How Far Was Julius Caesar A Successful Military Strategist?

Julius Caesar was a notorious Roman general, skilled military strategist, and a member of the First Triumvirate. After his death there was civil war which caused the Roman Republic to fall but set the foundation for the arrival of the Roman Empire. He was born into a patrician class family on July 12 in 100 B.C.E. In 85 B.C.E. he became the head of his family at the age of 16 after his father’s sudden death. By 60 B.C.E. he along with Pompey and Crassus took control of the Roman Republic, this alliance is often referred to as the First Triumvirate. This alliance did not last very long, and it all began to deteriorate with the death of Crassus who died in battle. Soon after, Julius Caesar would find himself in a civil war with fellow member

From these invasions he acquired the riches to support his military. He would become the governor of Gaul and would inform the people of his military achievements as would become a notorious military strategist. Crassus and Pompey were the main keys to Caesar obtaining power because money was one of the most important factors to being a successful politician or general during the time. Having wealth allowed him to become one of the most important politicians in Rome, increased his popularity throughout all parts of Roman society, and paved the way for him to bribe senators or soldiers into doing his bidding. Throughout Caesar’s quest to becoming the absolute ruler of Rome the Senate and Pompey were the main rivals that tried to hinder him. The Senate continuously tried to strip him of his army especially after his invasion of Britain, but he would avoid them by occupying Rome using the justification that there were people who wanted to harm his supporters. The Senate would form an alliance with Pompey and ordered that Caesar return to Rome in defiance he took his armies into Italy which started a civil

The most serious threat to dictators’ power is the elites and the elites during the time (the Senate) would assassinate him. Dictators are often at odds with the elites because he cannot know who is loyal to them or not. Caesar was in a state of shock during his assassination as he believed that the senators were loyal to him and did not have their own agendas. During his time as Consul, he used his wealth to co-opt elites and soldiers to execute his wishes. Being the Consul, he had access to legions of armies which made it difficult for people to oppose him as having an effective military increases a dictators’ power. Another theory is personalization as he installed loyal senators in the Senate after killing the senators that opposed him. Caesar made numerous changes to the rules to benefit him such as increasing the number of senators in the Senate and trying to change the term limit. Dictators in Rome usually served a six-month term, but he wanted to remain a dictator for life which would lead to his downfall. His regime would be considered a form of totalitarianism as he was considered to be a charismatic leader that was trying to help out the normal Roman. He obtained this notoriety by decreasing Rome’s debt and rebuilding city-states such as Carthage and Corinth which lead Romans into believing that he was a benevolent