire so that they could not prevent the arrival of reinforcements. The fire spread to the Library, and many books burned. Finally, Caesar was able to entrench himself in the Lighthouse and Pothinus was taken hostage. The situation seemed under control and César prepared to wait for reinforcements. However, Pothinus managed to communicate with Aquilas from his prison and organized several attempts to poison Caesar, for which he ended up executing him. The measure generated more riots, and even more occurred when Caesar was able to entrench himself in the Lighthouse and Pothinus was taken hostage. The situation seemed under control and César prepared to wait for reinforcements. However, Pothinus managed to communicate with Aquilas from his prison and organized several attempts to poison Caesar, for which he ended up executing him. The measure generated more riots, and even more occurred when Caesar was able to entrench himself in the Lighthouse and Pothinus was taken hostage. The situation seemed under control and César prepared to wait for reinforcements. However, Pothinus managed to communicate with Aquilas from his prison and organized several attempts to poison Caesar, for which he ended up executing him. The measure generated more riots, and even more occurred whenArsinoe, Cleopatra's sister, left the royal palace together with her chamberlain, the eunuch Ganymede. Dissensions then broke out among the Egyptians, and Ganymede replaced Aquilas in command of the army.

When the first reinforcements arrived, Caesar set out to conquer the entire island of Faros. Clashes ensued and, at one point, Caesar had to jump into the water, where he left his red cloak to distract the archers and was able to swim to safety. The next day the Alexandrians displayed the cape as a trophy and a rumor spread that Caesar was dead. The rumor reached Rome, where there were disturbances of the order that Marco Antonio only knew how to curb by killing some senators.

Finally, numerous reinforcements arrived from Pergamum. Among them was a detachment of Jews led by Antipater himself, which caused the Jewish community of Alexandria to side with Caesar. Now Caesar was able to occupy the Delta and marched on Alexandria. A battle ensued along the Nile in which Caesar was victorious. Ptolemy XIII tried to flee in an over-loaded barge that capsized and drowned.

Now Cleopatra was confirmed as queen of Egypt, but there had to be a king, and luckily she had another ten-year-old brother left, who happened to be Ptolemy XIV. Her sister Arsinoe was banished to Rome. It is said that Cleopatra took Caesar up the river in a luxurious boat to show him the wonders of the country. The case was that Caesar remained in Egypt for about nine months, long enough for, a few months after his departure, Cleopatra gave birth to Ptolemy Caesar, better known as Caesarion (little Caesar).

During his stay in Egypt, Caesar was surprised by the simplicity of his calendar: the year was divided into twelve months of 30 days, and at the end another five were added so that the year had a total of 365 days. The Roman calendar, on the other hand, was much more complicated. It also had twelve months, some of 29 days and others of 31, except the last one, February, which had 27. The total number of days was 354 and, to adapt it to the seasons, the Pontifex Maximus added 22 days every two years, that were grouped with the last five days of February to form an additional month of 27 days at the end of the year, called Mercedario(leaving February with only 22 days). Caesar was familiar with this because he had been Pontifex Maximus, and he knew that there must be something wrong with the system, because the truth was that, according to tradition, spring began in March, but in practice one had to wait at least until May to see it. enjoy the spring weather.

Caesar discussed the matter with the astronomer Sosigenes, who explained to him that the cause of this phenomenon (apart from the fact that the popes had lengthened or shortened years more than once for political reasons) was due to the fact that the seasonal cycle did not have 365 days, but 365 days and a quarter. For this reason it was necessary to insert one more day every four years. That accumulated loss over centuries was enough to move the seasons from their traditional dates. Certainly, although the Alexandrian sages were aware of the problem, they never got the stubborn Egyptians to agree to incorporate this correction into their calendar. Instead, Caesar commissioned Sosigenes to devise a calendar that took this into account, that it participate in the simplicity of the Egyptian calendar (that is, that it did not require adding additional months, much less to the taste of the priests), but that it respected as far as possible the Roman traditions in this regard. In this way, Caesar returned to Rome with a calendar reform project under his arm that he would soon put into practice.

