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Julius Caesar is seen as the main example of Caesarism, a form of political rule led by a charismatic strongman whose rule is based upon a cult of personality, whose rationale is the need to rule by force, establishing a violent social order, and being a regime involving prominence of the military in the government. [291]
During his early career, Caesar had seen how chaotic and dysfunctional the Roman Republic had become. The republican machinery had broken down under the weight of imperialism, the central government had become powerless, the provinces had been transformed into independent principalities under the absolute control of their governors, and the army had replaced the constitution as the means of ...
Caesar Augustus: 16 January 27 BC – 19 August AD 14 (40 years, 7 months and 3 days) [g] Grandnephew and adopted son of Julius Caesar. Gradually acquired further power through grants from, and constitutional settlements with, the Roman Senate. Continuously head of state since 19 August 43 BC, unopposed after the Battle of Actium in 31 BC.
The Roman Empire followed the Republic, which waned with the rise of Julius Caesar, and by all measures concluded after a period of civil war and the victory of Caesar's adopted son, Octavian, in 27 BC over Mark Antony. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in 476 after the city was conquered by the Ostrogothic Kingdom.
Conversely, the majority of Roman writers, including Pliny the Younger, Suetonius and Appian, as well as most of the ordinary people of the Empire, thought of Julius Caesar as the first emperor. [7] Caesar did indeed rule the Roman state as an autocrat, but he failed to create a stable system to maintain himself in power. [8]
Pompey, in effect, was vested with Dictatorial powers, but his army was composed largely of untested conscripts. Caesar then crossed the Rubicon river with his veteran army, and marched towards Rome. Caesar's rapid advance forced Pompey, the Consuls and the senate to abandon Rome for Greece, and Caesar entered the city unopposed.
The usurper Magnentius would continue to rule the western Roman Empire until 353 while in conflict with Constantius. His eventual defeat and suicide left Constantius as sole emperor until the nomination of his cousin Constantius Gallus as his caesar and co-emperor. Constantius's rule would, however, be opposed again in 360.
Caesar's successes at this point had made him extremely popular among the people and in general across the political class; Cicero, who had been sullen during Caesar's consulship, sang his praises, saying "If perhaps Gaius Caesar was too contentious in any matter, if the greatness of the struggle, his zeal for glory, if his irrepressible spirit ...