Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar (100-44 bc), Roman general and statesman, who laid the foundations of the Roman imperial system.Ambitious and highly capable but frustrated in his political ambitions, the Roman general Julius Caesar knew that extending the empire through victory in war could help increase his political power in Rome. Under Caesar, the Romans gained control of Gaul, a region substantially identical to present-day France, by 57 bc. When the Veneti tribe revolted a year later, Caesar returned to quell the uprising and took the opportunity to boost his political standing in Rome by writing The Conquest of Gaul. This excerpt, describing the Veneti’s decisive defeat, was a piece of propaganda intended to impress Caesar’s enemies and win new supporters.