The Birth of Julius Caesar

The Birth of Julius Caesar

         On this day in 100 b.c., there was born in Rome Gaius Julius Caesar. Before his assassination in 44 b.c., famously on the “Ides of March,” he would serve multiple terms as a counsel of Rome and some five and a half years in the official office of Dictator.  His pacification of Gaul, culminating in this victory over Vercingetorix at the Battle of Alesia, was recounted in the Gallic Wars, still required reading for students learning Latin.  The First Civil War, precipitated by the “Crossing of the Rubicon,” led to the initial failure of the Roman Republic, a failure that would find its completion is the Second Civil War precipitated by his assassination and the rise of the Roman Empire under its first emperor Caesar (Octavian) Augustus, Caesar’s post-death adopted son and heir.