Message:18870 In: TODAY.WW
From: KF5JRVDate: Sun, 15 Mar 26 11:13:00 Z
Newsgroups: TODAY.WW
Subject: Today in History - Mar 15
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Julius Caesar, dictator of Rome, is stabbed to death in the Roman Senate house by 60 conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus a
nd Gaius Cassius Longinus on March 15. The day later became infamous as the Ides of March.
Caesar, born into the Julii, an ancient but not particularly distinguished Roman aristocratic family, began his political caree
r in 78 B.C. as a prosecutor for the anti-patrician Popular Party. He won influence in the party for his reformist ideas and or
atorical skills, and aided Roman imperial efforts by raising a private army to combat the king of Pontus in 74 B.C. He was an a
lly of Pompey, the recognized head of the Popular Party, and essentially took over this position after Pompey left Rome in 67 B
.C. to become commander of Roman forces in the east.
In 63 B.C., Caesar was elected pontifex maximus, or “high priest,” allegedly by heavy bribes. Two years later, he was made
governor of Farther Spain and in 60 B.C. returned to Rome, ambitious for the office of consul. The consulship, essentially the
highest office in the Roman Republic, was shared by two politicians on an annual basis. Consuls commanded the army, presided ov
er the Senate and executed its decrees, and represented the state in foreign affairs. Caesar formed a political alliance—the
so-called First Triumvirate—with Pompey and Marcus Licinius Crassus, the wealthiest man in Rome, and in 59 B.C. was elected c
onsul. Although generally opposed by the majority of the Roman Senate, Caesar’s land reforms won him popularity with many Rom
ans.
In 58 B.C., Caesar was given four Roman legions in Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum, and during the next decade demonstrated brilli
ant military talents as he expanded the Roman Empire and his reputation. Among other achievements, Caesar conquered all of Gaul
, made the first Roman inroads into Britain, and won devoted supporters in his legions. However, his successes also aroused Pom
pey’s jealousy, leading to the collapse of their political alliance in 53 B.C.
The Roman Senate supported Pompey and asked Caesar to give up his army, which he refused to do. In January 49 B.C., Caesar led
his legions across the Rubicon River from Cisalpine Gaul to Italy, thus declaring war against Pompey and his forces. Caesar mad
e early gains in the subsequent civil war, defeating Pompey’s army in Italy and Spain, but was later forced into retreat in G
reece. In August 48 B.C., with Pompey in pursuit, Caesar paused near Pharsalus, setting up camp at a strategic location. When P
ompey’s senatorial forces fell upon Caesar’s smaller army, they were entirely routed, and Pompey fled to Egypt, where he wa
s assassinated by an officer of the Egyptian king.
Caesar was subsequently appointed Roman consul and dictator, but before settling in Rome he traveled around the empire for seve
ral years and consolidated his rule. In 45 B.C., he returned to Rome and was made dictator for life. As sole Roman ruler, Caesa
r launched ambitious programs of reform within the empire. The most lasting of these was his establishment of the Julian calend
ar, which, with the exception of a slight modification and adjustment in the 16th century, remains in use today. He also planne
d new imperial expansions in central Europe and to the east. In the midst of these vast designs, he was assassinated on March 1
5, 44 B.C., by a group of conspirators who believed that his death would lead to the restoration of the Roman Republic. However
, the result of the “Ides of March” was to plunge Rome into a fresh round of civil wars, out of which Octavian, Caesar’s
grand-nephew, would emerge as Augustus, the first Roman emperor, destroying the republic forever.
73 de Scott KF5JRVPmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NAEmail KF5JRV@gmail.com
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