But Caesar did not go directly to Rome. During his stay in Egypt Caesar had neglected the war that he had pending. Cato dominated the province of Africa and had the support of Juba I of Numidia and Bocco II of Mauritania. The situation in Spain was unstable, because the rulers in favor of Caesar were not doing a good job and this gave wings to the supporters of Pompey. At the same time Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates VI of Pontus, whom Pompey had left as king of the Cimmerian Bosporus, took advantage of the civil war to invade Pontus and thus try to recover his father's kingdom.

In 47 Caesar marched to Pontus, there he went to meet Casio Longinus, who had fought alongside Pompey in Farsalia. Caesar forgave him and allowed him to continue serving under his command. He found Pharnaces at Zala, just on the western border of the kingdom. There was hardly any battle. Pharnaces's men scattered as soon as Caesar launched his attack. During all this time, Caesar maintained epistolary contact with Rome. His report on this event was reduced to his famous Veni, uidi, uici(I came I saw I conquered). Shortly after he landed at Taranto, where Cicero went to receive him hoping for his pardon. He didn't need to ask. César greeted him effusively and talked with him on a long walk. Since then, Caesar never stopped treating Cicero with respect. In general, this was Caesar's policy: instead of staging a massacre as Sulla had done, Caesar forgave all of his enemies except those he had already pardoned once and turned against him again. .

In Rome he had to make many decisions, as Marco Antonio had delayed all relevant issues until his return. In his absence, economic measures had been suggested, such as abolishing debts and lowering the price of rents. Caesar refused the first to avoid being accused of doing it for his own benefit and, as for the second, he did what he could, although it was not easy to control.

In 46 Caesar and Marco Emilio Lépido were elected consuls.Brutus was appointed propraetor of Cisalpine Gaul. César took advantage of the consulate to carry out the reform of the calendar proposed by Sosigenes. From then on, the year would have 365 days divided into 12 months, each with the same number of days as it currently has. Every four years one more day would be added to more exactly adjust the seasonal cycle. Technically it was not an added day, but a doubled one: every year had 365 days, but one in four had a doubled one. This day was February 23, which is where the Mercedarian month was inserted every two years in the previous calendar. The Romans did not number the days of the month consecutively,Kalends, the Ides and the Nonas, and each day was counted from those that were missing for the nearest of these dates forward. Thus, the kalends were the first of the month, and February 23 was the sixth day before the March kalends. Every four years, after this day, came the sixth duplicate day before the Kalends of March. In Latin, "doubled sixth" was bis sextus, so years with a bis sextus day were called leap years.

To compensate for the displacement of the seasons due to the accumulation of errors in the previous system, César decreed that this year exceptionally have 80 additional days, distributed in a usual Mercedarian month and the rest between November and December. For obvious reasons that year became known as the year of confusion.

To add to the confusion, to count the time elapsed between two dates, the Romans had the vice of counting from the first day to the last (and thus they considered that there were eight days from Monday to Monday, just as we still say that two weeks are a fortnight and not a "fourteen"). Caesar's decree was misinterpreted, and "every four years" was understood to mean that the succession of years should be like this: leap, not leap, not leap, leap, and until the error was discovered, leap years were interspersed every three years instead of every four.

Another point of contention was setting the start of the year. The original tradition was that the year began on the spring solstice, that is, on March 21, but soon there were those who considered it more natural to start on March 1, but then there were those who thought that the month of January (ianuarius) was dedicated to the god Jano, related to the beginnings and endings of things, then the year had to start on January 1 (it was also the date on which the magistrates held their positions). In practice, everyone had their criteria. Caesar's decree established that the year began on January 1, but at this point each one maintained his own custom.

What there was agreement on was that the month of Caesar's birth ceased to be called Quintilis and was renamed the month of July. (Another version says that this was a proposal by Mark Antony after Caesar's death.) The new calendar has since been known as the Julian Calendar.

Meanwhile Cato, Scipio (Pompey's father-in-law who arrived from Spain) and Juba I had assembled the equivalent of 10 legions in Utica, in the province of Africa. Scipio's son contributed a fleet and thus they formed a respectable army with which to oppose Caesar. If they had invaded Italy while Caesar was in Egypt or Pontus, they might have had a chance, but they wasted a lot of time with dissension among themselves, since all but Cato were more interested in their personal success than in the political position they defended. . Now Caesar was in a position to face them. However, before him he had to face one last unforeseen event.

