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Julius Caesar

Roman general and dictator (100 – 44 BC)

Gaius Julius Caesar (Classical Latin: GAIVS IVLIVS CÆSAR) (13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman religious, military, and political leader. He played an important part in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. His conquest of Gaul extended the Roman world all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, with the first Roman invasion of Britain in 55 BC. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest military geniuses of all time, as well as a brilliant politician and one of the ancient world's strongest leaders.

Some quotes on this page need to be translated into simple English.Some quotes on this page need to be translated into simple English.
Some quotes on this page need to be translated into simple English.

For the famous play by William Shakespeare, see Julius Caesar.

Sourced quotes

 
Fortune, which has a great deal of power in other matters but especially in war, can bring about great changes in a situation through very slight forces.
 
We have not to fear anything, except fear itself.
Simple: I came, I saw, I took over.
  • Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres.
  • Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae.
    • Of all these, the Belgians are the bravest/strongest.
    • Caesar suffered his greatest military defeat at the hands of the Belgians, the humiliation reaching Rome, and infuriating the man who then set out on one of Rome's biggest campaigns to crush the Republic's most feared rebels once and for all.
    • De Bello Gallico, Book I, Ch. 1
Simple: Of all these, the Belgians are afraid the least/are the strongest.
  • Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt.
    • Men willingly believe what they wish.
    • De Bello Gallico, Book III, Ch. 18
Simple: Men will believe what they want to be true.


  • Alea iacta est.
    • The die is cast.
    • Suetonius, Divus Iulius, paragraph 33 [1]
    • Said when crossing the river Rubicon with his legions on 10 January, 49 BC, thus beginning the civil war with the forces of Pompey. The Rubicon river was the boundary of Gaul, the province Caesar had the authority to keep his army in. By crossing the river, he had committed an invasion of Italy.
    • This was originally a quote from the playwright Menander.
Simple: It's begun
  • Galia est pacata.
    • Gaul is subdued.
    • Written in a letter with which Caesar informed the Roman Senate of his victory over Vercingetorix in 52 BC
  • Sed fortuna, quae plurimum potest cum in reliquis rebus tum praecipue in bello, parvis momentis magnas rerum commutationes efficit; ut tum accidit.
    • Fortune, which has a great deal of power in other matters but especially in war, can bring about great changes in a situation through very slight forces.
    • The Civil War, Book III, 68
Simple: Fortune(luck) can create great differences in the result, through small forces.
  • Nihil nobis metuendum est, praeter metum ipsum.
    • We have not to fear anything, except fear itself.
    • By legend, Caesar told it to his wife Calpurnia, who was praying him not to go to the Senate, where, as she saw in dream, he would die.
    • Note: at the First Inaugural Address for New Deal project, Franklin Delano Roosevelt said: So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself [...] .
Simple: You cannot let fear control you, the only thing to fear is being afraid.

Other websites

Caesar's own writings

Ancient historians on Caesar

Secondary sources

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