Gaius Julius Caesar was born around July 13, 100 B.C. and was stabbed to death in the Roman senate on March 15, 44 B.C. He even invented the Leap Day! So why did his friends hate him? You think your dictator is bad...
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00:00 Gaius Julius Caesar was born on July 13, 100 BC to a noble family.
00:18 However, they had very little wealth and as a result, the family had very little influence
00:23 or power in Rome.
00:25 In 85 BC, Caesar's father died suddenly, making Gaius the head of the family at age
00:31 16.
00:34 Caesar was politically active as a teenager and opposed the new dictator of Rome, Lucius
00:38 Cornelius Sulla.
00:40 Sulla was fond of having his opponents murdered, so the teenage Caesar was forced to flee Rome,
00:45 leaving behind his new wife Cornelia.
00:48 At one point he was captured by Sulla's soldiers, but he managed to escape by paying
00:52 them a bribe.
00:54 Caesar returned to Rome and was reunited with Cornelia after Sulla died.
00:58 And in 76 BC, the couple had a daughter, Juliet.
01:02 The following year, Caesar, by then in his mid-twenties, was kidnapped by pirates in
01:06 the Aegean Sea while traveling.
01:09 But when Caesar discovered the low price for his ransom, he was insulted and insisted on
01:13 a greater sum.
01:15 While the money was being collected, he charmed the pirates with his "boldness of speech."
01:20 But soon after his release, he sought revenge and had his former kidnappers executed.
01:25 Caesar's political career was slow to take off, but he gradually built up his support
01:29 and reputation, and even used personal tragedies for political gain.
01:33 Such as when Cornelia died in 69 BC, Caesar broke with tradition and used her funeral
01:38 to grow his support by giving a speech that appealed to the people and showcased his caring
01:43 side.
01:45 He spent lavishly, borrowing heavily, and eventually going into debt so that he could
01:49 continue to give out gifts and buy political influence.
01:53 Caesar moved up the political ladder of Rome by being elected or named to multiple offices.
01:59 Caesar formed an alliance with the extremely wealthy politician Marcus Licinius Crassus
02:05 and the powerful general and politician Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, later known as Pompey the
02:10 Great.
02:11 The three men formed a three-way coalition called the Triumvirate that ruled over the
02:15 Roman Republic.
02:18 Caesar also married his only daughter, Julia, to Pompey around 59 BC to forge a closer alliance.
02:24 The same year he himself entered his third marriage, this time to the teenage Calpurnia,
02:29 the daughter of another powerful senator.
02:32 The alliance paid off, and the following year Caesar was placed in charge of a large military
02:36 force in Gaul.
02:39 He used the opportunity to conquer the entire region, earning himself a reputation as a
02:43 capable military commander and making himself fabulously wealthy.
02:47 However, in 54 BC, Julia died during childbirth, and a year later Crassus was killed in battle,
02:54 which ended the Triumvirate and broke Caesar's alliance with Pompey.
02:59 By that time, Pompey had begun supporting a conservative faction of the Roman Senate,
03:03 which declared Julius Caesar an enemy, as the two former allies contended for leadership
03:08 of the entire Roman state.
03:13 In 49 BC, Caesar led his troops across the boundary of northern Italy at the Rubicon
03:17 River and marched on Rome, uttering the now-famous phrase that's often translated as "The
03:24 die is cast."
03:25 Caesar's move against Rome took Pompey by surprise.
03:29 He was forced to flee Rome and Italy.
03:32 Pompey defeated Caesar at the Battle of Dyrrhachium in Albany, but was himself defeated in Greece
03:37 at the Battle of Pharsalus, which ultimately enabled Caesar to become dictator for life.
03:42 Caesar's army pursued Pompey all the way to Egypt.
03:46 Pompey was hoping to rally support there, but was instead killed at the hands of the
03:50 Egyptians.
03:52 The following year, Caesar took over Egypt and reinstated Cleopatra as its queen and
03:56 co-ruler with her younger brother.
03:59 Cleopatra and Caesar began a romance, but Caesar could not marry Cleopatra, as Roman
04:03 laws did not allow polygamy and he was still married to Calpurnia.
04:08 Cleopatra gave birth to a son, Caesarion, whom Caesar never acknowledged as his own.
04:14 After Pompey's death, Julius Caesar assumed control of the government as the sole ruler
04:19 of the Roman Republic.
04:21 But the battles were not over.
04:24 In a letter to the Senate around 47 BC, after he had achieved a quick victory in northern
04:28 Turkey, Caesar wrote the words "Vini vidi vici" - I came, I saw, I conquered.
04:36 No matter how much Caesar conquered, there were still many in Rome who opposed the idea
04:40 of one man, and Caesar in particular, having so much power.
04:45 But the Roman people loved Caesar's military strength, political skills, and diplomatic
04:49 savviness.
04:50 Caesar advocated for his people.
04:52 He aimed to reduce debt and unemployment, as well as to improve the ordinary Roman people's
04:57 living standards.
04:58 He also supported those who had fought for him, and he made plans for the distribution
05:02 of land to about 15,000 of his veterans.
05:06 He offered jobs to the poor to work in Rome's overseas colonies, granted citizenship to
05:11 foreigners living in the Republic, and even pardoned former opponents.
05:15 Finally, the most lasting contribution was his reform of the calendar.
05:21 After learning about the calendar system in Egypt, Caesar implemented his own in 45 BC.
05:27 The new Julian calendar had 365 days a year and was intended to be in sync with the solar
05:33 cycle.
05:34 And because the actual solar year is almost 365 and a quarter days long, Caesar created
05:40 a leap day every four years to make up the difference.
05:45 The Julian calendar was the norm in most of the Western world until the Gregorian calendar,
05:50 a more modified version, was introduced in the late 16th century.
05:55 The month that Caesar was born was eventually named July in his honor.
05:59 So after finally returning to Rome, Caesar became dictator for life in 44 BC.
06:05 But we all know how that ended.
06:07 On March 15th of that year, a date known as the Ides of March, a group of senators who
06:13 had feared that Caesar would overthrow the Senate and make himself king, stabbed Caesar
06:17 to death in the Senate itself.
06:20 The senators were quite sly and arranged for more than 60 individuals to be involved in
06:25 the killing to prevent any one person from taking the blame.
06:29 His dear friend and mistress's son, Marcus Junius Brutus, was likely involved in the
06:34 coup, although Caesar's supposed last words, "Et tu, Brute?" or "You too, Brutus?"
06:39 were actually coined by Shakespeare.
06:42 Caesar was the first person in history to have an autopsy, proving he was stabbed 23
06:47 times, and the fatal wound was to his aorta.
06:52 The whole point of Caesar's assassination was to prevent dictatorship, yet even with
06:56 Caesar's death, this did not happen.
06:59 Not only was he already beloved while alive, he left every citizen in Rome three months'
07:03 wages when he died.
07:06 Mark Anthony, Caesar's friend, gave a speech that enraged a fire in the hearts of the Roman
07:10 people.
07:11 Caesar's death resulted in numerous civil wars that ended the Roman Republic and began
07:16 the Roman Empire.
07:18 His adopted son, Octavian, eventually became the first Roman emperor and was known as Augustus
07:23 Caesar thereafter.
07:26 In fact, the name Caesar became a title for sovereign leaders in many languages, such
07:30 as the Russian word "Tsar" and the German word "Kaiser," making sure that Julius
07:35 Caesar will never be forgotten.
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