Julius Caesar Facts

How do I describe Gaius Julius Caesar? His achievements and honors are way too many to be described in one sentence, or in this article for that matter! He was a powerful dictator, an excellent orator, an eminent writer, and an influential politician.

Another unique achievement into his kitty was that he got the chance to live a life of a Roman priest and a Roman soldier as well, this was something that was not common in those days. He was known for his thirst for power and his life was directed towards achieving more and more power and authority all across the globe.

His intelligence and exceptional tactics made him responsible for bringing about some significant reformations in the Roman Republic, which led to its transformation to the Imperial Roman Empire. The following section contains some interesting facts about the famous Roman dictator, Julius Caesar.

Born on July 12th or 13th, about a hundred years before Christ, Julius Caesar is a very important name in the Roman history. Though he was not an emperor himself, he was the first in the Roman history to be deified or exalted as someone equivalent to God. He believed in power, fortune, authority, and name.

His beliefs and thirst to conquer more and more is visible in many of his famous quotes, one of them being, "Fortune, which has a great deal of power in other matters but especially in war, can bring about great changes in a situation through very slight forces."

Another of his quotes signifying his drive to be the best in Rome was, "I had rather be first in a village than second at Rome."

He died at the age of 55, and his death was definitely unexpected and sudden. But you know what the funny part is? He always said the following about death, "Which death is preferable to every other? The unexpected." His quotes speak a lot about him, don't they? Want to know some more interesting facts about the greatest figure in the Roman history?

► Julius Caesar was born in the Patrician family which was known to be the descendants from lulus, who was the son of Trojan prince Aeneas, who was the son of Goddess Venus.

► There have been a lot of interpretations about the origin of the cognomen "Caesar". According to Pliny the Elder, it was derived from a Latin term Caedere which means to cut. So, people who were born through a cesarean section owned this cognomen.

Another interpretation according to Historia Augusta states that the first Caesar had killed an elephant in a battle, had thick head of hair, and also had bright gray eyes, and because Caesar had issued coins with elephant images, it depicted that he liked this interpretation of his name the most.

► Julius Caesar had become the head of the family at a very young age of 16 when his father suddenly passed away.

► At the age of 17, he was nominated as the high priest of Jupiter, but because it was the law for the high priest to be married to a patrician, he married Cornelia who was the daughter of Lucius Cinna after breaking off his childhood engagement to a plebeian girl.

► Speaking of marriage, Julius Caesar married thrice in his lifetime. His first marriage was with Cornelia in 83 BC. She died in 68 or 69 BC due to childbirth, so, Julius Caesar married for the second time to Pompeia whom he divorced shortly in 61 BC. His last and third marriage was with Calpurnia Pisonis which took place in 59 BC.

► Julius Caesar never married any of his wives because of love, rather, he married them only for political motives. However, he was known to have affairs with many women including Cleopatra VII of Egypt, with whom he was for 14 long years and also fathered a son named Caesarion.

They never married because the law didn't allow the marriage of a Roman with a non-Roman, and surprisingly, it was also not considered as adultery! The other woman he was associated with was Servilla Caepiones, who also happened to be the mother of Brutus who was one among the assassins who stabbed Caesar.

The third woman was Eunoe, who was the queen of Mauretania and was also the wife of Bogudes.

► Do you know that when Julius Caesar was young enough and traveling to Rhodes to study oratory, he was kidnapped by the pirates? When the pirates decided to ask 20 talents of silver as ransom, Julius Caesar insisted them to ask for more, fifty talents perhaps! He always had superiority throughout his captivity.

However, the interesting part is that when he was freed, he pursued the pirates, arrested them and had them crucified as he promised them during his captivity, which the pirates took as a joke, a joke that ultimately led towards them losing their lives!

► Caesar was also responsible for the first triumvirate (rule of three men). This alliance included Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Cato. Julius Caesar also gave his daughter Julia in marriage to Pompey to cement the alliance.

► Have you ever wondered how Julius and July sound the same? July was earlier known as Quintilis which was changed to Julius or July in 44 BCE by Julius Caesar himself!

► Julius Caesar was also the first one to print his own snap on the Roman coin. Even the Bible quotes,
Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. 

And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. - Mathew 22: 17-21!

► Do you know that the modern calendar is very similar to the Roman calendar, and it was Julius Caesar who changed the old Roman Calendar which earlier followed the changes in the moon, but later on started following the changes in the Sun. He was the one who introduced the Julian Calendar and set the days to 365 days, with the leap year having 366 days!

► Another change that was brought by Julius Caesar is that he was represented as the King of Diamonds in the Deck of cards in Rome. The King of Spades was represented by King David, the Biblical king, the King of Hearts was Charlemagne, and the King of Clubs was Alexander the Great.

► Speaking of Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar was considered to be next to him in ancient history because of his excellent military commanding skills. In fact, he was the first one to invent the encryption technique which is also known as the Caesar cipher. This was a code which used the technique to shift 2 letters to the right. For example, in Caesar cipher, Julius would be written as 'lwnkwu'.

► Brutus, who was also suspected to be the illegitimate son of Caesar, assassinated Caesar on 15th March, also known as the Ides of March, along with several others. He was stabbed 23 times. His last words, according to Suetonius are reported to be "Tu quoque, Brute, fili mi!", which is translated as "You too, Brutus, my son!" !

► Even after his death, Caesar was given the title of Divus, which means God by the people of Rome. This was added to the various honors that were bestowed upon him during his lifetime which included the honor of Pater Patriae, which means Father of the Fatherland; Dictator for life; and Pontifex Maximus, which means the Highest Priest, to name a few. He was also the consul in 59 BC and the proconsul after his term as consul ended.

► After his assassination, his adopted son Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, who was his grand-nephew by blood, became the successor of his empire. He was later known as Emperor Augustus.

Julius Caesar was one such person whose entire life is an encyclopedia of interesting facts and information. Though it is not possible to list all of those in this article, reading about the biography and life history of Julius Caesar would definitely take you back to a glimpse of his life.

The name Julius Caesar is an epic in itself, with famous writers like Shakespeare enacting his life in plays and dramas. He was a man driven by power, intelligence, and position.

He was not only a great dictator but also an excellent orator and writer, Commentaries being his major contribution towards the information of early Celtic tribes. To conclude, I would like to quote one of the most famous quotes of Julius Caesar which stands true to his personality. "I came, I saw and I conquered!"... and indeed he did.