What is the original name of "Julius Caesar"? During his reign, was there a gladiator killing performance in Rome?

An outstanding strategist, politician and writer in ancient Rome, a dictator at the end of the Republic of China. Born into a famous Julius family in Rome, his father is the CEO. When he was a teenager, he studied rhetoric and oratory, received a good education, and was the leader of the Democratic Party in the early political period, opposing optimates. He has served as a financial officer, supervisor, chief priest and chief judge. In 60 BC, they formed a tripartite alliance with Pompeii and crassus, and * * * ruled Rome * * and the Republic, which was called "the first tripartite" in history. In 58 BC, he won the post of governor of Gaul and conquered the whole territory of Gaul within a few years. Not only does he have a lot of wealth, but more importantly, his training.

I trained a strong army loyal to myself. In 49 BC, Caesar defeated Pompeii and seized power (crassus had died in a foreign war). In the next few years, he gained the power of dictatorship indefinitely, combining the power of consul and dictator, and became a veritable military dictator. * * * while the country exists in name only, the power of the Senate is decreasing day by day. Some measures carried out by Caesar, such as distributing the land of various provinces to 80,000 veterans, reducing the debts of debtors, and punishing corrupt and extortionate officials, touched the interests of the elders and aroused their dissatisfaction. On March 15, 44 BC, he was stabbed to death by the opposition led by Brutu and Cassio in the Senate Chamber. Caesar left behind two works of historical value, namely the Battle of Gaul and Notes on the Civil War.

Julius Caesar was born in BC 102, which was an era of serious political crisis in Rome. At this time, Rome's economic base has undergone tremendous changes, becoming the most developed country in the western classical era. The original small farmers have been completely replaced by large estates that use slave labor on a large scale. The direct military plunder and the oppression of conquered areas by tribute made the wealth from all over the Mediterranean coast flood into Italy, which accelerated the social differentiation of Rome.

Great changes in the economy will naturally affect the political life of Rome. The conquered land is expanding day by day, the standing army composed of mercenaries is expanding, the slave population is increasing sharply, and the homeless class composed of unemployed small farmers and freed slaves is also flocking to the capital, which requires greatly strengthening the state machine to deal with it, but at this time the state system in Rome is basically the same as that in the small commune on the Tiber River. Its civilian government, which is reelected every year, its bloated citizens' assembly, and its Senate, which is monopolized by several generations of powerful people, can't adapt to this situation at all. Since the 1930s BC, people have been proposing various democratic reform schemes from different angles, but all of them were opposed by a handful of so-called nobles in the Senate because they infringed on the interests of the rich and nobles, and failed. Since then, people who advocate democratic reform have struggled endlessly, and the democratic movement has gradually developed from a legitimate demand for improvement to a conspiracy, rebellion and even civil war. In 82 BC, Sura, the protector of the rich and noble family, suppressed the opposition with bloody slaughter, and the democratic movement was temporarily silent. However, the massacre cannot eliminate the root cause of the demand for reform. Shortly after Sura's death, the democratic movement made a comeback. At this time, the Roman aristocracy, the incompetence of the government, the turmoil of social order and the domineering of soldiers greatly weakened the power of the country. In the 1970s BC, the situation finally developed to a very worrying level. The attacks of the strong neighbors in the east and the separatist regimes in the western provinces are second, and the pirates in the Mediterranean and the slave uprising led by Spartacus are serious. Pirates not only make people in coastal areas miserable, but even Rome is in danger of being cut off because of the lack of overseas food. The slave uprising made Italy suffer the heaviest military disaster since Hannibal War, which impacted the slavery in Rome and hit the slave economy. The slave uprising forced the slave owners to make some changes in the way of exploiting slaves and managing land, and also forced the slave owners to change the methods of controlling slaves. More importantly, it forced them to change the * * * and regime that could not guarantee the economic development of slavery. As Engels, the revolutionary mentor, pointed out: "... when the state power within a country is in opposition to its economic development-so far, almost all regimes are in a certain stage of development-the struggle always ends with the overthrow of the regime." It was in this situation that Caesar entered politics.

