The Roman Republic’s VIP There is a large debate about whether Julius Caesar was a hero or a dictator. Caesar was war hungry and fought to gain power for himself; he made the democracy fall so he could rise. However, he was well known and well admired by his people. So, why did they love him? Many today see him as a powerful dictator, but during the reign of the Roman Republic the people saw him as the man who saved them. He killed many and declared himself the dictator of Rome, but he also healed the economy and expanded Ancient Rome to what we know today. Julius Caesar was a well admired dictator because he was known as a military hero, he used his influence to increase his popularity and power, and he expanded the Roman Republic. Military …show more content…
Both of them plotted to take all of the power for themselves. Caesar ended up coming out on top during their battles and declared himself the dictator of Rome. As the dictator, one of the first things he did was use “his power to enlarge the Senate” (“Julius Caesar”). This was controversial because Rome was running for a democracy before, and now that he made the Senate bigger it is almost impossible for any laws to be passed by them. Julius did this to gain more power for himself and tear down the only way of a democracy. This caused the senators and politicians to question Caesar’s decisions, but Caesar didn’t care because he had the people on his side. His popularity with the common man was extremely prominent and Caesar only did more so they would love him. He was “sweeping reforms. granting property to retiring soldiers, redistributing land to the poor and canceling debts” (Klein, Christopher). This was tremendously beneficial and “proved popular with the military and Rome’s lower and middle classes”(Klein, Christopher). Caesar was already known through his military strength and now that he is recovering the economy, the people are blind-sided to what he is doing to their