Cæsar, a surname given to the Julian family at Rome, either because one of them kept an elephant, which bears the same name in the Punic tongue, or because one was born with a thick head of hair. This name, after it had been dignified in the person of Julius Cæsar and of his successors, was given to the apparent heir of the empire, in the age of the Roman emperors. The 12 first Roman emperors were distinguished by the surname of Cæsar. They reigned in the following order: Julius Cæsar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. In Domitian, or rather in Nero, the family of Julius Cæsar was extinguished. But after such a lapse of time, the appellation of Cæsar seemed inseparable from the imperial dignity, and therefore it was assumed by the successors of the Julian family. Suetonious has written an account of these 12 characters, in an extensive and impartial manner.——Caius Julius Cæsar, the first emperor of Rome, was son of [♦]Caius Cæsar and Aurelia the daughter of Cotta. He was descended, according to some accounts, from Julus the son of Æneas. When he reached his 15th year he lost his father, and the year after he was made priest of Jupiter. Sylla was aware of his ambition, and endeavoured to remove him; but Cæsar understood his intentions, and to avoid discovery changed every day his lodgings. He was received into Sylla’s friendship some time after; and the dictator told those who solicited the advancement of young Cæsar, that they were warm in the interest of a man who would prove some day or other the ruin of their country and of their liberty. When Cæsar went to finish his studies at Rhodes, under Apollonius Molo, he was seized by pirates, who offered him his liberty for 30 talents. He gave them 40, and threatened to revenge their insults; and he no sooner was out of their power, than he armed a ship, pursued them, and crucified them all. His eloquence procured him friends at Rome; and the generous manner in which he lived equally served to promote his interest. He obtained the office of high priest at the death of Metellus; and after he had passed through the inferior employments of the state, he was appointed over Spain, where he signalized himself by his valour and intrigues. At his return to Rome, he was made consul, and soon after he effected a reconciliation between Crassus and Pompey. He was appointed for the space of five years over the Gauls, by the interest of Pompey, to whom he had given his daughter Julia in marriage. Here he enlarged the boundaries of the Roman empire by conquest, and invaded Britain, which was then unknown to the Roman people. He checked the Germans, and soon after had his government over Gaul prolonged to five other years, by means of his friends at Rome. The death of Julia and of Crassus, the corrupted state of the Roman senate, and the ambition of Cæsar and Pompey, soon became the causes of a civil war. Neither of these celebrated Romans would suffer a superior, and the smallest matters were sufficient ground for unsheathing the sword. Cæsar’s petitions were received with coldness or indifference by the Roman senate; and, by the influence of Pompey, a decree was passed to strip him of his power. Antony, who opposed it as tribune, fled to Cæsar’s camp with the news; and the ambitious general no sooner heard this, than he made it a plea of resistance. On pretence of avenging the violence which had been offered to the sacred office of tribune in the person of Antony, he crossed the Rubicon, which was the boundary of his province. The passage of the Rubicon was a declaration of war, and Cæsar entered Italy sword in hand. Upon this, Pompey, with all the friends of liberty, left Rome, and retired to Dyrrachium; and Cæsar, after he had subdued all Italy, in 60 days, entered Rome, and provided himself with money from the public treasury. He went to Spain, where he conquered the partisans of Pompey, under Petreius, Afranius, and Varro; and, at his return to Rome, was declared dictator, and soon after consul. When he left Rome he went in quest of Pompey, observing that he was marching against a general without troops, after having defeated troops without a general in Spain. In the plains of Pharsalia, B.C. 48, the two hostile generals engaged. Pompey was conquered, and fled into Egypt, where he was murdered. Cæsar, after he had made a noble use of victory, pursued his adversary into Egypt, where he for some time forgot his fame and character in the arms of Cleopatra, by whom he had a son. His danger was great while at Alexandria; but he extricated himself with wonderful success, and made Egypt tributary to his power. After several conquests in Africa, the defeat of Cato, Scipio, and Juba, and that of Pompey’s sons in Spain, he entered Rome, and triumphed over five different nations, Gaul, Alexandria, Pontus, Africa, and Spain, and was created perpetual dictator. But now his glory was at an end, his uncommon success created him enemies, and the chiefest of the senators, among whom was Brutus his most intimate friend, conspired against him, and stabbed him in the senate house on the ides of March. He died, pierced with 23 wounds, the 15th of March, B.C. 44, in the 56th year of his age. Casca gave him the first blow, and immediately he attempted to make some resistance; but when he saw Brutus among the conspirators, he submitted to his fate, and fell down at their feet, muffling up his mantle, and exclaiming, Tu quoque