Caesar's magnanimity caused discontent among the soldiers, who hoped to enrich themselves with the property of their enemies. Besides, his long absence had relaxed discipline. The soldiers received stones from the emissaries of the generals and even assassinated some senators. Now a legion advanced on Rome to present its demands personally to Caesar. He went alone towards them, coming out to meet them, with no more protection than his sword at his belt. In his presence, the soldiers fell silent. He asked them what they wanted, and they replied discharge (and, it went without saying, the generous reward Caesar bestowed on his men when he discharged them).quirites (citizens), instead of the usual commilitones(comrades), thus implying that he took them for graduates. It is indicative of how low the city of Rome had sunk that Caesar could wound the pride of his men by calling them citizens, which in another time would have had the opposite effect. He then assured them that they would have what they had been promised, but after the expedition he was preparing and after having celebrated the triumph before all his troops (among which, it was understood, they were no longer there). The soldiers begged him to let them participate in the expedition, and voluntarily relinquished, as punishment for their insubordination, a tenth of the booty that corresponded to them. Caesar forgave them all,

They say that when Caesar landed in Africa he stumbled and fell, which could easily have been interpreted as a bad omen, but he reacted in time, grabbed a handful of earth and said "Africa, you are mine!" Caesar met the troops led by Scipio near the city of Thapso. In his advance, Caesar led his enemies into terrain where they could not adequately deploy their forces. Juba I's elephants had to be arranged in front, rather than on the wings. Caesar managed to drive them off, so that they penetrated their own lines and laid waste to their own camp. Caesar's soldiers compelled his trumpet to sound the advance signal, and they advanced when Caesar thought it wiser to wait for a more propitious moment. They entered through the gap made by the elephants and made a carnage.

From Thapso, Caesar went to Utica, where Cato was. When the defeat was known, Cato, Juba I and other members of the senatorial party chose to commit suicide, others fled to Spain and others were taken prisoner and executed. A part of Numidia became the province of Africa Nova, while another part swelled the kingdom of Mauritania, as King Bocco I opted for Caesar at the last moment, and Caesar excused him for having supported his enemies. As governor of Numidia, Caesar appointed Sallust Crispus, who scandalously enriched himself at the expense of his provincials, although he was never brought to trial.

Now only Spain offered resistance. However, Caesar temporarily let him run and returned to Rome, where he celebrated four victories in four consecutive days, for his victories in Gaul, in Egypt, in Pontus and in Africa. Among the samples of his conquests was the Gallic Vercingétorix, who was still a prisoner and, after being exhibited in the triumph, was executed.

Caesar was appointed dictator for a period of 10 years. Cicero defended various supporters of Pompey, continually appealing to Caesar for clemency. However, Cicero had practically abandoned political activity and had retired to his villa in Tusculum, where he devoted himself to writing studies. That year he published his rhetorical treatises Orator and Brutus.

Caesar was not long in dealing personally with Spain, where the resistance was led by Pompey's sons, Cnaeus and Sextus, along with other loyal generals. He left Rome in the charge of Lepidus and headed for Spain by forced marches. After a few minor clashes, the decisive battle took place in 45 near the city of Munda (present-day Montilla, south of Córdoba). Caesar gave the order to attack despite the fact that his men had to advance up the hill to do so. A bitter combat ensued, in which the Pompeians held out well because, among other things, they knew the terrain better. For a moment it seemed that Caesar, like Hannibal, was going to lose his last battle, but, at fifty-five years old, he dismounted from his horse and, removing his helmet so that he would be easily recognized, stood in the front line, whereupon his men gained new courage. When Caesar warned of a movement of enemy troops, he yelled , "They're running away!" which confused the enemies and increased their own even more. After fighting all day, Caesar won a complete victory. Most of the Pompeian leaders died, including Gnaeus Pompey, whose head was cut off and brought to Caesar, who displayed it in public. Instead, Sextus Pompey remained hidden and began to quietly gain power when Caesar left Spain.

The rest of Spain soon surrendered. César spent time reorganizing the territory with the customary system of taxes based on the degree of collaboration or resistance shown by each city. He then returned to Rome and celebrated one more triumph. Hispania and Gaul were repopulated with numerous veterans of Caesar's legions, which accelerated the process of Romanization.

Cicero received a severe blow with the death of his daughter Tullia. He continued to be absorbed by his literary production De él (De amicitia, De senectute, etc.), in which he incorporated elements of Greek philosophy.

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