Timeline of Julius Caesar Trivia Quiz

This account is given to us by Plutarch. Julius Caesar fled Rome to hide from Sulla with King Nicomedes in Bithynia. On Caesar's way back, he was captured by Cilcian pirates and held for ransom. When Caesar learned that they wanted twenty talents, he scoffed and said he was worth at least fifty. Caesar was friendly with his captors, writing poems, participating in athletics, and joking that he would come back and crucify the lot.

The ransom was paid, Caesar was released, and he immediately turned right back around to let the pirates know that the crucifixion joke was not actually a joke.

The pontifex maximus was the head priest of Rome. It was an elected office that was held for life, usually given to an older statesman. It was rare for someone as young as Caesar to get it (likely through many large bribes). The position mostly involved organizing ceremonies, but there was a lot of soft power and prestige in the position.

One direct responsibility of the pontifex maximus was the regulation of the calendar, which was a lunar calendar and had to constantly be adjusted. Caesar would use this to his advantage during the civil war in 49/48 BCE. Because he was away for so long, the calendar fell multiple months out of line. Seas and winds were known to have different characteristics at different times of the year, which affected what could be shipped when. Caesar knew that the calendar was wrong, but his enemy Bibulus did not think of this, and was caught off guard when Caesar crossed the Strait of Otranto in "January" (it was actually November).

Caesar entered a secret agreement with Pompey and Crassus known as the first triumvirate. The other two men were not known for being friends, but were willing to work together to get what they wanted. Crassus was the richest man in Rome, and bankrolled Caesar's campaign to be consul. Both Caesar's election and the consulship were particularly blatant with their corruption.

As part of the Gallic Wars (in modern-day France), Caesar decided to travel to the mystical island of Britannia. Caesar landed twice - first briefly in 55 BCE, and then more thoroughly in 54 BCE. Caesar declared it a victory, but that was mostly a public relations move.

He had to retreat because it was logistically untenable to maintain a presence on the island. The Romans would return to Britannia in another hundred years in 43 CE to turn the island into a province.

After Caesar's consulship, he began his governorship of Cisalpine Gaul, Transalpine Gaul, and Illyricum. Under the pretext of helping client Gallic tribes, he began the ten years of the Gallic Wars, which brought all of Gaul under control of Rome. The war largely ended with the surrender of Vercingetorix at the Battle of Alesia.

Caesar was popular, but also corrupt. He could not be prosecuted because he had imperium from being a consul, and then a governor. Caesar's goal was to maintain imperium indefinitely while the Senate tried to take it away. These tensions escalated until Caesar felt he could not approach Rome without an army.

The Rubicon river was used as the border of the Italian peninsula, so when Caesar crossed it with an army, he was marching into the Roman heartland, effectively declaring war. He is said to have uttered " alea iacta est" ("the die is cast"), a line from a popular Greek play at the time.

Caesar and Pompey, once co-triumvirs, were the two generals who faced off in the civil war. When Caesar defeated Pompey in Greece, the older general fled to Egypt. The Egyptians saw which way the war was turning, so they tried to curry favour with Caesar by killing Pompey when he landed, and then presenting Pompey's head to Caesar when he caught up. Caesar was very displeased.

He had liked Pompey, and had wanted to pardon him in a show of magnanimity (probably to secure his own popularity). Four years later, Caesar would be killed in Theatre of Pompey in Rome.

As soon as Caesar landed in Egypt he did not get along with the ruling Ptolemy XIII, and the Siege of Alexandria soon began. Cleopatra VII (the famous one) was Ptolemy's sister, wife, and enemy. She snuck into Alexandria and struck an alliance (and romance) with Caesar. Ptolemy was killed and Cleopatra was installed as a queen of the new client state of Egypt.

They had one son together, Caesarion (little Caesar).

The phrase in Latin is "veni, vidi, vici." After settling Egypt, Caesar moved north to Pontus (modern day Turkey) to deal with the upstart King Pharnaces II who wanted to expand his empire. Caesar's campaign was so quick that he is said to have written these words in a letter back to Rome.

The Romans used a lunar calendar (relying on the phases of the moon), which meant they had to constantly adjust it by adding a whole leap month (Mercedonius) every few years. As pontifex maximus, it was Caesar's job to maintain the calendar's integrity.

While in Egypt, he learned that they had a solar calendar that did not need as many adjustments. He brought back some mathematicians to Rome and devised the new Julian calendar that was in place for 1600 years until Pope Gregory XIII made a very minor adjustment to create the Gregorian calendar that has become the common calendar today.