- His family gave him the name Gaius Julius Caesar. He wasn't, as some believe, born by caesarean section - the Romans did use the procedure but only when the mother was dead or dying, to save the baby. Caesar’s mother, Aurelia lived nearly half a century after her son’s birth. It could be his first ancestor to use the name was born that way, but there are other possible meanings as well - that he had good hair, grey eyes, or killed an elephant. Caesar was quite fond of Elephant imagery, so it's not hard to guess which theory he chose to believe.
- Caesar was never actually emperor of Rome. He was Consul, then Dictator for life. Nevertheless, the words for emperor in 30 different languages are derived from his name, including the Russian Tsar and German Kaiser. He also gave his name to the month of July, the month of his birth, which was previously called Quintilis.
- He had three wives. The first he married when he was 17. Her name was Cornelia, and he married her because he wanted to become a priest of Jupiter, and priests of Jupiter were required by law to be married to a woman from a patrician family. Caesar was already engaged at the time to a plebian girl, who was dumped. When Caesar's father died, his enemy Sulla demanded that he divorce Cornelia. Caesar refused and had to go into hiding. They were eventually reunited and had a daughter, but Cornelia later died. Caesar married Pompeia, a granddaughter of Sulla. He divorced her, because of a possible scandal where a man dressed as a woman to gain access to her women only goddess festival. Since Caesar's wife must be above suspicion, and there was the possibility the man was her lover and she'd helped plan the incident, he divorced her. His third wife was Calpurnia, a teenager when they married, who was his wife until he died. He was also known for having numerous affairs, including one with Cleopatra which produced a son, and and a woman named Servilia, who also had a son, Marcus Brutus, who would later be one of the mob who killed him.
- When he first returned to Rome after his exile, he didn't have any money - Sulla had confiscated it all. He had to live in a dodgy neighbourhood and get a job. He became a lawyer, and was very successful at it, earning a reputation for being a good speaker, despite reports that he had a high pitched voice. From there, he became a military tribune and then quaestor – a travelling auditor - and then a governor in Spain.
- As young man, he was once kidnapped by pirates while crossing the Aegean Sea. He told his captors he would crucify them, which they took to be a joke and laughed at him. On his release he raised a fleet, captured them and did have them crucified.
- Caesar banned all wheeled vehicles from Rome during daylight hours to ease congestion.
- He probably started the recorded history of Britain. Although he didn't manage to launch a full invasion he did make two expeditions there and wrote down his observations. (He came, he saw, he didn't conquer on this occasion) He almost certainly paved the way for the invasion in 43AD.
- It was Caesar who introduced solar calendars to Europe, based on the Calendars they used in Egypt. The Julian Calendar was used in Europe and European colonies until 1582, when a modified version known as the Gregorian Calendar was adopted instead. This is the calendar most people use to this day. It was Caesar, too, who came up with the idea of having a Leap Day every four years to solve the problem of the solar year being 365 and a quarter days long.
- The expression "crossing the Rubicon", meaning to reach a point of no return, comes from Caesar crossing a river by that name into northern Italy in 49 BC, thus starting a war. He reportedly said, "let the die be cast" and went into battle with just one legion behind him.
- Caesar famously died on the Ides of March at the age of 55. He was stabbed 23 times by a mob of as many as 60 men, including Brutus, believed to be his illegitimate son. Hence his alleged last words, "You too, Brutus, my son!" We know he was stabbed 23 times because his body was the subject of the first recorded autopsy, which concluded only one of the stab wounds had been potentially fatal, and the most likely cause of death was blood loss. Caesar had said during his life "Which death is preferable to every other? The unexpected." So aside from his son's involvement, he died in exactly the way he would have wanted.
See Also: Julius Caesar Quotes
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