Rise Of Julius Caesar Research Paper

What were the reasons for the rise and fall of Julius Caesar?

Changes within the structure of the Roman army set the early stage of the rise of Julius Caesar to power within the Roman Empire. The republican army of the early days was founded on the “Servian” constitution. The army was the army of the state; citizens served in it according to their wealth and were called to arms when needed. In the third century this began to change as campaigns increased in duration and moved farther and farther from the boundaries of Rome itself. Further there was a growing resistance of wealthy citizens to take part in military service. In 107 BC Marius instituted reforms lowering the requirements of military service to include members of the lower classes.
Attempting to regain control of Rome, Sulla and his forces faced a senatorial army at Brindisi in 83. Fighting lasted through the summer and fall of 82 at a cost of 50-70 thousand dead in the two armies and another 3000 prisoners executed by Sulla. Sulla further carried out a purge of Rome’s ruling elites. The forced removal and often execution of political rivals in the senate allowed Sulla to refill those positions with his own men. Sulla used this to begin the process of establishing a dictatorship without time limits. Beyond the power of dictator Sulla had himself presented as “Felix”, the leader blessed by the gods. This was the first use in Roman history of a divinity used for the personal ambition of an imperator. Sulla abdicated his position in 80 and died by the year 78 at the age of sixty. The actions of Sulla set the stage for the creation of a powerful dictator who would wield almost unlimited power of the Roman
In 52 the Senate-house was burned to the ground and Pompey was declared sole consul. Relations between the former allies became increasingly strained and both began to gird for war. In late 50 Caesar’s agent at Rome, tribune Marcus Scribonius Curio, forced the senate to a vote requiring both he and Pompey to disarm, only 22 senators opposed but they were able to secure a tribune’s veto. In January of 49 one of the tribunes, Marcus Antonius, forced the consuls to read a letter from Caesar agreeing to the earlier disarmament proposal. The consuls, with the support of Pompey refused to allow a vote, but proposed that Caesar be named a public enemy; the measure passed but was vetoed by Antonius. On January 7th, Antonius was warned to leave the senate, which then issued its ultimate decree (naming Caesar an enemy of the state). Caesar instead of running marched his army from Ravenna south to Ariminum, in doing so he crossed the Rubicon River, the boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and Italy. It was an open act of war.
Caesar began his overthrow of the Roman republic by decisively attacking Pompey’s forces and forcing him to retreat to Greece. Having no fleet, Caesar moved his forces into Spain were he defeated the forces loyal to Pompey in three months. Moving into Greece Caesar defeated Pompey at Pharsalus in 48. Pompey fled to Egypt where he was executed