Caesar was born into an ancient but declining aristocratic family in Rome. Because of his close friendship with the older generation of democratic leaders Marius and Chennai, he was rejected by the aristocratic factions in his youth, forcing him to stand on the side of the democratic faction from the beginning and gradually become the leader of the opposition, and at the same time gradually rose from the financial officer and public works officer to the judicial officer. But at this time, he had no other political capital except for his great appeal among the tramps on the street. Therefore, he managed to form a "three-person alliance" with cornelius Pompeii, who was very influential in the army at that time, and Marcus Krasus, the richest man in Rome, who represented the rich, the so-called knight class. Of course, these three people represent three groups with different interests. They only managed to get together because they were also excluded by the nobles who controlled the Senate. With the support of these two men, Caesar was elected consul in 59 BC, but due to the constraints of the Senate, he did not make much progress.

At this time, after more than half a century of political turmoil, the leaders of the Roman ruling group, no matter which faction, realized from practical experience that to master political power, we must first have an armed force, and only by using force can we make a difference in politics. Therefore, after the expiration of the consul's term, Caesar tried his best to win the province of Gaul as governor, with the aim of cultivating his own army as political backing while Gaul was in existence. At the same time, opening up territory and plundering slaves in Gaul can also gain a reputation among Roman slave owners, and can also take the opportunity to accumulate a lot of wealth as the capital for future political activities.

Caesar went to Gaul in 58 BC and returned to Italy in early 49 BC. According to Plutarch, in nine years in Gaul, he slaughtered one million people and captured one million people. He and his officials made a fortune, which enabled him to pay bribes in Rome, even the minions of important people. He also held various performances among civilians, distributed a lot of money, and built a large number of projects in many towns in Italy, which not only pleased the contractor, but also pleased the civilians who got job opportunities. As a result, his popularity among Italian citizens gradually surpassed the other two in the "three-person alliance." In particular, he borrowed Gaul as a training ground and trained an army that was most used to fighting in the Republic of * * * at that time, and it was an army that only knew Caesar did not know the country.

Caesar's success stimulated Krasus. In 63 BC, he rushed to the East and launched a war against rest, hoping to achieve the same success there as Caesar, but he was destroyed and died there. This makes the original "three-person alliance" stand side by side, leaving only Caesar and Pompeii. The two people are increasingly distrustful of each other, and some people in the Senate are provoking and wooing. Pompeii finally broke up with Caesar and formally stood on the side of the Senate, becoming the leader of the aristocratic faction against Caesar. In 49 BC, Caesar led an army into Italy, and Pompeii was caught off guard. He fled Rome with all government personnel and the Senate, crossed the sea and entered Greece, where Italy fell into Caesar's hands. The following winter, Caesar also rushed to Greece and defeated Pompeii's main force in the Sahel. Pompeii fled to Egypt and was killed on the spot by the Egyptians. Caesar reunited the whole country after destroying the ruins of Pompeii in other places.

Caesar eliminated the remnants of Pompeii province by province, that is, the process of eliminating the residual influence of Roman nobles and institutions and establishing a new ruling machine. Therefore, the Roman country reunified by Caesar is no longer the weak and procrastinating old Roman Republic. It is a brand-new centralized military dictatorship, which has been able to command the whole country in a unified way, which is of course beneficial to the economic development and cultural exchanges in the Mediterranean coastal areas.

