Julius Caesar
Topic: The Roman Empire · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "An Empire Across Three Continents"
Meaning
Julius Caesar was a high-born Roman general and politician of the first century BCE. He lived in the last years of the Roman Republic. He conquered Gaul (present-day France), led expeditions into Britain, and crossed the Rhine into Germany. He made himself dictator, a single ruler with special powers, and was murdered in 44 BCE by senators who feared he would become king. His adopted son and heir, Octavian, later became Augustus, the first emperor.
Example
Caesar's conquest of Gaul in the 50s BCE brought a vast region into the Roman world. Later, under the empire, southern Gaul (Gallia Narbonensis) became one of its most fertile and productive regions.
Don't confuse with
- Augustus: he was Caesar's heir and founded the Principate in 27 BCE. Caesar himself was never emperor.