The Life of Julius Caesar

• Caesar lived from approximately 100 B.C. to 44 B.C.

• He was a Roman general and statesman, and a brilliant military leader

• He made Rome the center of the empire

• Caesar had great power and was good at many things, including speaking, politics, and warfare

• His power was so great that it scared people.

• At age 17, marries Cornelia, daughter of Lucien Cornelius Cinna

• The pair is ordered to divorce, but Caesar refuses and leaves for Greece instead until he is pardoned

• Cornelia dies 68 B.C.

• 65 B.C. – elected to direct public works and games

• 60 B.C. – named as part of the First Triumverate*

• 59 B.C. – marries Calpurnia

*The Triumverate included Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Gnaeus Pompey

• 58 B.C. campaigns to conquer France– Caesar only loses 2 battles in 9 years– Successfully pushes Germans out of France and

invades Britain twice

– This causes great celebration in Rome, but not everyone is happy!

• Pompey, in particular, is jealous and wants Caesar to give up his army

• Civil war begins and Pompey is driven out• 60 days later, Caesar is master of Italy• 49 B.C. – Caesar appoints himself as dictator

and consul• Caesar chases Pompey into Greece and Egypt,

where Pompey is murdered by someone else

• During these exploits, Caesar is credited with saying:

“I came. I saw. I conquered.”

• Pompey’s forces and sons reorganize against Caesar

• Pompey’s two sons are killed in 45 B.C.

• Caesar is given the power of a dictator for 10 years

• However, when he is offered the crown by Mark Antony, Caesar declines this as he knows that the Romans are distrustful of kings

• Despite this, people still suspect him of wanting to be king.

• This suspicion and distrust leads to a conspiracy against Caesar lead by aristocrats Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius

• Brutus and Cassius are focal points of the play and are men that Caesar believes are his friends.