The Life of Julius Caesar
History of Julius Caesar, Biography, Pictures, Quotes

Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar. (Julius Caesar)

History / Biography of Julius Caesar
(100 – 44 BCE)

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman military and political leader. In 78 BCE Caesar began his political career in the Forum at Rome as an advocate, known for his oratory and ruthless prosecution of former governors notorious for extortion and corruption. Cicero once commented, "Does anyone have the ability to speak better than Caesar?" Aiming at rhetorical perfection, Caesar traveled to Rhodes in 75 BC for philosophical and oratorical studies with the famous teacher Apollonius Molo.

Cicero was instrumental in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. His conquest of Gallia Comata extended the Roman world all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, introducing Roman influence into what has become modern France, an accomplishment of which direct consequences are visible to this day. In 55 BC Caesar launched the first Roman invasion of Britain. Caesar fought and won a civil war which left him undisputed master of the Roman world, and began extensive reforms of Roman society and government. He was proclaimed dictator for life, and heavily centralized the already faltering government of the weak Republic.

Caesar summoned the Senate to meet in the Theatrum Pompeium on the Ides of March 44 BC. As the Senate convened, Caesar was attacked and stabbed to death by a group of Senators who called themselves the Liberators. They justified their action on the grounds that they committed tyrannicide, not murder, and were preserving the Republic from Caesar's alleged monarchical ambitions. Ironically he fell at the feet of a statue of his greatest rival, Pompey the Great. His last words, generally thought to be those reported by Suetonius "You too, (my) son?" and Shakespeare's Et tu, Brute? ("And (even) you, Brutus?") are without ancient authority. The dramatic assassination on the Ides of March was the catalyst for a second set of civil wars, which marked the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire under Caesar's grand-nephew and adopted son Octavian, later known as Caesar Augustus.

Caesar's military campaigns are known in detail from his own written Commentaries (Commentarii), and many details of his life are recorded by later historians such as Suetonius, Plutarch, and Cassius Dio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar

Julius Caesar Quotes

Men willingly believe what they wish. (Julius Caesar, De Bello Gallico)

I love the name of honor, more than I fear death.

In war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes.

It is better to create than to learn! Creating is the essence of life.

As a rule, men worry more about what they can't see than about what they can.

If you must break the law, do it to seize power: in all other cases observe it.

It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience. (Julius Caesar)