Brute! Cæsar might have escaped the sword of the conspirators if he had listened to the advice of his wife, whose dreams on the night previous to the day of his murder were alarming. He also received, as he went to the senate house, a paper from Artemidorus, which discovered the whole conspiracy to him; but he neglected the reading of what might have saved his life. When he was in his first campaign in Spain, he was observed to gaze at a statue of Alexander, and even shed tears at the recollection that that hero had conquered the world at an age in which he himself had done nothing. The learning of Cæsar deserves commendation, as well as his military character. He reformed the calendar. He wrote his commentaries on the Gallic wars, on the spot where he fought his battles; and the composition has been admired for the elegance as well as the correctness of its style. This valuable book was nearly lost; and when Cæsar saved his life in the bay of Alexandria, he was obliged to swim from his ship, with his arms in one hand and his commentaries in the other. Besides the Gallic and civil wars, he wrote other pieces, which are now lost. The history of the war in Alexandria and Spain is attributed to him by some, and by others to Hirtius. Cæsar has been blamed for his debaucheries and expenses; and the first year he had a public office, his debts were rated at 830 talents, which his friends discharged: yet, in his public character, he must be reckoned one of the few heroes that rarely make their appearance among mankind. His qualities were such that in every battle he could not but be conqueror, and in every republic, master; and to his sense of his superiority over the rest of the world, or to his ambition, we are to attribute his saying, that he wished rather to be first in a little village, than second at Rome. It was after his conquest over Pharnaces in one day, that he made use of these remarkable words, to express the celerity of his operations: Veni, vidi, vici. Conscious of the services of a man who in the intervals of peace, beautified and enriched the capital of his country with public buildings, libraries, and porticoes, the senate permitted the dictator to wear a laurel crown on his bald head; and it is said that, to reward his benevolence, they were going to give him the title of authority of king all over the Roman empire, except Italy, when he was murdered. In his private character, Cæsar has been accused of seducing one of the vestal virgins, and suspected of being privy to Catiline’s conspiracy; and it was his fondness for dissipated pleasures which made his countrymen say, that he was the husband of all the women at Rome, and the woman of all men. It is said that he conquered 300 nations, took 800 cities, and defeated three millions of men, one of which fell in the field of battle. Pliny, bk. 7, ch. 25, says that he could employ at the same time, his ears to listen, his eyes to read, his hand to write, and his mind to dictate. His death was preceded, as many authors mention, by uncommon prodigies; and immediately after his death, a large comet made its appearance. The best editions of Cæsar’s commentaries, are the magnificent one by Dr. Clarke, folio, London, 1712; that of Cambridge, with a Greek translation, 4to, 1727; that of Oudendorp, 2 vols., 4to, Leiden, 1737; and that of Elzevir, 8vo, Leiden, 1635. Suetonius & Plutarch, Lives.—Dio Cassius.—Appian.—Orosius.—Diodorus, bk. 16 & fragments of bks. 31 & 37.—Virgil, Georgics, bk. 1, li. 466.—Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 15, li. 782.—Marcellinus.—Florus, bks. 3 & 4.——Lucius was father to the dictator. He died suddenly, when putting on his shoes.——Octavianus. See: [Augustus].——Caius, a tragic poet and orator, commended by Cicero, Brutus. His brother C. Lucius was consul, and followed, as well as himself, the party of Sylla. They were both put to death by order of Marius.——Lucius, an uncle of Marcus Antony, who followed the interest of Pompey, and was proscribed by Augustus, for which Antony proscribed Cicero the friend of Augustus. His son Lucius was put to death by Julius Cæsar in his youth.——Two sons of Agrippa bore also the name of Cæsar, Caius and Lucius. See: [Agrippa].——Augusta, a town of Spain, built by Augustus, on the Iberus, and now called Saragossa.
[♦] ‘L.’ replaced with ‘Caius’
Cæsarēa, a city of Cappadocia,——of Bithynia,——of Mauritania,——of Palestine. There are many small insignificant towns of that name, either built by the emperors, or called by their name, in compliment to them.
Cæsarion, the son of Julius Cæsar by queen Cleopatra, was, at the age of 13, proclaimed by Antony and his mother, king of Cyprus, Egypt, and Cœlosyria. He was put to death five years after by Augustus. Suetonius, Augustus, ch. 17, & Cæsar, ch. 52.
Cæsennius Pætus, a general sent by Nero to Armenia, &c. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 15, chs. 6 & 25.
Cæsetius, a Roman who protected his children against Cæsar. Valerius Maximus, bk. 5, ch. 7.
Cæsia, a surname of Minerva.——A wood in Germany. Tacitus, Annals, bk. 1, ch. 50.
Cæsius, a Latin poet, whose talents were not of uncommon brilliancy. Catullus, poem 14.——A lyric and heroic poet in the reign of Nero. Persius.
Cæso, a son of Quinctius Cincinnatus, who revolted to the Volsci.
Cæsonia, a lascivious woman who married Caligula, and was murdered at the same time with her daughter Julia. Suetonius, Caligula, ch. 59.