Gaius Julius Caesar was born on July 13, 100 BC. Although patrician descent,Caesar's family had not achieved real prominence. His father, also named Gaius JuliusCaesar, was the brother-in-law of Gaius Marius and married Aurelia, who was connectedwith the prominent Aurelii family; he died about 85 BC, however, before reaching theconsulship. In 84, Caesar married Cornelia, daughter of Marius's old partner LuciusCornelius Cinna. When Lucius Cornelius Sulla ordered him to divorce her, he refused andescaped harm through the intervention of such people as his mother's relative, GaiusAurelius Cotta.Caesar was then sent to collect a fleet from the Roman ally Nicomedes IV ofBithynia and was honored for conspicuous bravery at the siege of Mytilene. Returninghome after Sulla's death , he unsuccessfully prosecuted two Sullans, Gnaeus CorneliusDolabella and Gaius Antonius Hibrida. He then left Rome for studies in Rhodes but wascaptured by pirates. After obtaining ransom, he recruited private troops, captured thepirates, and had them executed in. His studies on Rhodes were interrupted by the outbreakof war with Mithradates VI of Pontus, against who he gathered a force in 74. During a legateship to help Marcus Antonius Creticus fight piracy, Caesar wasmade a pontiff at Rome in 73 BC. After his military tribunate and possible service againstSpartacus, he sided with those seeking power from outside the circle of nobles whodominated the Senate. He supported restoration of tribunician powers and the recall fromexile of those who had supported Marcus Aemilius Lepidus in his revolt of 77. Caesar alsoadvertised his Marian connections: by displaying Marius's effigies at his aunt Julia'sfuneral; through funeral orations for both Julia and his wife; and by the restoration ofMarius' battle trophies on the Capitoline Hill.After a quaestorship in Spain, Caesar earned popularity among the Transpadane Gauls bysupporting their agitation for Roman citizenship. ...
