Was Julius Caesar A Good Leader

Natalie Maschler
Period 7 World History Honors
March 8th, 2023

Julius Caesar began his Roman leadership in the years 60 BC to when he died in 44 BC. Julius had many achievements and successful conquests that made him a popular military leader in Rome. However, it was later realized by the people of Rome that he was a very manipulative and selfish leader who cared more about himself and his own power than the success and power of Rome. Julius Caesar was not a good leader because the things he did appeared to be good for his people but his leadership was only to gain power. One thing that Julius did in order to gain his power as a military leader was to expand Rome through many different conquests. His conquests appeared to be with the interest

When Julius Caesar conquered Egypt, A woman named Cleopatra, a powerful figure in Egypt helped Caesar gain the support of the Egyptian people as well as gave Caesar access to Egyptian wealth. Having the support of Cleopatra, Julius gained an advantage over political rivals in Rome due to his large number of supporters which helped him grow more powerful and popular. Julius was known for his alliances with a powerful Roman leader Pompey. “Affianced his own daughter Julia to Gnaeus Pompeius, breaking a previous engagement with Servilius Caepio, although the latter had shortly before rendered him conspicuous service in his contest with Bibulus. And after this new alliance he began to call upon Pompey first to give his opinion in the senate” By having his daughter marry Pompey, Julius began to discuss his ideas for the senate with Pompey and in doing so created a bond of trust that benefited Julius significantly. Pompey was a man of great status in Rome, he was popular amongst the Roman people and had a lot of control. When Julius formed the alliance with Pompey, he gained the trust of many of Pompeys followers which helped him gain fame in Rome as well as becoming a familiar face helping him become a strong known leader amongst the Roman people. This alliance between Julius and Pompey was not to help Pompey nor to benefit Rome, Julius was smart and took an opportunity to gain more followers and power by

Later on people began to catch on and realize there was manipulation behind his kindness that benefited himself becoming well liked and respected. An example of the kindness the Roman people thought they saw in Julius was that he gave many generous gifts, favors, and privileges to people who proved to be loyal to him. However, Julius’s actions were merely for gaining supporters who saw his generosity as the characteristics of a loving and caring leader. Julius manipulated the Roman people into thinking he was a good leader when in reality he used his fake kindness to gain the love of the Romans. Another thing that made Julius appear to be such a good leader was that he showed compassion and forgiveness towards people. Even towards enemies, Julius forgave and offered to befriend people that have crossed him. Julius felt that the more enemies he had meant the less supporters, so he wanted to limit the amount of people who didn't like him and turn them to his side. Pompey, Julius's opponent, did the opposite of this which gave Julius an opportunity to prove himself to be better than Pompey. “While Pompey announced that he would treat as enemies those who did not take up arms for the government, Caesar gave out that those who were neutral and of neither party would be numbered with his friends. He freely allowed all those