Que) Give an account of Career and achievements of Julius Caesar.
(Or)
Que) evaluate the contributions of Julius Caesar to the expansion of roman empire.
Answer)
Introduction –
Caius Julius Caesar was the greatest of the four prominent men of Rome of his time. Although he did not have the ability to give fierce speeches like Cicero, he was very cultured and civilized and was also a skilled writer. He did not have as much wealth as Crassus but he had the ability to fulfill his purpose by influencing Crassus. As a soldier he was at least equal to Pompey and even more than that he was well acquainted with the internal political conspiracies of Rome. He was a visionary politician as well as a successful conqueror. The Senate and magistrates were failing in the governance of a huge empire like Rome. Cicero’s political ideals were also crude in practice. He understood the reality that Rome needed autocratic rule. Therefore he tried to become a dictator.
Career :-
Julius Caesar was born in 100 BC. His father belonged to a high caste. He considered himself a descendant of the famous gods Venus and Jupiter. Being the nephew of the commander Marius, he had statues made of him and praised him in his speeches. His guru belonged to the Gaul caste from whom he got inspiration to become great. He was married to Kosulia, a daughter of the Popularies class. Thus, due to his marriage relationship with Marius, he belonged to the common people. When he was 15 years old he was ordained a priest. Divorced his wife in the 19th year and married Cornelia, daughter of rebel leader Cinna. Sulla ordered Caesar not to marry the rebel’s daughter. When Caesar did not do so, his property was confiscated and death penalty was ordered. He went from Italy to Selesia and prepared an army. After the death of Sulla (78 BC) he returned to Rome. In the same year he was appointed quaestor in Spain. Attacked The castes there and collected wealth by destroying their cities. He favored the public by reducing the interest on loans given by traders and later (65 BC) was appointed inspector of public service works. When he got the job of justice, he gave death sentence to some of Sula’s supporters (64 BC). After that he became the president of the religious institution of Rome. Went back to Spain and started military work.
Caesar as a Writer:
Julius Caesar was a writer per excellence. He wrote a book named the ‘Commentaries’. From that book, information is gathered regarding the wars and campaigns of Julius Ceasar. He also wrote many books in Latin language which also reflect about his wars and politics. He was also the founder of the first newspaper of the world known as ‘Acta Urbis’. Caesar’s works had their literary value.
Title of Caesar –
Due to the immense increase in Caesar’s authority, he assumed the title of Imperator as the supreme officer of the army. The Senate gave him the title of ‘Pater Patria’ i.e. Father of the Country. As the head of the religion, he was called ‘Pontifus Maximus’ and the month Quintilis was renamed July (Julius) after him.
Caesar’s constitutional and other reforms / Caesar’s Achievement / Contribution of Caesar
Caesar expanded the Roman Republic throughout his reign. Egypt and Spain became integral parts of the Roman Empire. The power of rebels in North Africa and Syria was crushed. With the establishment of control over France and Britain, the borders of the Roman Empire started touching Europe. His reign is particularly memorable in Roman history for its military successes as well as constitutional reforms. The efforts made by it towards constitutional reform in the last four-five years of its rule is a shining proof of its versatile talent. These reforms are being outlined in the following lines.
1) Caesar reduced the powers of the Senate and made it a kind of advisory council and increased its number of members from 600 to 900. Made 400 new appointments in this. Most of these were Roman merchants, citizens of Italian or provincial cities, centurions, soldiers or sons of slaves. It gave the Assembly the right to elect half of the mayors and retained the right to elect the rest.
2) By taking into its own hands the right to appoint provincial governors, high officials and military officers, it forever eliminated the possibility of opposition from them.
3) The number of quaestors and praetors was increased to 40 and 16 respectively. Due to this, urban and judicial works started getting carried out quickly. He kept an eye on every activity of the city and if inefficiency or waste was seen anywhere, he would not tolerate it.
