Was Julius Caesar a reformer or a dictator?

Answer 1

Julius Caesar was a reformer & dictator because he treated many of his defeats enemies generously and appointed some of them including Brutus and to the government positions. He was a dictator because he punished those who wanted to uphold the traditions and laws of the republican/ he had many enemies including some friends of Caesar and hey saw that Caesar as a dangerous dictator and thought he was taking advantage of his growing power.

Answer 2

Julius Caesar wanted to radically reform the Roman Republic and introduced many reforms.

Some of Caesar's reforms would later lay the foundations for the subsequent establishment of rule by emperors. They helped Augustus, to dismantle the intuitions of the republic and establish his absolute personal rule after he won the civil wars which followed Caesar's death. Augustus retained these reforms because they concentrated power in the hands of one man.

Caesar took on the powers of the plebeian tribunes (the representatives of the plebeians), which allowed him to control the plebeian tribunes and the Plebeian Council and to assume the tribunician power veto the senate. He also took the title of "Prefect of the Morals" which was a new office which replaced that of the censors. This gave him the same powers and those of the censors, but exempted him from the checks the censors had been subjected to. These powers included the enrolling of the senators, the oversight of public morals, carrying out the census and commissioning public works). Caesar used thrse powers to to increase the seats of the senate from 600 an==to 900 and to fill them with his supporters; to carry out a census himself and to commission public works himself. Augustus also took the tribunician powers and made himself prefect of the Morals. He brought the number of seats in the senate to 600.Caesar also ended the privilege of the senate to appoint the governors of the provinces (conquered territories) and appointed them and the other officials of the provinces himself. In 45 B.C. when he was preparing for a war against the Persians, he passed a law which allowed him to appoint all the magistrates (officers of state) for 43 BC and the Consuls for 42 B.C. Such officers were mean to be elected annually - apart from the censors who were elected every 18 months. Under Augustus, the magistrates continued to be appointees of the ruler.

Caesar claimed that his family descended from the goddess Venus and created a cult of himself. Augustus, who was Caesar's adaptive son, retained this claim. Caesar was also the first leader who placed his image on Roman coins. The emperors followed this precedent. Julius Caesar issued large quantities of the aureus, a gold coin which had previously been minted infrequently (usually to make large payments from captured booty). This paved the way for the central role the aureus played in the currency system of the subsequent imperial period. He carried out a census and, based on the findings, reduced the number of people entitled to the grain dole from 320,000 to 150,000. Augustus retained this change. To alleviate the problems this measure would cause Caesar ordered large estates to hire at least 1/3 of their labour from free citizens instead of using slaves to give work to the landless poor.

Other changes made by Caesar were the setting of maximum interest rate for loans to 12% to curtail usury and wrote off ¼ of all debts, a law which prohibited any citizens between the ages of 20 to 40 to leave Italy for more than 3 years, unless on military assignment. He ordered the reconstruction of Carthage and Corinth and the foundation of new Roman colonies around the empire. Nearly 80,000 poor people were given land this way.

Caesar's most enduring reform was the reform of the Roman calendar. He switched from a lunar to a solar calendar. On the advice of the Alexandrian scholar Sosigenes, he added 10 days per year, bringing it in line with the solar cycle. He added 67 days to the year of the reform to align the calendar with the winter solstice. This has been called the Julian calendar. Apart from some minor modifications introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, it is the calendar we still use, which is now called the Gregorian calendar.

Answer 3

Julius Caesar was not an emperor. When he was assassinated Rome was still a Republic. He had himself first appointed dictator in 49 BC to preside over his own election as consul (head of the Republic) and resigned from the post after 11 days. He then was appointed dictator for one year in 48 BC. Although this was more than the usual 6 months of the term of this office, it was not totally unprecedented. Another man, Sulla, had been appointed dictator for one year 33 years earlier. Caesar started breaking the mould in 47 BC when he had himself appointed dictator for 10 years. In 44 BC he had himself appointed dictator for life.

The meaning of the word dictator was different during the Roman Republic. He was an extraordinary officer of state with extraordinary powers who was appointed to deal with an emergency by senatorial decree. He had a term of office of six months and was given a specific mandate.Julius Caesar's power was so great that he could have the senate appoint him as dictator without a specific mandate and for a length of term of office he chose.

Answer 4

He was both.