Plebs w/ a side of Caesar

Yesterday in class, I learned that Julius Caesar was an interesting man that had something special with him. This is what I learned...

poor plebs

  • keep plebs happy
    • the poet Juvenal said Rome "anxiously hopes for 2 things (Breads and Circuses)"
    • bread (free grain from the state) 
    • Circus Maximus, Colesseum, partly to keep them alive, and partly too keep them quiet, distracted and docile.


a change in rule

  • Tiberius Gracchus recognized the advantages of courting the plebs (even though he was ultimately unsuccessful)
  • military generals worked that angle--lead an army that conquers a land, then give them a share in spoils 
  • soldiers' loyalty was to their military leader, not necessarily to Rome or to the Republic.
NO ONE BETTER THAN CAESAR
  • Julius Caesar
    • (100- 44 BCE) 
  • a highly successful general
  • he conquered the huge territory of Gaul
Politics
  • made common folks happy
  • good speaker
  • made friends in high places 
  • Pompey (a general who conquered Syria and Palestine)
  • Crassus (the richest man in Rome, one of the richest men of history (Rome)
    • The Bill Gates of back then
  • these 3 men formed the First Triumvirate ("rule of 3 men")
CROSSING THE RUBICON
  • After attacking Gaul, the Senate stops Caesar and his army at the Rubicon River
    • GO BIG OR GO HOME
    • Army goes attacking


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