Less than four years have passed since Caesar unified the Roman country, but in such a short time. During this period, he was able to accomplish a lot of commendable work, the most noteworthy of which were two aspects: first, he destroyed the old aristocratic system and system, concentrated military and political power, basically completed the transition to a monarchy, and made a unified work on the old system that had been plagued by problems, repaired at any time and was forced to make up. He set the consul, prosecutor, tribune, high priest and other important positions in one, reduced the Senate to an advisory body, and regarded the citizens' assembly as a dispensable ornament, all of which paved the way for his later successors to turn Rome into an empire clothed with * * *. Secondly, he tried to gradually abolish the privileges left by the old Rome as a city-state, raise the status of Italian towns to the same level as Rome, raise the status of provinces to the same level as Italy, and give citizenship to Roman provinces one by one-only to slave owners, of course-to further expand and consolidate the foundation of the ruling group of this great empire. But this work is only partially completed. In the past, when he was in Gaul, he gave citizenship to Gauls in the mountains, and later let some of their leaders enter the Senate, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the old citizens who regarded citizenship as a taboo and did not want others to share it. They laughed at him:

"Caesar led the Gauls to victory,

But to lead them into the Senate;

Gauls took off their trousers,

Instead, he put on a wide-brimmed robe.

In 44 BC, he promulgated the autonomy law applicable to Italian towns, giving them the same status as Rome; He restored the tariffs that Italy had been exempted from; He also plans to abolish the method of collecting provincial taxes by contractors, and instead send people from the state to collect them directly, canceling an embarrassing policy that people in all provinces hate most. No wonder it is rumored that he will move the capital to Alexandria and transform Rome into an oriental monarchy, mainly because he has lowered Rome's status in China.

Caesar was assassinated by the remnants of optimates in 44 BC, ending his busy life. His heirs, gaius julius caesar Octavian and Augustus, the grandchildren of his sister, completely completed the task of transforming slave Rome into an empire on the basis of Caesar.

Many people have been evaluating Caesar, and most people tout him as an unparalleled hero, great politician, talented commander-in-chief, writer, speaker and so on. It seems that he is the man who built this great empire. In fact, Caesar's life-long struggle is nothing more than a struggle between one ruling group and another ruling group in the slave owner class to change the ruling mode. Although it improved the situation of this slave country for a period of time and further developed the slave economy, it still only benefited the slave owner class and did not affect its fate at that time. Secondly, the success of his life should be mainly attributed to the fact that he happened to be in countries like Rome and the United States. In such a historical era, the situation changed, and the opportunity made him unconsciously complete the career that history wanted him to complete. Here, his personal qualities such as perseverance, wit, boldness and smoothness have only played a very limited role, so it is not appropriate to flatter Caesar too much. As Engels, the revolutionary mentor, said, "It happened that Napoleon, a Corsican, became the military dictator needed by France exhausted by the war." . However, if Napoleon never existed, his role would be played by someone else. This can be proved by facts. Whenever such a person is needed, he will appear: Caesar, Augustus, Cromwell and so on. "

On the contrary, some people strongly criticized Caesar, saying that he suppressed the democratic movement, organized him to cancel the guild and restore Italian tariffs. Reduce the rations distributed to the poor, etc. , is said to be a betrayal of civilians. These criticisms are often the result of an ultra-modern interpretation of the so-called "civilians" and "democratic movements" in Rome at that time. It is a complicated task to analyze the so-called civilians, their composition, their political roles and economic status in the last years of Rome. This is not the work to be done here, but at least it can be said with certainty that they are by no means1the industrial proletariat in the 8th and 9th centuries. In the preface to the second edition of louis bonaparte, Marx quoted sismondi's famous saying that "the proletariat in Rome depends on social life, while the proletariat in modern society depends on social life"-this is the most pertinent conclusion about them. In the first or second century BC, they never produced their own representatives in politics, and never put forward a set of their own political programs. They have always been the tools of various political activists. Just as we can't regard them as modern proletariat, we can't regard Caesar as a first-class figure of Louis Napoleon or even thiers. Caesar was here, but he did no less than other activists at that time. At best, I can only blame him for using it at first and then leaving. Leave them and even hurt them. At that time, it was inevitable to ask pro-democracy activists as soon as they came to power. Caesar, in particular, can know that this is the inevitable result of his work by simply citing the work he devoted himself to. For a long time, the vagrant class in the capital has become a heavy burden for the country. In order to reduce the search for provinces and reduce the privileges of Rome, we have to take some measures that are unfavorable to these vagrants. For example, the free rations distributed to citizens were suddenly reduced from 320,000 to150,000 by Caesar. This privilege, once considered as a civil right, was strictly restricted and turned into real social relief. This is an example. Moreover, after the establishment of strong personal rule, the citizens' assembly even lost its role as a rubber stamp, and the political status of the homeless class came to an end. There is no need for the treasury to please them in everything. This is the logical development and inevitable result of the transition from * * to empire. Caesar did a lot of things in his life, but none of them were in this respect.

