Caesars Conquest Of Gaul Essay -- essays research papers fc

Caesar’s Conquest of Gaul Gaius Julius Caesar, born 100 B.C.E. in Rome to the impoverished patrician Julian Clan, knew controversy at an early age. Nephew to Populare Gaius Marius, he was earmarked by the Optimate dictator Sulla for prosciption after his refusal to divorce his Populare wife, Cinna. Fleeing Rome, and not returning until after Sulla’s resignation in 78 B.C.E, upon his return he gained a position as a pontificate, an important Roman priesthood. Slowly but surely throughout his lifetime he worked his way up the political ladder, eventually becoming Consul, and finally Dictator Perpeteus – Dictator for life. One of the most influential political and military leaders of all time, Caesar was also a highly intelligent man and an exceptional orator. However, acquiring this absolute power was no mean feat, and Caesar had well equipped himself through previous expeditions with all the resources necessary to gain power in Ancient Rome. One such â€Å"expedition† was Julius Caesar’s conquest of Gaul. Through Gaul, Caesar found a way to acquire power and prestige for himself within the Roman political arena. Therefore, Caesar’s conquest of Gaul was incidental to his rise to power, and was merely used as a â€Å"stepping-stone† by which he could climb further up the political ladder, following the traditional path of the cursus honorum. His conquest of Gaul gave him all the resources necessary to climb the political ladder – wealth, popular support by the people of Rome, and, most importantly of all, the support of a staunchly loyal and experienced army. In previous years, Caesar had relied upon the wealth and prestige of others in order to further his own political and military ambitions. Before his governorship of Cisalpine Gaul, he relied heavily upon the financial support of Crassus (whom was his main creditor) to gain favour with the Roman public. However, with his appointment as proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum in 58 B.C.E, Caesar saw an opportunity to increase his own wealth and prestige without relying upon the support of others. To his command of Cisalpine Gaul, he was also later given the command of Transalpine Gaul. His command of the Gallic region had several advantages. Firstly, the Po Valley was an excellent recruiting ground for troops. Secondly through Gaul, Caesar had an opportunity to acquire great wealth, which would be needed to fur... ...on Caesar (Translated by John Dryden) 75 B.C.E. [ON-LINE] http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/caesar.html (7)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Plutarch on Caesar (Translated by John Dryden) 75 B.C.E. [ON-LINE] http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/caesar.html (8)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Grant, Michael The Twelve Caesars (1975) Scribner, New York pp 31-33 (9)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gelzer, Matthias Caesar: Politican and Statesman (Translated by Peter Needham) (1968) Harvard University Press pp 329-331 (10)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Plutarch on Caesar (Translated by John Dryden) 75 B.C.E. [ON-LINE] http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/caesar.html Bibliography Bradley, Pamela Ancient Rome: Using Evidence (1990) Edward Arnold (Australia), Victoria Gelzer, Matthias Caesar: Politican and Statesman (Translated by Peter Needham) (1968) Harvard University Press, Harvard University Grant, Michael The Twelve Caesars (1975) Scribner, New York Plutarch Caesar (Translated by John Dryden) 75 B.C.E. [ON-LINE] http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/caesar.html Suetonius The Lives of the Caesars, The Deified Julius 110 B.C.E. [ON-LINE] http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/suetonius-julius.html