Assassination Of Gaius Julius Caesar Essay Research

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Assassination of Gaius Julius Caesar

Caius Julius Caesar, a Roman consul, was a great leader and a terrible

dictator.

Many of his reforms were excellent, but he also was hungry for the power of

Roman Dictator, which would give him absolute power for as long as he required

it. Throughout his life he did many things including creating the calendar that

we know today, advancing mathematics, and many other scholarly things. When he

became dictator in 44 B.C., those in power knew he must be stopped, and so he

was assassinated.

Caesar was born in 100 B.C., sometime in July. Around the age of 22,

unable to gain a political position in the Forum, he went to Rhodes to study

rhetoric. There he became a priest and scholar. During the Next 20-30 years,

Caesar became a triumvir (consisting of Crassus, Pompey, and Caesar), governor,

and finally sole dictator of Rome.

In 48 B.C. the Roman Senate gave Caesar the power of dictator for one

year. During this time he defeated Pompey. In 45 B.C. the Senate made him

consul for ten years, but in 44 B.C. after winning his final victory and

pacifying the Roman world, Caesar decided to became dictator for life. This

prompted Gaius Cassius and Marcus Junius Brutus to plot an assassination to

preserve the Roman Republic. On March 15, 44 B.C. Julius Caesar was killed in

the Senate house.

The reason behind the assassination of Gauis Julius Caesar was very

clear. He just had too much power. Cassius and Brutus knew that if Caesar

became the dictator he would destroy the Roman republic. Caesar knew that by

becoming the dictator he would have those who did not like him, so he inacted

the Sanctity of the Tribunes, which enabled him to be unharmed without dire

consequences. When Caesar was killed, Rome became divided on who should have

the power. Eventually Octavius “Augustus” Caesar became sole emperor of Rome,

and from there out Rome declined.

Bibliography:

[1] Funk & Wagnalls Corp. (1994). “Caesar, Gaius Julius”, Microsoft ?

Encarta.

[2] Perry, Marvin. (1988) “A History of the World”, Houghton Mifflin

Company.

[3] Concord Reference Books, Inc. “The New American Desk Encyclocpedia”,

Signet Classics & Nal Books