What did Julius Caesar do before becoming a dictator?

Answer 1

Julius Caesar was a politician his whole life. There were a set of positions a Roman politician had to climb before he was eligible for consulship. First they worked in the treasury. After building their reputation there they were appointed a position abroad. After doing these things Caesar was appointed a governorship in Spain. While there he built his reputation as a great General. These things led to his popularity for the Consulship.

Answer 2

The young Julius Caesar was a prosecution lawyer who was famous for his great oratory skills and his relentless pursuit of corrupt former provincial governors. Then he held several executive offices. In 59 BC he became the governor of several provinces, Gallia Cisalpina (part of northern Italy) Gallia Narbonensis southeastern France) and Illyria (the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea). In 58-50 BC he fought the Gallic Wars in which he conquered Gaul (France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland south of the river Rhine and Germany west of the Rhine). In 49 BC he fought a civil war against the forces of the senate. After this he seized power.

Answer 3

Julius Caesar was in his 50s when he became dictator. Prior to this he had a long career in law, religion, the military and public office.

When he was 16, Caesar fled Rome because Sulla, who was a dictator at the time, was persecuting his political opponents. He went to Greece and joined the army. When he returned to Rome he became a lawyer who became famous for his ruthless prosecution of former provincial governors who were notorious for corruption and extortion. He was elected Pontifex Maximus, the chief priest of Roman religion, in 73 BC and 64 BC.

Caesar held public offices many times. In 69 BC he served as quaestor in Spain. In 66 BC he was the curator of the Appian Way. In 65 BC he served as Aedile (treasurer) and in 62 BC as praetor (chief justice). In 61 BC he was appointed governor of the province of Further Spain. Governors were also in charge of the legions (armies) stationed in their province. During this governorship he defeated the Callaici and Lusitani (who lived in present day Portugal).

In 60 BC Caesar formed the First Triumvirate with Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great). This was a three-man alliance with the richest man in Rome (Crassus) and the greatest Roman general at the time (Pompey) which dominated Roman Politics until the death of Crassus in 53 BC. During this period he was elected consul (one of the two annually elected heads of the Republic) in 59 BC (and introduced a reform which redistributed farming land to the landless poor) and in 58 BC he was appointed governor of Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy) and Illyricum (on the coast of the Adriatic Sea) and Transalpine Gaul (southern France).

During this governorship, Caesar raised seven legions and conquered the rest of Gaul in his Gallic Wars (58-50 BC). In 49 BC he refused the order of the senate to disband his armies, crossed the river Rubicon, the boundary of one of his provinces, Gallia Cisalpina, and marched on Rome, starting the Great Roman Civil War, also known as Caesar's Civil War.