Caesar, Gaius Julius (100–44 BC)

Roman general and dictator, considered Rome's most successful military commander. He formed with Pompey the Great and Marcus Licinius Crassus (the Elder) the First Triumvirate in 60 BC. He conquered Gaul 58–50 BC and invaded Britain 55–54 BC. By leading his army across the river Rubicon into Italy in 49 BC, an act of treason, he provoked a civil war which ended in 45 BC with the defeat of Pompey and his supporters. He was voted dictator for life, but was assassinated by conspirators on 15 March 44 BC. Caesar was a skilled historian whose Commentarii, recounting his campaigns, has had a major impact on the way military history is written up to the present day.

Caesar's early career was conventional, in marked contrast with that of his later rival Pompey. He served as a military tribune in Asia 80–78 BC where he received Rome's highest decoration, the corona civica, usually awarded for saving a fellow citizen's life. A patrician, Caesar allied himself with the popular party, and when elected to the office of aedile (magistrate) in 65 BC, nearly ruined himself with lavish amusements for the Roman populace. Although a free thinker, he was elected chief pontiff in 63 BC and appointed governor of Further Spain (equivalent to modern Portugal and much of western, central, and southern Spain) in 61 BC. As governor he carried out some highly successful policing actions against the tribes of the area in 61–60 BC. His political alliance with Pompey and Crassus led to a consulship in 59 BC, and in 58 BC he was given a five-year governorship, extended to ten years in 55 BC, of the provinces of Illyria on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea and both Transalpine and Cisalpine Gaul (corresponding to present-day northern Italy, France, Belgium, part of Germany, and the southern Netherlands). During his tenure as governor, Caesar conquered Gallic territory up to the river Rhine, suffering only two reverses in this period: a detachment of 15 cohorts was annihilated in the winter of 54 BC, and his attack on the Gallic fortress-town of Gergovia in 52 BC ended in a costly failure. When his governorship ended in 49 BC, Caesar was immensely wealthy and the leader of a highly efficient and fanatically loyal army. Pompey had become his rival after Crassus died at Carrhae in 53 BC, and sided with factions in the Senate who wished to prosecute Caesar. Caesar led his army across the river Rubicon to meet Pompey's army in Italy, provoking a civil war that lasted until 45 BC. Caesar's brilliance as a general led to his great victories at Pharsalus in 48 BC, Thapsus in 46 BC, and in 47 BC against King Pharnaces II (ruled 63–47 BC) in Asia Minor, a campaign he summarized succinctly as veni, vidi, vici (‘I came, I saw, I conquered’). He stayed some months in Egypt, where Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, gave birth to his son, Caesarion. His final victory, in 45 BC, over the sons of Pompey at Munda in Spain, ended the war. However, Caesar failed to create a permanent peace and on 15 March 44 BC was stabbed to death at the foot of Pompey's statue in the Senate (see Brutus, Cassius).

Like many great commanders, Caesar was less interested in reforming the army than in raising it to peak efficiency. He was an inspirational leader, encouraging, flattering and rewarding his men lavishly. Personally very fit, he adopted an active style of command and had a tremendous capacity for work. He carefully prepared his campaigns, and this preparation underlay the bold and often apparently reckless movements of his army. When the situation seemed to require it, Caesar took great risks, trusting the quality of his army, his talent for improvisation, and good luck to carry him through.