Octavian

An outstanding politician in Rome and the founder of the Roman Empire. Born into a knight's family, his father is a veteran of the Senate. Octavian, Caesar's nephew, was adopted by Caesar and inherited most of his property. After Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, it was followed by a three-person alliance of archon Anthony, cavalry leader Rebida and Octavian, which was called "the last three heads" in history. The three men kept fighting for power and profit, and soon the heat ratio lost power. By 30 BC, Octavian defeated Anthony and won the final victory, becoming the military dictator of Rome. Octavian kept the cloak of national system and harmony, and did not restore open military dictatorship. He calls himself "the first citizen", which means the head of state. The Fuehrer's politics began in 27 BC, 65438+ 10 and 65438+March. Considering Octavian's ability to suppress slaves and defend the interests of slave owners, the Senate awarded him the title of "Augustus", which means sacred, solemn and great. Under the head of state system, the Senate is actually controlled by the head of state. Octavian himself is the head of state, commander-in-chief, lifelong consul, chief elder and high priest, monopolizing military power, judicial power, administrative power and religious power, and is actually an emperor. Therefore, the head of state established by Octavian is essentially a hidden monarchy, and Octavian's rule over Rome is the beginning of the Roman Empire.

Octavian, "First Citizen"

Anthony used Caesar's prestige to incite civilians and soldiers to attack the Senate, scaring the old-school nobles who opposed Caesar into hiding and fleeing Rome. At the same time, in order to win the hearts of the people and strengthen his own strength, he also announced that he had pardoned a group of conspirators who murdered Caesar.

Just as Anthony tried his best to get on the stage, a young man who was only 19 years old came out to challenge him. This young man was Gayo Octavian, who was later called "the first citizen".

Octavian is the grandson of Caesar's sister. Caesar once adopted him as his adopted son and let him inherit most of the property. However, Octavian's identity has long been unrecognized. One of the reasons is that he came from a humble background: his grandfather was a miller and his father was a loan shark in a small town. Octavian was studying military affairs in Greece when Caesar was assassinated. After he got the news, he secretly discussed with several old men of Caesar and quietly crossed the sea from Greece to Italy. He lives in a small village and collects information about the situation in Rome. When he learned what Anthony had done, he decided to go to Rome to deal with Anthony. His mother begged him not to take risks because he had no power and no soldiers. Octavian said, "I have a spear and a shield. That's the name of my adoptive father Caesar."

Octavian saw that Caesar still had great influence among the military and civilians, and Caesar's name still had great appeal. He changed his name to Giorgio Caesar Octavian Annous, which showed his determination to inherit Caesar's career.

Octavian led many people who volunteered to escort him to Rome, immediately found Anthony and asked Anthony to return Caesar's property to him, because he was Caesar's heir. Octavian told Anthony that he would distribute the money to the general public according to his adoptive father's wishes. He also accused Anthony of not only not retaliating against Caesar, but shielding Brutu and other important conspirators.

Anthony's eyes were fixed on the dark and thin young man standing in front of him, and he was taken aback. However, he quickly recovered his composure and defiantly said to Octavian, "Young man, what else do you want besides Caesar's name? Money, I don't have much. Do you still want Caesar's regime? " Octavian knew from Anthony's arrogant and vicious words that a power struggle was inevitable.

