Discussion Topic
Julius Caesar's major achievements and most significant accomplishment
Summary:
Julius Caesar's major achievements include expanding the Roman Republic through his conquests of Gaul, initiating the Roman Empire's transformation, and centralizing the bureaucracy of the Republic. His most significant accomplishment was likely his role in the creation of the Roman Empire, fundamentally altering the course of Roman and world history.
What were Julius Caesar's major accomplishments?
I cannot agree with the above post that Caesar was assassinated because of his rejection of kingship; in fact he was assassinated because it was feared that he would proclaim himself King.
Caesar's greatest accomplishment was not so much his conquest of Gaul, which of course was significant; but his ability to secure rule of the entire Roman Republic for himself and to transform it into the Roman Empire. During the last days of the Republic, when Rome was racked by civil war, Julius Caesar raised his own private army using his own funds. In addition, he spent a great deal of money providing entertainment with the common folk, primarily gladiatorial fights and fights with wild animals. This made him immensely popular with the common people, and earned him membership in the First Triumvirate together with Pompey and Marcus Crassus. Caesar was to remain on the far side of the Rubicon River and leave Rome to Pompey (Crassus was killed during a slave revolt.) However, he was considered dangerous because of his popularity, and an attempt was made to remove him from power. In response, he marched on Rome with his army and took control. Pompey fled to Egypt.
Caesar is said to have muttered Jacta alia est ("the die is cast" when he crossed the Rubicon. Since that time, one is said to have "crossed the Rubicon" when one has reached the point of no return.
Caesar ruled under a provision of the Roman Constitution which provided for the creation of the office of Dictator during national emergencies. He married Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, and set up colonies in Gaul, North Africa and Spain which he populated with veterans and poor folk so that they might have a new beginning. His popularity, however, made many fear that he would have himself crowned king--something the Romans never had--and he was accordingly assassinated.
References
The major accomplishments of Julius Caesar were military and political in nature. Basically, he had many military successes and those successes helped to allow him to become a political power in Rome.
Perhaps Caesar's most famous military act was his conquest of Gaul. This conquest greatly increased the size of the Roman empire (By "empire," I mean territories they conquered. Rome was not an empire in terms of its government at this point.), allowing Roman territory to reach all the way to the North Sea. This was hugely significant for Western and Northern Europe because it connected them to the culture and society of Rome.
Helped by this, Caesar was a significant Roman political figure. His greatest accomplishment is this regard was that he eventually came to be named dictator for life of Rome, having rejected the kingship. This, of course, led to his assassination.
What were Julius Caesar's major achievements?
Julius Caesar was something of a Renaissance man. He was a noted orator and statesman, and an excellent military leader and historian. Among his chief accomplishments are his perfect war record, the creation of the first public paper, his outlawing of extortion, and his influence on the current calendar.
Julius Caesar rose to leadership of the Roman army. Due to his many accomplishments on the battlefield the Roman Senate continued to vote new favors for him including the right to wear purple, a color reserved for royalty. After conquering the Gauls, Egyptians, Pharnaces and Juba, he returned to Rome to serve as a dictator, which allowed him autocratic power. His formal position was as the consular to the Senate, and his long-serving friend Mark Antony served as co-consular.
Using his power as a dictator, Julius Caesar instituted many social reforms allowing the lower classes some stability. He outlawed extortion, a major concern of the time, and established a standard calendar. He also instituted the Acta Diurna, a public paper detailing to the citizen the stance of the government. He promoted education and peace after many years of war. Antony would declare Julius Caesar dictator perpetuus, meaning the everlasting dictator in 44BC. His reign as such was short-lived and Julius Caesar was killed by conspirators within the Senate who feared he would become king.
What was Julius Caesar's most significant accomplishment?
This question is really a matter of opinion and there will be many different answers. In my opinion, the greatest accomplishment that Caesar won in his life was his great military victories. I am not stating that his military accomplishment were all just. For example, his actions against his own people was questionable. But there is no question that Caesar was one of the greatest generals that ever lived in the history of the world. Here are few of his military accomplishments.
First, his military campaign in Gaul was impressive. He defeated an enemy that was known to be powerful and formidable. We can read of these battle in his own commentaries. In addition, he had a much smaller force.
Second, he was even able to defeat one of the greatest generals in Rome, who possessed many Roman veterans. Pompey during the time of Caesar was the man in Rome, and Caesar defeated him. This was no small feat.
Finally, his great generalship often times rest upon his speed and decisiveness. He was also known for his engineering accomplishments in warfare.
What was Julius Caesar's main achievement in Rome?
This question calls for a lot of subjective reasoning so that one person's answer could never be said to be definitive. It is like asking "What was Abraham Lincoln's greatest accomplishment?" No two historians would answer that question the same way.
Nevertheless, you question deserves an answer and so I will offer you my opinion.
If you look to any result of a Google search for an answer to your question you would likely see many of the same things repeated.
He was a military leader who, according to many, made the Roman army the most feared of its time.
He was a great orator, impressing people so much that he was named a priest of Jupiter.
Many other accomplishments are attributed to him as well.
But, perhaps, his most important accomplishment was the centralization of the Roman Republic. Never before had the government of an empire as large as Rome been so representatively ordered. With its Senators there in Rome, accessible to Caesar and by Caesar to address the concerns in any part of the empire at any given time, it caused the government to run more smoothly than any other before it.
Many aspects of it being mirrored by others that followed, including Britain, and to an extent America.
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