John Erskine KENNEDY-ERSKINE / Augusta FITZCLARENCE

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|--John Erskine  KENNEDY-ERSKINE 
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      /--Frederick Lewis  WALES 
   /-- GEORGE II 
   |  \--Auguste Princess of  SAXE 
/--IV  WILLIAM 
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|  \--Charlotte of Strelitz  MECKLENBURG 
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|--Augusta  FITZCLARENCE 
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\--Dorothy Dora  BLAND 
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Gaius JULIUS / (Mrs.) Aurelia JULUS

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   /--Lucius Julius  CAESAR 
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/--Gaius Julius  CAESAR 
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|--Gaius  JULIUS 
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|  /--Quintus Marcius  REX 
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\--Marcia  REX 
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|--(Mrs.) Aurelia  JULUS 
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[4667] FILE: Peter Grard Gentala

[5228] FILE: Peter Grard Gentala

REIGNED: Emperor of Rome (44 B.C.)

102? B.C.-44 B.C., Roman statesman and general. Although he was born into the Julian gens, one of the oldest patrician families in Rome, Caesar was always a member of the democratic or popular party. In 82 B.C., SULLA proscribed Caesar, who fled from Rome (81 B.C.). On Sulla's death, Caesar returned (78 B.C.) to Rome and began his political career as a member of the popular party. In 69 B.C. he helped POMPEY to obtain the supreme command for the war in the East. He himself returned to Rome from Spain in 68 B.C. and continued to support the enactment of popular measures and to prosecute senatorial extortionists. In 63 B.C., as pontifex maximus, he undertook the reform of the calendar with the help of Sosigenes; the result was one of his greatest contributions to history, the Julian CALENDAR. In 60 B.C. he organized a coalition, known as the First Triumvirate, made up of Pompey, commander in chief of the army; Marcus Licinius Crassus (see CRASSUS, family), the wealthiest person in Rome; and Caesar himself. In the years 58 to 49 B.C. he firmly established his reputation in the GALLIC WARS. Caesar made explorations into Britain in 55 and 54 B.C. and defeated the Britons. By the end of the wars Caesar had reduced all Gaul to Roman control. These campaigns proved him one of the greatest military commanders of all time and also developed the personal devotion of the Roman legions to Caesar. Crassus's death (53 B.C.) ended the First Triumvirate and set Pompey and Caesar at odds. In 50 B.C. the senate ordered Caesar to disband his army, but two tribunes faithful to Caesar, Marc ANTONY and Quintus Cassius Longinus, vetoed the bill. They fled to Caesar, who assembled his army and got the support of the soldiers against the senate. On Jan. 19, 49 B.C., Caesar crossed the Rubicon, the stream bounding his province, to enter Italy, and civil war began. His march to Rome was a triumphal progress. At Pharsala in 48 B.C., Caesar defeated Pompey, who fled to Egypt, where he was killed. Caesar, having pursued Pompey to Egypt, remained there for some time, living with CLEOPATRA and establishing her firmly on the Egyptian throne. On his return to Rome, he set about reforming the living conditions of the people by passing AGRARIAN LAWS and by improving housing accommodations. In 44 B.C. he became dictator for life. His dictatorial powers had aroused great resentment in his enemies, but when a conspiracy was formed against him, it was made up of his friends and proteges, among them Cimber, Casca, Cassius, and Marcus Junius Brutus (see BRUTUS, family). On March 15 (the Ides of March), 44 B.C., he was stabbed to death in the senate house. His will left everything to his 18-year-old grandnephew Octavian (later AUGUSTUS). Caesar made the Roman Empire possible by uniting the state after a century of disorder, by establishing an autocracy in place of the oligarchy, and by pacifying Italy and the provinces. He has always been one of the most controversial characters of history, either considered the defender of the rights of the people against an oligarchy or regarded as an ambitious demagogue who forced his way to power and destroyed the republic. That he was gifted and versatile there can be little doubt. His commentaries on the Gallic Wars (seven books) and on the civil war (three books) are literary masterpieces as well as classic military documents. He was married three times: to Cornelia, to Pompeia, and to CALPURNIA.

FILE: Concise Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright 1994, Columbia University Press.

FILE: Peter Grard Gentala

REIGNED: Emperor of Rome (44 B.C.)

[5222] FILE: Peter Grard Gentala

sister of Julius Caesar

!SISTER TO THE GREAT CAESER

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