1. Gaius Julius Caesar was born by Caesarian section, according to legend, to Aurelia and Gaius Julius Caesar, a praetor, on July 13, 100 BCE (Meier 51-55). His family had noble patrician roots, but they were not rich or influential during the period of his birth. His aunt Julia on his fatherÆs side was the wife of Gaius Marius, the leader of the Popular faction, who had saved the Roman Republic several years earlier by defeating two German tribes, the Teutones and the Cimbri. While Caesar was still an infant, Marius lost much of his popularity and left Rome to travel in Greece and Asia Minor. However, he was still influential and had CaesarÆs father elected praetor, a magistrate whose most important function was the administration of justice.
In 85 BCE, CaesarÆs father died, and Caesar was betrothed to a wealthy young woman, Cossutia (Meier 56-58). This engagement was broken off, and Caesar at age 18 married Cornelia, the daughter of a prominent member of the Popular faction, who bore him his only legitimate child, Julia. When the Optimate dictator, Sulla, was in power, he ordered Caesar to divorce Cornelia, and when he refused, proscribed him (ordered him executed), and Caesar went into hiding. He was eventually pardoned due to the efforts of influential friends and relatives. After CorneliaÆs death, Caesar married Pompeia, a granddaughter of Sulla. He was elected praetor in 62 BCE, and divorced Pompeia because of her involvement in a scandal with another man, even though the man was acquitted by the courts. He was elected consul in 59 BCE, and in 58 BCE, left Rome for Gaul, not returning for 9 years (Meier 204).
2. In 588 BCE, Gaul consisted of many states with different ethnic origins (Hanford 12-27). The Greeks and Romans called all these nations Celts or Gauls. In the second century, mass migrations from Germanic tribes had begun for reasons which remain unclear, and Marius had defeated the Teutones and C...