Was Caesar a tyrant?
During the Republic’s last 100 years, it was corrupt and broken.
Many men, like Marius, Sulla and notably Caesar took advantage of this situation to exploit loopholes.
From outside, it might seem as if Caesar was this power hungry general who couldn’t wait to start a civil war, but in reality Caesar was just protecting himself.
Was he in the wrong legally? Yes.
Was the Republic in the wrong? Yes.
This was a no-win situation for both sides.
This is the problem: In Rome, it was possible to pass a law that retroactively made a public official's actions while in office illegal after he performed the action.
Caesar's enemies passed a law saying that some of his actions involving his early tenure in Gaul were illegal and were waiting for him to leave office.
Leaving office was important because as long as a citizen was in office he was immune from prosecution.
Caesar was screwed no matter what he did unless he managed to win another office, which he couldn't run for without returning to Rome without his army.
Here, His intentions were to protect himself.
But his move into Italy, crossing rubicon with his army, was absolutely illegal.
He fully expected to have to fight before reaching Rome.
Had Caesar been the one in Rome and Pompey been in the provinces, Caesar would have found a way to stop the march on Rome.
Parlay with and make peace with Pompey and the Senate at every opportunity? Yes.
But his enemies weren't going to allow him to not be prosecuted.
Peace was only an option if he surrendered.
Caesar also liked to appear as the magnanimous one.
It was part of his public persona to try and appear to be the conciliatory or forgiving side.
He enacted many social and legal reforms within Rome during his tenure as Imperator which largely benefited the plebs - and also sought to make good on his generous pension and lands plans for all his veterans.
Vote buying via land reform has a long history in Rome.
Once the majority of the senators and wealthy left town Caesar could seize their lands and property and redistributed it to those who would support him the most.
Sure this benefited the plebs and his veterans, it was also self-serving as it hurt his enemies and increased the loyalty of his followers.
But Was Caesar actually good for Rome?
He was just another in a series of men who seized power and did nothing to reform the
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