Who killed caesar full#

It was in fact the second civil war to tear Rome apart in Caesar’s lifetime. But it was not easy to end the war, because its roots went deep. For the second time in little over a year, he was planning to enter the capital in triumph, proclaiming military victory and an end to the civil war that began four years earlier, at the start of 49 b.c.

Who killed caesar full#

They took the Via Domitia, an old road full of doom and destiny - Hannibal’s invasion route and, according to myth, Hercules’ road to Spain.Ĭaesar was heading for Rome. The four men had met in southern Gaul and traveled together over the Alps. At the age of only seventeen, Caesar’s grandnephew Octavian was already a man to be reckoned with. Beside him was Gaius Octavius, better known as Octavian. Behind them came Caesar’s protégé, Decimus, fresh from a term as governor of Gaul (roughly, France). He was Caesar’s candidate to be one of Rome’s two consuls next year, the highest-ranking public officials after the dictator. In the position of honor beside Caesar was Marcus Antonius - better known today as Mark Antony. In the first stood Dictator Gaius Julius Caesar, glowing with his victory over rebel forces in Hispania (Spain). In August 45 b.c., seven months before the Ides of March, a procession entered the city of Mediolanum, modern Milan, in the hot and steamy northern Italian plain. The chapter discusses, of course, Mark Antony, Brutus, and Octavian, but it also brings to the fore a new character, Decimus, who may have had his own reasons for assassinating Caesar.Īnd if you enjoy what you read, Strauss will be lecturing on the death of Caesar at Cooper Union in New York this Friday. As he prepared to step onto Egyptian soil, he was treacherously struck down and killed by an officer of Ptolemy.Who killed Caesar? Is history’s most famous assassination as straightforward as we’re made to believe? In Barry Strauss’ The Death of Caesar, published this month by Simon & Schuster, the Cornell professor and leading expert on ancient military history puts forward a new case that claims Caesar’s death may have been both more complex and more masterful than we have come to believe.īelow is the first chapter from Strauss’ new book, one that reads like a list of suspects. On September 28, Pompey was invited to leave his ships and come ashore at Pelusium. Pompey hoped that King Ptolemy, his former client, would assist him, but the Egyptian king feared offending the victorious Caesar. When Pompey’s senatorial forces fell upon Caesar’s smaller army, they were entirely routed, and Pompey fled to Egypt. In August 48 B.C., with Pompey in pursuit, Caesar paused near Pharsalus, setting up camp at a strategic location. In January 49 B.C., Caesar led his legions across the Rubicon River from Cisalpine Gaul to Italy, thus declaring war against Pompey and his forces.Ĭaesar made early gains in the subsequent civil war, defeating Pompey’s army in Italy and Spain, but he was later forced into retreat in Greece. The Roman Senate supported Pompey and asked Caesar to give up his army, which he refused to do. Caesar’s successes aroused Pompey’s jealousy, however, leading to the collapse of the political alliance in 53 B.C. In 60 B.C., he joined with his rivals Julius Caesar and Marcus Licinius Crassus to form the First Triumvirate, and together the trio ruled Rome for seven years. Appointed to organize the newly won Roman territories in the East, he proved a brilliant administrator. He fought in Africa and Spain, quelled the slave revolt of Spartacus, cleared the Mediterranean of pirates, and conquered Armenia, Syria and Palestine. Upon landing in Egypt, Roman general and politician Pompey is murdered on the orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt.ĭuring his long career, Pompey the Great displayed exceptional military talents on the battlefield.