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",
SignetClassics & Nal Books
English
