Caesar+vs+Pompey

**__ Early Events: First Triumvirate  __**  ﻿﻿ [|Julius Caesars]big dream was to become a great general and conqueror. The idea of Power is what motivated him throughout his life. His dream all started out when Caesar was elected consul, the highest office of Rome. The main reason of Caesar joining the consulship was to please Pompey and to strengthen his power among the people. With the help of his powerful leaders, he managed to take away the power of the second consul, L. Calpurnius Bibulus. His laws he created to satisfy Pompey were bitterly opposed by the senate and the senate had lost a lot of power due to [|Pompey]’s and Caesars opposition. Once his term ended, he was appointed to be the governor of Illycrium and Gaul and he joined up with Pompey and [|Crassus], forming [|the First Triumvirate]. The reason the triumvirate was formed was because they opposed the senate and they had personal goals they wanted to accomplish. With the help of the great power and influence of Crassus and Pompey, Caesar was able to do conquer and take over just about anything he wanted.

__**Breakup of the Triumvirate **__

 Even though Caesar’s daughter Julia was married to Pompey, which improved his political partnership with him, tensions between the two began to arise from the beginning. Both of them wanted absolute power and rule of certain areas; Caesar wanted to rule all of [|Gaul.] The tables turned when Crassus was killed after he had been defeated in the [|Battle of Carrhae] in June 53BC. This caused the Triumvirate to dissipate. 

__ **Tensions among Pompey and Caesar ** __ When only two members, Caesar and Pompey, remained in the triumvirate, they both wanted absolute power. The only way to do this was to defeat one another. Pompey turned against Caesar and persuaded the Senate to oppose him. In part of an agreement, Caesar was supposed to receive consulship and he wished to have complete control of his army until he was actually elected into the consulship. Of course, the Senate opposed this and wanted Caesar to become a private citizen of Rome before the election. But as a private citizen, Caesar knew he was in great danger of his enemies that were out to kill him. Also, Caesar and Pompey promised to give up their provinces and their army, but Pompey refused. The Senate asked for two of Caesars legions for the Parthian war. He obeyed and also agreed to give up 8 of his legions if he could keep two of his other legions in Gaul. The Senate refused, and threatened him with war or humiliation if he did not give up his legions on a certain date. He chose war and crossed [|the Rubicon], which separated his province in Gaul from Italy. 

__ **Pompey vs Caesar ** __

 Now it was a Civil War between Caesar and Pompey of Italy. Caesar immediately invaded Italy with a single legion. Pompey was defeated in [|Brundisium] but skillfully withdrew his troops to Greece, leaving Caesar to control all of Italy. Surrounded by Pompey’s units in Spain and Pompey himself in Greece, Caesar decided to attack the units in Spain first and was successful. During this time, he was declared dictator in Rome but denied the position. Now it was time to face Pompey himself. His first attack against Pompey, Caesar was defeated at. Then Caesar retreated to Pharsalus and met Pompey with 20,000 men. During this battle, he defeated Pompey and Pompey was murdered when he retreated to Egypt. This was the end of the Civil War. But Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. Caesar was scheduled to appear at a session of the senate. [|Marc Antony]had heard of the plot to kill him and tried to warn Caesar but the plotters discovered his intentions and stopped him before he could reach Caesar. When he arrived, conspirators crowded around him and Tillius Cimber presented him with a petition to recall his exiled brother. Cimber grabbed him and made an effort to stab him, but Caesar avoided it. Then Casca, Brutus and others surrounded around him and stabbed him 23 times.



WORKS CITED

Hooker, Richard. "Rome: Julius Caesar." //Washington State University - Pullman, Washington//. World Civilizations, 1999. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. .

Morey, William C. "Outlines of Roman History, Chapter 21." //Forum Romanum//. American Book Company, 1901. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. .

<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: -0.5in;">Seager, Robin. "Caesar and Pompey." //Livius. Articles on Ancient History//. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. <http://www.livius.org/caa-can/caesar/caesar_t06.htm>.