Important Events in the Life of Julius Caesar

Caesar and the Pirates

In Vincent Panella's first novel, Cutter's Island, Julius Caesar is captured and held for ransom by a group of pirates with a grudge against Rome in 75 BCE.

Piracy was common at the time because Roman senators needed enslaved laborers for their plantations, which Cilician pirates offered them.​​

First Triumvirate

The First Triumvirate is a historical phrase that references an informal political alliance between three very important men of the Roman Republic.

Normal Romans exerted power in Rome by being part of the Senate and especially by being elected consul. There were two annual consuls. Caesar helped devise a method whereby three men could share this power. Along with Crassus and Pompey, Caesar was part of the First Triumvirate. This occurred in 60 BCE and lasted until 53 BCE.

Lucan Pharsalia (The Civil War)

This Roman epic poem told the story of the civil war involving Caesar and the Roman Senate which had taken place in 48 BC. Lucan's "Pharsalia" was likely left unfinished upon his death, coincidentally breaking off at almost the exact same point where Julius Caesar broke off in his commentary "On the Civil War."

Julius Caesar Declines a Triumph

In 60 B.C., Julius Caesar was entitled to a lavish triumphal procession through the streets of Rome. Even Caesar's enemy Cato agreed that his victory in Spain was worthy of the highest military honor. But Julius Caesar decided against it.

Caesar had moved his focus toward creating a stable government and growing economic and social issues. He focused on politics, government and laws in order to restore the Senate.

Massilia and Julius Caesar

In 49 B.C. Julius Caesar, with Trebonius as his second-in-command, captured Massilia (Marseilles), a city in Gaul in modern France that had allied itself with Pompey and, it thought, Rome.

Unfortunately, the city suffered despite Caesar choosing to show mercy. They lost a lot of their territory and their complete independence, making them an obligatory member of the Republic.

Caesar Crosses the Rubicon

When Caesar crossed the Rubicon River in 49 BC, civil war began in Rome, as he knew it would. An act of treason, this confrontation with Pompey went against the Senate's commands and led the Roman Republic to a civil war full of bloodshed.

Ides of March

On the Ides of March (or March 15), 44 B.C., Julius Caesar was assassinated at the foot of a statue of Pompey where the Senate was meeting.

His assassination was planned by several prominent Roman senators. Because Caesar made himself "Dictator for Life," his powerful role had turned over sixty members of the Senate against him which led to his planned death. This date is a part of the Roman calendar and has been marked by many religious observances.