How Is Caesar Not Successful At All At Being An Author How Is He Biased In The Gallic Wars

What war crimes was Julius Caesar accused of? Was the concept of war crimes new? Were they more serious than the acts of other Roman Generals?

Vercingetorix surrenders, bringing an end to the war in GaulWhile some believe that the concept of war crimes didn’t exist in antiquity, that is actually not really the case. There wasn’t an international agreement that people signed on to, but there were definite accepted rules of warfare, and breaching them could be heavily frowned upon, if not set one at enmity with his own state.Julius committed several crimes by even the brutal standards of Rome and antiquity.First, a barbarian tribe requested permission to cross into Roman territory. In order to do so, they agreed to become allies of Rome. After they had entered Roman territory after forming this agreement, Julius slaughtered them. He had attacked a Roman ally, a grievous offense.Second, he raised extra legions in his provinces and marched them north into Gaul without the Senate’s permission. He waged an illegal war against various Gallic tribes. In fact, it was for this offense specifically that he was recalled to Rome and ordered to disband his armies.Third, during his war in Gaul, he committed atrocities against Gallic tribes far out of proportion with any perceived slight they might have inflicted on Rome or him personally. This also earned him condemnation from the Roman government.Rome had a very strong policy of defensive warfare. If one defines the idea of defense liberally, Rome never once engaged in an offensive war from the time the Republic began. They believed that any war had to be justified, either by the threat that a power placed Rome under (anything involving Egypt, for example, as the grain was critical), or by an attack on either Rome or its allies, such as Mithridates against the kings of Asia Minor and Bithynia.Simply put, they strongly believed that to wage war with the gods’ blessing required strong justification. Julius didn’t have a reason to invade Gaul. He launched an unprovoked offensive war, attacked Roman allies, acted ruthlessly, and worst of all did all of that without the Senate’s permission.Julius Caesar was a war criminal, by his age and by our age. Doesn’t mean he is any less a fascinating historical figure or not worthy of study.

Why is Julius Caesar known so well?

Paving the foundation for the Roman Republic to turn into the Roman Empire.By the time Caesar entered the scene, Rome had been prone to sudden outbreaks of political violence for decades.The advent of the Gracchi (Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus) and their violent ends at the hands of the senate legitimized the use of violence as a means for accomplishing political goals.This was taken a step further when first Sulla and than Marius and Cinna marched their armies on Rome. Marius’ military reforms shifted the loyalty of the common soldier away from the Republic towards their commanding general allowing ambitious men to attempt to seize control of Rome.Sertorius waged a civil war in Hispania. Lepidus (father of the Lepidus of the Second Triumvirate) led a failed rebellion following Sulla’s death. Catiline attempted to seize control of the Republic. Violent clashes erupted between the gangs of Milo and Clodius in the streets, culminating in Milo’s decision to murder his injured rival.The Republic of Caesar’s time was plagued by civil strife focused on the class struggle between the optimates and populares.After his victory in the Gallic Wars, Pompey and the Senate demanded Caesar stand down and return to Rome. He instead decided to lead his army in the famous Crossing of the Rubicon and once he defeated Pompey in the Battle of Pharsalus, like Sulla, he installed himself as Dictator.He was a brilliant general and in his time as Pro-Consul (governor) of Gaul, he expanded Roman control of the province. He won according to some accounts up to 50 battles during both the Gallic Wars and in his conflict with his former ally, Pompey Magnus.Caesar was part of an informal alliance known to history as the First Triumvirate consisting of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus. Caesar was the junior partner in the beginning but outlived the other two and was the only one to become the uncontested master of Rome.Caesar was also considered one of the greatest orators of his time, second only to Marcus Tullius Cicero. His commentaries on the Gallic Wars are among the greatest Latin works ever written.In the end though, his political career laid the foundations that his adopted nephew Octavian (later known as Augustus) seized on to turn the Republic into the Roman Empire.

Were Mark Antony and Julius Caesar friends or rivals or both?

It's hard to know the details of their personal relationship from the often biased sources we have, but I'm pretty sure we can conclude that the two were close friends. Some might even describe Marcus Antonius as Caesar's protegé. It was not uncommon for the young Equestrian officers serving as tribunes, prefects or quaestors with a legion to have a father/son or at least teacher/student relationship with their legate, who was usually older and more experienced. The same is probably true for Caesar, who went through a lot in the Gallic Wars with Marcus at his side and decided that he'd proven himself loyal later on. But Antonius' friendship with the deified superman may have been exaggerated later, as everyone wanted to be a close friend of Caesar following his assassination, especially Augustus, Lepidus and Antonius, who were all seeking to take over leadership of the Caesarean faction.

