Emperor julius Caesar

Julius Caesar was a Roman general and politician who overthrew the RomanRepublic and established the rule of the emperors. Caesar used the problems and hardships of the period to create his own supreme political and military power. Roman Emperor Julius Caesar is regarded as one of the most powerful and successful leaders in the history of the world. His life and his violent death have been widely celebrated in literature and film.

Gaius Julius Caesar was born on July 12, 100 B.C.E. to Gaius Caesar and Aurelia. His father had gained moderate political success and the family claimed a long and noble history, which therefore entitled Caesar's family to certain traditional privileges and offices. Caesar received the classic education of a young Roman at Rome and in Rhodes. Cicero (106–43 B.C.E. ), a Roman statesman and philosopher, considered Caesar one of the most cultured and literate of Romans. Caesar served as a young officer in Asia Minor and was quaestor (financial official) in Farther Spain (69 B.C.E. ).

Caesar's first important political success came in 63 B.C.E. , when he was elected pontifex maximus, the chief religious office in Rome that carried important political possibilities. Caesar was then elected praetor (an elected Roman official) for 62 B.C.E. and served his propraetorship in Spain. Caesar was quick to take advantage of his power by waging a successful campaign against some native tribes in Lusitania, a Roman province in western Europe. Meanwhile, his political enemies accused him of provoking, or starting, the war.

In 59 B.C.E. Caesar won an election to become consul, or an official ruling over foreign lands. The Senate, immediately moving to block his hopes of future political power, assigned him to lands that offered Caesar no possibilities for military glory. Caesar, who desired more glamorous political and military opportunities, saw that he needed allies to overcome his opponents in the Senate.

Caesar soon found the alliance that would become known as the First Triumvirate. He aligned himself with the Roman General Pompey (106–48 B.C.E. ), who brought wealth and military might, and Crassus (140–91 B.C.E. ), a powerful Roman politician who brought important political connections. The alliance was further sealed in 58 B.C.E. with the marriage of Caesar's only daughter, Julia, to Pompey.

King Herod the Great

Judea was ruled by high priests of the Hasmonean dynasty, descendants of the leaders who had freed the country from Seleucid rule. The Seleucid dynasty (312–64 B.C.E. ) began with Seleucus I, who created an empire from part of the area of southwest Asia that had been controlled by Alexander the Great (356–323 B.C.E. ). Herod's grandfather and father held prominent political offices in Judea and established close relations with the Romans, the unquestioned world power during that time. In 47 B.C.E. , when Roman Emperor Julius Caesar (100—44 B.C.E. ) momentarily settled Palestinian affairs, he seems to have entrusted Herod's father, Antipater, with the effective civil government. Antipater named his eldest son, Phasael, governor of Jerusalem and his second son, Herod, governor of Galilee, where he won favor with the Romans by his success in dealing with hostile military groups. In 46 B.C.E. Herod was appointed governor of Coele-Syria and Samaria by Caesar's representative. But with the death of Caesar and the arrival of the new emperor, Cassius (d. 42 B.C.E. ), Herod quickly dismissed his loyalty to Caesar and won Cassius's favor. He also married Mariamne, a Hasmonean princess and granddaughter of the high priest Hyrcanus II. A Parthian invasion in 40 B.C.E. brought another change: Antigonus, a rival Hasmonean, became king of Judea, and Herod had to flee. He left his family in the fortress of Masada and went to Rome. There, Roman leaders Antony (c. 81–30 B.C.E. ) and Octavian (64 B.C.E. —14 C. E.), the future Augustus, accepted him, and the Senate named him king of Judea.