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CCI 502: C. Iulius Caesar

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Life (13 July 100 BCE-- 15 March BCE)

He served in Asia beginning in 80, and began his oratorical and political career with charges of extortions against members of the nobility; he continued his studies at Rhodes c. 75, became quaestor in Further Spain, then aedile, pontifex maximus, praetor, then propraetor of Further Spain. He became triumvir with Pompey and Crassus in 60and was elected consul in 59. He was appointed proconsul of Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul 58-50, dictator in 49, and campaigned against Pompey and his sons 48-45. In 44, on March 15, "he succumbed to the strokes of his murderers" (Teuffel p. 314). Main sources for his life are his own works and the works later attributed to him (see below) but probably written by some of his officers; see also Suetonius, Divus Iulius; Cicero's speeches and letters; Plutarch, Caesar; Appian, Bellum Civile; Dio Cassius 36-44.

Works

Extant

• Comentarii de bello Gallico (7 books; book 8 composed by his subordinate A. Hirtius)
• Comentarii de bello civile (3 books)
• Verse epigram to Terence (can be found in Fragmenta Poetarum Latinorum 91)

Lost

• Speeches, collected and published, but out of fashion by end of 1st century A.D. These were highly praised by Cicero and Tacitus.
• De analogia (written in 54), concerning grammar and diction
• De astris (probably related to his rectification of the calendar) Iter, a poem written on his journey to Spain, 45.
• A pamphlet in 2 books attacking Cato the Younger.
• He is said by Suetonius to have written in his youth a Praises of Hercules and a tragedy, Oedipus.

Spurious

• Bellum Alexandrinum,
• Bellum Africum,
• Bellum Hispaniense, dealing with later episodes of the civil wars, written by unknown officers who had probably served with him in those campaigns.

Bibliography

Adcock, F. E. Caesar as a man of letters (Cambridge, 1956)

Balsdon, J. P. V. D., Julius Caesar; a political biography (Atheneum 1967)

Balsdon, J. P. V. D. , Julius Caesar and Rome (English Universities Press 1967)

Bradford, Ernle Dusgate Selby, Julius Caesar : the pursuit of power ( Morrow 1984)

Collins, J. H., "Caesar as political propagandist," ANRW 1.1 (1972)

Ferrero, Guglielmo, 1871-1942, The life of Caesar (Norton 1962)

Gelzer, Matthias, Caesar: politician and statesman (Harvard University Press 1968)

Kahn, Arthur David, The education of Julius Caesar: a biography, a reconstruction (Schocken Books 1986)

Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, Précis des guerres de César (Jovene 1984)

Tingay, Graham, Julius Caesar (Cambridge University Press 1991)

Weinstock, Divus Julius (Oxford 1971)

Lexicon: H Merguet (Hildesheim 1963, reprint of Jena 1886)