Definition: Caesar (Gaius Julius Caesar) was born on July 13, 100 B.C. and was assassinated on the Ides of March (March 15), 44 B.C. He was a Roman statesman, general, and writer, considered by some to have been the greatest man of all time.
Julius Caesar came from a patrician family, which should have inclined him to support the position of the more aristocratic Optimates party, but Caesar was the nephew of Marius, a powerful Roman leader who supported the cause of the Populares, and so Caesar also supported the Populares.
Caesar created friction by maneuvering the first triumvirate (Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey) into power, and later, by violating Roman law when he crossed the Rubicon with his armed troops to march against Pompey and Rome.