Was Augustus successful or ruthless?

He was both.SuccessfulUnder Augustus, Rome began a golden age of literature, art, prosperity, and peace, often dubbed the pax Romana.Augustus donated his own resources to beautifying over 800 public buildings and temples in Rome, claiming he had found Rome a city of bricks and left her clothed in marbleAugustus brought an end to the civil wars Rome had endured for so long.He encouraged poets and writers to write magnificent (and wildly biased) works of literature still studied today.He founded a dynasty that lasted from 27 BCE to 69 CE.The name of a month was renamed in his honor. Not too shabby.RuthlessHe conducted a nasty propaganda war against Cleopatra since he could not lash out at Marc Antony directly. It helped to begin the last civil war Rome would know for generations.After passing strict and severe legislation forbidding adultery as well as penalizing bachelors with additional taxes, Augustus banished beloved poet Ovid and members his own family. Ovid had written a pick-up guide for Roman men to seduce married women, and Augustus sent him to the back end of civilization. It wasn’t until this year that the Mayor of Rome had them brought home. Augustus’ daughter, Julia, was accused of an orgy at night in the Forum, and was shipped off to live on a flyspeck of an island without even any garum, or Roman fish sauce.Augustus divorced Julia’s mother right after his daughter’s birth because the mother had nagged him too much.Augustus had a stalwart establishment patrician divorce his eight month pregnant wife, Livia, so that Augustus could marry her. That ruthless enough for you?So I say again: Augustus was successful and ruthless. His ruthlessness propelled him to success.

What were the most important traits of Julius Caesar?

Most important for what purpose?If it is for poetry, of the comic type, his most important trait was being a lecher and successful even if ugly.ROMANI servate uxores, calvum moech’ adduximus …sang his legionaries when entering.If for mythology, descending from Aeneas and from Venus.If for politics, being disillusioned with the senate.If for wars, being a good general.And I would not have the slightest notion on why someone is a good general, really, except that practise makes perfect and he had practise. Now, practise is little use of itself without precept, but he had precept as well.But one could argue, both as to Gallic Wars and as to Civil Wars, he was also first and foremost a politician, and he was that because he was extreme high nobility having lived in Subura. It’s as if a Bourbon or Bonaparte had been growing up in XIX Arrondissement!

If Caesar had only four legions when he went to Gaul, how did he come back to Rome with 11 legions?

He raised fresh legions from the peoples he conqered. Gauls did not have a unified view of themselves and many liked the Roman way of life.He also then used many of the same legions to defeat Pompey and take over the Roman Empire.Gaul remained a source of some of the best soldiers.

Why is Julius Caesar so famous? His biggest achievement was the conquest of Gaul, and many lesser known Roman figures conquered more than he.

Sorry, don’t intend to be mean-spirited about this, but …The premise of this question is ridiculously foolish.If one were to sit down and make a list of the most powerful men who ever lived - meaning having the willingness and ability to actually change the lives of others — then on any shortlist of the ten most powerful people ever, Julius Caesar would have to be on that list!The man came to have total, dictatorial power over the greatest power of the then known world. He founded a dynasty of political rulers that lasted a very long time — I mean you know the expression “Caesar” for a reason. Furthermore, in becoming Dictator, he bested most of the Patrician class of Rome, and beat many able generals, including Pompeii, who was no slouch himself (it least until he went up against Caesar), and destroyed one of the longest running Republics in all history.And what of the conquest of Gaul? Well, it was perhaps 3–5 times bigger than the Roman home provinces, and when added to the Empire perhaps doubled its landmass. And in beating the Gauls, he conquered the largest land army in the world then existing, and the largest army that would be seen for many centuries thereafter (but also proof that tons of untrained soldiers are not always effective against a disciplined force).Something like 1–1.5 MILLION people were sold into slavery via the Gallic conquests! I don’t know what the world population was then, but imagine perhaps, in contemporary times, the USA conquering India and China combined, then enslaving 500M people — beating the Gauls was a very, very big deal!Also, the Gallic wars made Caesar the richest man alive; someone who could literally buy whole swaths of the Roman Senate, and pay for whole aspects of public life, right out of his own pocket.Caesar had the literal power of life and death over millions of people, a then not inconsequential portion of the whole population of the earth; and he also possessed the ability to change the governance and rules over whole swaths of the earth’s then known areas.Caesar was, quite literally, one of the most power people to have EVER lived, bar none.