tity , and honored byportrayal on coins and by the erection of a temple to his clemency. Caesar introducednumerous reforms, such as limiting the distribution of free grain, founding citizen colonies,introducing the Julian calendar, and enlarging the Senate. At the same time he reduceddebts, revised the tax structure, and extended Roman citizenship to non-Italians. Whilemeeting genuine needs, these popular reforms also strengthened Caesar's control of thestate at the expense of his opponents, whom he tried to placate with ostentatiousclemency.In 44 BC, Caesar, likening himself to Alexander the Great, began to plan the conquest ofParthia. Fearing that he would become an absolute king, many whom he had earlierpardoned conspired to murder him. The conspirators, led by Marcus Junius Brutus andGaius Cassius Longinus, stabbed him at a meeting of the Senate in Pompey's theater onMar. 15 (the Ides of March), 44 BC. Falling at the foot of Pompey's statue, Caesaraddressed Brutus in Greek: "Even you, lad?" Caesar was an accomplished orator andwriter. His two surviving works, On the Gallic War and On the Civil War, introduced thegenre of personal war commentaries. Subtle propaganda for Caesar, they are also lucidnarratives that hold the reader.Dynamic, witty, urbane, and highly intelligent, Caesar aroused loyalty andadmiration among both contemporaries and later generations. Nevertheless, his immenseambition and the contempt he displayed for the republican traditions of his opponentsdrove them to desperate measures against him. He therefore left Rome's great problemsfor his adopted son and heir, the future Augustus. Caesar made his way to praetorship by 62 BC and many of the senate felt him adangerous, ambitious man. Because of this, they deprived him of a triumph after hispraetorian command in Spain (61-60 BC) and they also did their best to keep him out ofconsulship. He finally became consul in 59 BC.Much of the thanks for this achievement shoul...
