Luke Koppenheffer
Caesar’s overwhelming amount of power in Rome was earned from him being a role model for his army, being a standard for the ideal soldier through his spartan-like actions and lifestyle. Caesar was also very generous towards the soldiers he lived similar to, making them want to follow him. Caesar used that loyalty to gain power, attracting allies. Caesar also gained allies through his political generosity, not just his power. Caesar himself realized that convincing people to follow him, better known as authority, was a better ruling style than ruling through force. Julius Caesar was a famous politician, who accomplished various things in his military career, and conquest of lands. Previous to all of these actions, Caesar…show more content… Shortly before the invasion, Caesar was still in Gaul. He was amassing a large amount of power, and that concerned the senate. They wanted Caesar to no longer be a threat to their power, so they took away his right to govern in Gaul, and ordered him to come back to Rome as a private citizen (Hooper, 1979). The senate did this so that Caesar could be punished for his actions whilst in the triumvirate, when he made decisions without addressing the senate (Hooper, 1979). Of course, Caesar was not going to let this happen, so he grouped together a force by using blunt-talk, or exaggerated facts. Caesar also used his political allies to help him rally more people. These allies were Mark Antony and Quintus Cassius, the tribunes of the plebeians. They were referred to as “the spokesmen of the people” (Hooper, 1979). By having these 2 allies, Caesar doubled his amount of influential power. Instead of one well spoken politician, he had three, all of which were pro-plebeian. In order to help sway people to his side, Caesar told them that he was defending Rome’s traditions (Hooper, 1979). Pompey, Caesar’s enemy at the time, was creating fear in Rome. He had forces try and stop Caesar from conquering Rome and taking his power. However, this backlashed upon Pompey, as many of his soldiers joined Caesar’s army instead as he marched through Rome (Hooper, 1979). Once Caesar was successful in his invasion, he overthrew the government, and ruled…show more content… When Caesar was in Gaul from 58 b.c. to 49 b.c., he fought various tribes and their forces (McManus, 2011). When he was victorious over them, he was appointed governor of Gaul. The first triumvirate was made up of Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar, but was broken apart due to the deaths of Crassus and Caesar’s daughter, Julia, who was married to Pompey. Since Caesar was in Gaul, Pompey was the only political power left in Rome. Pompey, worried about Caesar’s rising power, revoked Caesar’s governorship of Gaul. He ordered Caesar back to Rome as a private citizen, so Caesar could be convicted for his actions in the Senate. Caesar, angered by this, decided to march into Rome with his army, which made Pompey flee to Spain, and then fled to Egypt (McManus, 2011). This led Caesar to Egypt, where he met Cleopatra VII. Caesar took Cleopatra VII as an ally. Caesar helped her gain the throne, and gained her as useful ally. Cleopatra was forced out of Egypt by Ptolemy XIII during their fight for the throne. Cleopatra snuck out in a rug into the palace in Alexandria. This palace was besieged by Achillas and 20,000 soldiers. Caesar held them off and saved Cleopatra. After doing so, Caesar had Ptolemy join the army and supported Cleopatra’s right to the throne (McManus, 2011). By gaining this alliance with Cleopatra and Egypt, Caesar gained something necessary to