If we had to identify Ancient Rome
with one of its most famous figures,
that person would be Gaius Julius Caesar,
whose character was marked by his achievements,
but also by greed and arrogance.
In 69 BC, he was a quaestor in Hispania Ulterior.
In 65 BC he became an aedile.
In 62 BC, he was appointed urban praetor,
and the next year he led campaigns against the Lusitanians.
In 59 BC, he was elected consul thanks to the support of Pompey and Crassus,
with whom, one year before,
he had formed the 1st Triumvirate.
Then, he was appointed
proconsul of the lands of the Gauls
and he managed to conquer the entire Gallic territory.
In response to those successes, in Rome
numerous senators tried to strip him of his power.
A number of factors led him to unleash a civil war
between 49 and 45 BC.
Some senators believed
that what Caesar intended was to establish a tyranny
and return to the monarchy.
So, the conspirators hatched a plot
which culminated in the death of Julius Caesar
in 44 BC.
A charismatic, intellectual leader, an unrivalled leader,
he laid the bases that would lead to the Roman Empire
and the foundations of Western culture.