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Caesar retaliated by seeking the support of Pompey and Marcus Licinius Crassus, who were also troubled by senatorial power. When he returned from Spain early in 60 BC, the staunch Republican Marcus Porcius Cato Minor (Cato the Younger) led the Senate in blocking his request to be allowed to stand for the consulship in absentia, and further acted to discourage his rise. In 61 BC Caesar got his first overseas command: proconsul in the province of Further Spain, where he carried out a victorious campaign against the Lusitanians. He also saw a chance to increase his power by supporting bills granting the military leader Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, or Pompey the Great, his important assignments. He continued to develop his populist image, and he was finally elected pontifex maximus, the head of the state religion, in 63 BC.
#Gaius julius caesar mariusz kozik series#
Starting with a series of minor offices, he consistently rose within the political establishment. Although he could boast of a noble heredity, his early political life was tied to the Populares. He seemed to sense opportunity in the disruptive environment of 1st-century BC Roman politics. The political rivalries between such strong men as Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla culminated in a power struggle and outright war prior to the birth of Gaius Julius Caesar in 102 BC.Ĭaesar demonstrated political acumen at a very young age. The class struggle between the Populares (party of the people) and the Optimates (the senatorial aristocracy) resulted in internal revolution and rioting in the streets, which led to the Senate appointing dictators to keep the peace.
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The cause of the Roman Civil War, which spilled over the Mediterranean Sea to North Africa, lay in the deterioration of social order in the later years of the Roman Republic. Gaius Julius Caesar's African Campaign: The Campaign to Destroy the Allies of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus | HistoryNet Close
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