Octavian is a political figure with superb strategy and flexible skills. He knows that to gain political power, he must have military strength. He auctioned his property in Rome Square and used the money to recruit Caesar's former subordinates, and soon formed a well-equipped army. In July of 43 BC, he took advantage of Anthony's battle with the remnants of Brutu in the north, led troops into Rome, coerced the Senate to hold a special election, and elected him consul. The Senate also tried to use Octavian against Anthony, so they went ahead and executed him. In this way, Octavian's political position in Rome is equal to that of Anthony. However, Octavian clearly saw that Anthony was still very powerful, and the elders and nobles could also influence the political situation. It is not yet time to establish his own dictatorship. As a result, he formed a political alliance with Anthony and Rebida (Caesar's cavalry commander) and jointly ruled. In the history of ancient Rome, these three men were called "the last three heroes".

In 42 BC, after the "post-three heroes" alliance wiped out their * * * with the enemy, the struggle between the old aristocracy headed by Brutu and the three giants within the alliance began. In 36 BC, Rabida was deprived of military power by Octavian. Tri-headed politics has become a situation in which Anthony and Octavian stand side by side. They are in charge of the eastern and western parts of Rome respectively. The year before, Anthony married Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, and they ruled Egypt together. He also announced that a part of Rome would be given to the Queen's son. This caused great dissatisfaction among the Romans. Octavian took the opportunity to send troops to conquer Anthony.

In 3 1 year BC, Octavian's navy fought a decisive battle with the fleet of Antony and the Queen of Egypt at the Cape of Axen, Greece. As a result, Octavian won a great victory. The following year, Anthony fled back to Egypt and committed suicide. Octavian led the army into Alexandria, and then occupied the whole of Egypt, ending the Ptolemaic dynasty.

In Octavian's era, the territory of the Roman Empire extended from the Danube River in the north to Africa (including Egypt) in the south, from the Pyrenees Peninsula in the west to the two river basins and Asia Minor Peninsula in the east, forming the largest empire in ancient history. The Mediterranean became the inner lake of the empire. In order to rule such a huge empire, Octavian concentrated a lot of power in his own hands and became the de facto emperor of the Roman Empire. However, in order to avoid the same fate as Caesar, he has been trying to maintain the appearance of the country. He resolutely refused the title of "emperor" and only called himself "the first citizen", which means head of state. He also retained the Senate of the times. However, there are few old elders and nobles left, and most of them have been replaced by "newcomers". These newcomers are either newly promoted aristocrats or aristocratic families attached to the new regime. The so-called "National Assembly" became a tool to pass Octavian's motion.

In 65438+27 BC 10, Octavian pretended to accept the people's request and accepted the title of "Augustus" conferred on him by the Senate. "Augustus" means "sacred" and "supreme" and is a more glorious title than the emperor. In fact, Octavian was the first Roman emperor without the title of "Emperor". Since then, the 500-year period of the Roman Republic has ended and the period of the Roman Empire has begun.

Octavian was the supreme commander of all legions in Rome. He established a standing army of 300,000 people and a guard stationed in Rome, accompanied by an elite guard composed of Germans. It was with these forces that he defeated the attacks of enemies at home and abroad, suppressed the resistance of slaves and safeguarded the military dictatorship of slave owners.

Octavian has been in power since 30 BC and has ruled in the Roman Empire for more than 40 years. He died in 14. The Roman Empire has maintained a relatively stable situation for nearly 200 years, and its economy and culture have developed greatly, which is called the "Roman Peace" period. At that time, some new avenues were built in all provinces. These avenues connected all parts of the empire into a whole, and Rome became the center of these avenues. Therefore, some people later used "all roads lead to Rome" to describe the scene of developed transportation and commercial prosperity in the Roman Empire.