4) There was a system of harsh punishment for electoral corruption and government crimes. The work of judicial service was limited to two upper classes only. It reserved the right to hear special cases. No one could deny the fairness of its decision. That means its decision was final and universally accepted. He also proposed to gradually codify the then Roman laws, but due to his sudden death this work could not be completed.
5) Caesar realized that the people living in Rome’s colonies were, in a way, citizens of Rome. Therefore, he showed generosity in granting them citizenship and gave Roman citizenship to the Gauls and the Spanish people. It also made the inhabitants of the colonies and the plebeians members of the Senate.
6) From the economic point of view, it resumed the work of McKee brothers and distributed land among retired soldiers and the poor. This policy was later followed by Augustus also, which proved effective in resolving the peasant movement.
7) To prevent re-centralization of land ownership, it made a rule that new land should not be sold for twenty years.
8) To stop rural slavery, it made a rule that one-third of the workers in agricultural farms should be free. It made the members of the idle proletariat first soldiers and then landholders. Then their level was reduced and 80,000 citizens were sent as colonists to Carthage, Corinth, Seville, Alense and other centres. Even after this, 160,000,000 sesterces were spent in planning big buildings to provide employment to the unemployed people who remained.
9) A lot of the state’s food grains were wasted in free grain distribution. Therefore, it examined the eligibility of the recipients. Due to this, the number of people taking charity reduced from 3,20,000 to 1,50,000.
10) It reduced debt, reduced interest rates and gave relief to people in cases of extreme bankruptcy by making laws related to bankruptcy.
11) Caesar reestablished the gold based currency system. Its shape was printed on currencies and it was made artistic. His economic reforms had the effect that at the time of his death there was 700,000,000 sesterces in the government treasury and 100,000,000 sesterces in his personal treasury. 12) Caesar was worried about the declining population of Rome. Therefore, to compensate for the population reduced due to wars, it made doctors and teachers, among others, citizens of Rome. To stop the ever-decreasing birth rate, it introduced a ban on families with three children in 59 BC. He had given approval to give land. It now began to reward those with large families and forbade childless women under the age of forty-five from riding in palanquins or wearing jewellery. According to Will Durant, ‘It was the weakest and most insignificant law in its constitution. As a public builder, Caesar’s plans were diverse and convenient, but the laws related to society were not proper.
13) He got new temples established and renovated old ones.
14) With the help of a Greek astrologer, he got the government calendar reformed. To calculate the year, instead of calculating the lunar year, the Egyptian principle of calculating the solar year was introduced. Every fourth year, one more day was added to the 365 days, which brought huge benefits to the farmers. This method is still prevalent in many countries of Europe and Asia with some changes.
Evaluation of Caesar –
Caesar was not only of Rome but also one of the greatest persons of the world. There was an unprecedented combination of indomitable enthusiasm, fighting skills, ethical tact, eloquence, wisdom etc. Like Alexander, he did not know how to stop. Even his enemies praised his generosity. Skilled commander, capable administrator, great conqueror, politician, expert scholar, from whatever point of view he appears to be at the top among the rulers of his time. Pompey and Alexander had campaigned in the West merely for fame and fortune, but Caesar recognized the inherent importance of northwestern Europe.
By incorporating Gaul into the Roman Empire, Roman agricultural wealth increased beyond expectations. Burns rightly says, “The later development of Western European civilization was the result of Caesar’s conquest of these territories.” According to Trevor, “He was the most brilliant man to ever appear in Rome and has few equals in world history in the fields of war and politics.”
It produced D. Bello Gallico and D. Bello Civili as literary figures. In this he has described the conquest of Gaul and Spain. It is also said that he wanted to establish a huge library on the lines of Alexandria in Rome. But his dream remained unfulfilled. But while Caesar was a mine of virtues, he also had some shortcomings. This was less visionary. It lacked the power to recognize people. The very people he trusted conspired against him. It was egoistic, selfish and opportunistic. He had to bear the brunt of these vices and had to lose his life leaving his plan incomplete.