It is a really common misconception that Julius Caesar was the first emperor of Rome. And honestly it's one of my biggest pet peeves! I always say to my students that if they leave my class remembering nothing else, I hope this is the one thing that sticks in their brain.
The same is true of my hopes for you, reading this post!
Julius Caesar was not a Roman emperor
Now, to understand why, you have to go back a little bit.
So, to begin with, you need to understand that Romans hated kings. In 509 BC, they had kicked out the monarchy, and they had started the Res Publica, the Republic of Rome. (Res Publica means the things of the people, the matters of the people).
They had a fear of “one man rule”, and so as part of the Republic, the people in charge, (the Senate) elected two consuls every year. So there's two people in charge every year, not one.
How did Caesar become powerful?
Now Caesar managed to put a spanner in the works of this trend, because he was very charismatic.
He was a popularis, which means that he was a man of the people - in terms of the fact that he got the popular vote. He didn't necessarily care about the people, but he used his influence over them to get their vote, mainly by giving money and games that they enjoyed a lot.
He had very strong allies. He had allied with Crassus and Pompey the Great who were both powerful senators, and together they formed the First Triumvirate (3 men rule).
He also was an excellent military leader, so he had managed to increase his standing in Roman society with his military accomplishments. This gave him a lot of support with the army.
So he's got the popular support, he has the military support, and he has some strong allies in the senate.
Problem for Caesar
Now the problem is that those allies don't necessarily last. Crassus died in 53 BC, and in 49 BC, there was a civil war, between himself and Pompey the Great. The main reason for this is that Pompey had been put in sole command of Rome by the Optimates, which made Caesar feel like Pompey had turned his back on their alliance.
The Optimates were the side against populists like Caesar. And they had been against Pompey and Caesar and Crassus for years, actively working to try to save the Republican system from falling.
But in 52 BC, three years before the outbreak of civil war, they had put Pompey in sole command because they feared Caesar getting in power once again, becoming a consul again.
Cato the Younger
Cato the Younger was extremely prolific at this time, he was a very fantastic orator and speaker. He was one of the leaders of the Optimates, and he was very much against Caesar. He was sort of in charge of putting Pompey in sole command of Rome. And this caused a problem because that's completely unheard of in Roman history, one consul rather than two.
So, when Caesar finds out what's happened, he marches upon Rome with his army, ready to forcibly take his rightful place (as he sees it) rather than risk becoming exiled from Rome. At this point, after a few skirmishes in northern Italy which Caesar and his army easily win, Pompey, the Optimates and Cato all leave Rome. Now that's a good proportion of the Senate, people who are in charge of Rome.
Civil War
So, in 48 BC, Caesar is elected dictator. Dictator doesn't have the same connotations in ancient Rome as it does today. It's an elected role that is for a time of national emergency. So Caesar is elected dictator by the people left in Rome because most of the Senate have run away with Pompey and Cato, and someone needs to run the government. They are also at war, so something needs to be done.
Dictator
Now, he's elected to a fixed term, so he's in sole control of Rome but it's for a short period of time. Something like six months is the usual. And the agreement is that you get elected, you fix whatever is going on, and then you give the power back.
And Caesar does give the power back!
But then, unfortunately for the Roman Republic, after the Civil War ends, in January 44 BC, they elect Caesar as dictator perpetuo, which means “dictator for life”. So they have gone from the Republic, through a time of immense crisis, and now they have effectively elected their own sole ruler, which is the thing that (if you remember) Romans hated more than anything else: they feared one man rule.
Still not an “Emperor”
Ultimately, he is called dictator perpetuo. He is not an “Emperor”, as we see it, he is a Dictator. They are different.
However, some people in the Senate are still very concerned about how much power Caesar has, and they think that he wants to be a king. They have a problem with this.
Too kingly for the senate
And so, unfortunately for Caesar, he is assassinated on the Ides of March, which is the 15th of March, 44 BC.
There's a conspiracy of senators, they band together, they decide there should be no more Caesar. They assassinate him in the senate house, during a senatorial meeting.
These assassins call themselves the “Liberators” of Rome because they feel like they freed Rome from the clutches of this dictator. Dictator, not emperor.
Setting up the emperors
However, although Julius Caesar was not an emperor (and as I have said, he definitely wasn't), his adopted son Augustus Caesar was the first emperor of Rome.
So although Caesar wasn't an emperor, he is the person who sets in motion the idea of sole rule again in Rome. He's the person who embodies the idea of an emperor before the office emperor actually exists.
Julius Caesar set it up, and Augustus Caesar took control.
Really not kings?
Now, something that is said about both of these men is that they are “king in all but name”.
Julius Caesar was assassinated because the conspirators, the liberators, thought that he was trying to be a king. And Augustus Caesar gets accused of the same thing.
Now, people always say, but what is the difference between a king and an emperor?
And the answer is, well, there's not really a difference, it's just what they call them. So in Rome, a king is called rex. Romans really have this fear of that word, so Augustus Caesar is never called rex in the official records, because that is what they're afraid of.
So although Julius Caesar was not himself an emperor, he does contribute massively to the fall of the Roman Republic, and therefore to the setup of the emperor system of government in Rome.
And there you have it. Julius Caesar was not an emperor. He is definitely on the way to emperor-ship, but he is not one of the officially recognised emperors of Rome.
I hope this has been interesting! Let me know what you think in the comments and I'll see you next time on bambasbat!
Why is a dictator in perpetuity different than an emperor?