Link to the Youtube video and the rest of the series!

As her fans know, Siggie looks up to the Greats, the Terribles and even the Impalers of the past. She hopes to learn what it takes to someday make the history books herself! Episode 2 (Part 3) is the last of a multi-part series about Julius Caesar (100 BC-44 BC), legendary military leader, member of the First Triumvirate, and eventual Dictator of Rome. Here Siggie discusses the Roman Civil War and Caesar’s defeat of Pompey the Great; Caesar’s rule as Dictator of Rome; and finally his famous assassination, ending the Roman Republic and leading to the Roman Empire.

Siggie says: Yeah so… We’ve been talking about the great Gaius Julius Caesar, the Roman
general who kicked some serious butt in the Gallic Wars and who formed a political
alliance with two ever so awesome politicians. That’s Pompey or Pompey the
great and Crassus. This alliance was known as the First Triumvirate. So, you’ve
heard the phrase that three is a crowd. Well, this applies nicely to the First
Triumvirate, a very short-lived escapade comprised of three power hungry ego
maniacs. So, Caesar and Crassus were buddies, but Pompey and Crassus didn’t play well
together in the sandbox. And Pompey also envied Caesar for his Gallic War butt kicking
legacy. Crassus was a double threat. He was regarded as the richest man in Rome and
he made a name for himself in the political arena by defeating Spartacus and
his slave revolt. Crassus’s downfall came at a big battle in 53 BC fought between
the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire. Crassus and gang were no match for the
Parthian horsemen and Crassus and his army were killed. So incidentally after
Crassus got brutally murdered, the Parthians are believed to have mocked Crassus’s wealth
and greed by pouring molten gold down his throat. And it didn’t stop there!
They used his severed head as a prop in a play for the king. Crassus’s death marked
the end of the First Triumvirate and for four years afterward, Pompey and Caesar
basically got along okay. Until they did not get along okay. Because of Pompey’s
military successes, he was nicknamed “The Great,” just like his childhood hero Alexander the Great. This is a nickname that people who liked him gave him. He was referred to as teenage butcher, though, by those who did not like him due to his tendency to be cruel and merciless. It seems like all the greats have this dark side to them.

Anyway, one of the hallmarks of the First Triumvirate was
the marriage of Pompey to Caesar’s daughter Julia. Julia unfortunately died
in childbirth in 54 BC, a little before Crassus. It came as no surprise that Pompey
and Caesar, being the meek, laidback and humble guys that they were, should become
rivals for leadership of all of Rome. This resulted in Caesar’s civil war. Here
is Caesar’s civil war in a nutshell, and I emphasize the word “nut.” From 52 to 49
BC Caesar’s and Pompey’s relationship went seriously downhill. The Senate wasn’t
thrilled with Caesar still fighting in Gaul and tried to get him to return to Italy
without honors or a second Consulship. Meanwhile, Caesar who really wanted that
second Consulship and also wanted his honors, built up troops in southern Gaul
and was marching into Italy. Pompey was positioned to defend Italy. Caesar was
declared an enemy by the state. Big moment here… In 49 BC, Caesar crossed the
Rubicon, a river making up the northern border of Italy. At this point, Caesar
quoted a famous playwright with “Let the die be cast!” Caesar moved south with the
intent of capturing Pompey. Pompey escaped to Greece. Caesar followed Pompey and
defeated him at Pharsalus in 48 BC. This is when Pompey made the infamous
ill-fated trip to Egypt, which was a really crappy decision as Cleopatra’s
lunatic little brother Ptolemy had him killed, possibly out of fear of Pompey
taking over Egypt. Ptolemy was immersed at this time in a nasty civil war with his
sister. Thinking that it would impress Caesar and possibly get Caesar on Ptolemy’s side
against his sister, Ptolemy showed a visiting Caesar Pompey’s severed head. Caesar
was not on board with this savage display. Caesar spent time away from
Italy, getting in the middle of Egyptian affairs including his own affair with
Cleopatra and defeating the king of what is now Crimea, who was invading and trying
to seize his former father’s Kingdom of Pontus and causing all kinds of chaos. It
was during Caesar’s immediate defeat of him that Caesar wrote the famous “I came,
I saw, and I conquered.” While Caesar was away from Italy, his buddy Mark Antony
was in charge but no one particularly liked him being in charge because he
wasn’t really doing that great of a job. And Caesar ended up demoting him when he
got back to Italy.

Caesar dealt with some folks who didn’t want him in charge,
celebrated some victories, and received some honors including gestures that were
symbolic of a king or a monarchy. Notably he changed the calendar to a solar one
called the Julian calendar. He made a bunch of changes in addition to this, and
did a bunch of things. But Caesar’s penchant to being treated and regarded as
a king was the beginning of the end for Caesar. On a personal note, Caesar may have
suffered from epilepsy. Some believed that he had malaria, hypoglycemia, or some
kind of an infection on his brain caused by a tapeworm. Caesar was married three
times. The first wife died and he divorced the second wife. Sounds a little
bit like uh Henry VIII here. And he was married to his third wife until his own
death. Caesar also went on to have quite the affair with Cleopatra and they had a
son together… the ill-fated Caesarion. Caesarion was killed at the age of 17 by
Caesar’s adopted son Octavian, Caesar’s great nephew who later became Emperor
Augustus, the founder of the Roman Empire. Conspirators planned his
Assassination. Among his conspirators was the famous Marcus Junius Brutus, the son
of Servilia, who was Caesar’s mistress. Ironically, Brutus had been very much
against Pompey, who was responsible for the death of Brutus’s father. And Brutus
also knew Caesar intimately. Caesar was killed on March 15, the Ides of March. He
was attacked with daggers, a mere 23 to 35 times. At this point, the great Caesar
was pronounced dead. There was lots of drama after Caesar’s assassination with
Caesar’s former business associate Mark Antony having a relationship with
Cleopatra, and both were at war with Augustus, and they ended up committing
suicide. It’s the stuff that Shakespearean players are made of.