Gaius Julius Caesar

Rome character
Gaius Julius Caesar
Name	Gaius Julius Caesar
Portrayed by	Ciarán Hinds
Class	Patrician
Family	Octavia of the Julii (great-niece) Octavian (great-nephew) Atia of the Julii (niece) Caesarion (son) Calpurnia (wife)
Allies	Mark Antony Lucius Vorenus Posca Marcus Junius Brutus (ep 1-3, 7-10) Marcus Tullius Cicero (ep 7-10) Servilia (ep 1-5)
Enemies	Optimates Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus Cato the Younger Scipio Cassius Quintus Valerius Pompey Servilia (ep 6+) Marcus Junius Brutus (ep 3-6, 12) Marcus Tullius Cicero (ep 1-6, 12)
Appearances	The Stolen Eagle How Titus Pullo Brought Down the Republic An Owl in a Thornbush Stealing from Saturn The Ram has Touched the Wall Egeria Pharsalus Caesarion Utica Triumph The Spoils Kalends of February Passover
Fate	Assassinated in Kalends of February

Gaius Julius Caesar is a fictional character in the HBO/BBC2 original television series Rome, played by Irish actor Ciarán Hinds. The basis for this character is the famous historical Roman general and dictator of the same name who seized control of the government in 45 BC and laid the political foundations for the transition from the Roman Republic to the Empire.

Personality

Ambitious and scrupulous, Caesar bears a strong resemblance to his real life counterpart. His aims and motives are often kept ambiguous to further complicate the plot and test the personal loyalties of the other characters. Like the real Caesar, he advertises himself as a reformer who sides with the Plebians, even though he is himself a Patrician. He is also merciful to his beaten enemies, seeming genuinely distressed by their deaths and relieved at their willingness to make peace where a more unscrupulous individual would have simply killed them. Such thinking however, gets him killed by the very people he forgave.

Character history

At the beginning of the series, Caesar is shown as an energetic, dominating Roman general who is more inclined to take risks rather than accept failure. His rivalry with Pompey comes to the forefront following the death of his daughter, Julia, Pompey's fourth wife. This leads the two down the long road to war, eventually ending with Pompey's death and also Caesar's.

Comparisons with the historical Julius Caesar

The character as portrayed in the series is considered historically accurate despite having little physical resemblance to any known representations of the historical Caesar who was balding and blond and about 5 feet 4 inches tall.

The story starts in 52 BC as Caesar receives news of his daughter Julia's death; historically, Julia died in 54 BC. Additionally, no mention is made in Rome to his mother Aurelia, who died months after Julia. There is nothing in the historical sources to suggest that his affair with Servilia Caepionis ended, as is depicted in the series.

Caesarion was the son of Cleopatra VII and Caesar; the events of the episode Caesarion insinuate that he may actually have been fathered by soldier Titus Pullo. Though Caesar is shown presenting his newborn son to his army at the end of this episode, historically Caesar was already back in Rome by the time Caesarion was born.

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