Who was Julius Caesar?

Welcome to History's Not Boring by Kidopoly.com! Join Mira and Finn as we travel all the way back to Ancient Rome to meet the most famous Roman who ever lived: Julius Caesar! Did you know that when Caesar was a young man, he was actually captured by pirates? He thought it was funny and joked that he would come back and capture them later—and he actually did! Julius Caesar was a brilliant general who conquered the land of Gaul using super smart military tactics. But he didn't stop there! He famously crossed a river called the Rubicon with his giant army, starting a massive civil war. Eventually, he became the powerful dictator of Rome! But not everyone was happy about his absolute power. Tune in to find out what happened on the spooky "Ides of March" in 44 BC, and discover why his famous last words were, "Et tu, Brute?" Get ready for an epic adventure filled with pirates, battles, and a shocking betrayal! Grab your toga and let's go!

Transcript

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Welcome to History's Not Boring by Kidopoly.com. I'm Mira! And I'm Finn. Before we dive in, we have a very special shout-out. Adam from London is turning eight years old this July. Happy early birthday, Adam! Happy birthday, Adam! Are you having cake? I hope there's cake. I'm sure there will be. And Adam, your birthday month is actually the perfect connection to today's topic. Because today, we are talking about the man the month of July is named after. Wait, July is named after a person? Who? The most famous Roman who ever lived. Julius Caesar. Whoa! Was he an emperor? Actually, no. But he was so powerful that he basically ended the Roman Republic. But before he was a powerful leader, he was kidnapped by pirates. What? Pirates kidnapped Julius Caesar? Yep, they asked for a ransom of 20 talents of silver, which was about£1,300. But Caesar laughed in their faces and told them they were insulting him. He demanded they ask for 50 talents instead. Wait, he asked them to increase his own ransom? That's over 3,000 pounds of silver. Exactly! That's like two million dollars today. Let's travel back to ancient Rome and find out how this kidnapped kid became the ruler of the ancient world. To understand Julius Caesar, we have to go back to the year 100 BC. He was born into a noble Roman family around July 12th. So Rome was already a big deal back then. Huge! The city of Rome had hundreds of thousands of people. But Rome wasn't an empire yet, it was a republic. That means instead of a king, they had the Senate, a group of elected leaders who made the laws. Did Caesar want to be in the Senate? He did. He wanted to be the most famous politician in Rome. But in 75 BC, when he was 25 years old, he was sailing across the Aegean Sea to study speaking, and his ship was surrounded by terrifying Cilician pirates. Oh no, did they make him walk the plank? No, they took him to a tiny island. That's when they asked for the 20 talents of silver. After Caesar forced them to ask for 50 talents, he sent his friends to go collect the money, which took 38 whole days. What did he do for 38 days with bloodthirsty pirates? He acted like he was their boss. He wrote poetry and speeches and forced the pirates to listen to him read them out loud. If they didn't clap, he called them barbarians. He insulted the pirates holding him hostage. He sure did. He even ordered them to keep quiet when he wanted to sleep. And he joked that once he was free, he would come back and have them all punished. I bet they thought he was crazy. They thought it was a hilarious joke. But after the ransom was paid and Caesar went free, he immediately raised a fleet of ships, sailed straight back to the island, and captured every single one of them. Whoa! He wasn't joking at all. After the pirate incident, Caesar started climbing the political ladder in Rome. To get really powerful, he needed military glory. So, in 58 BC, he took an army into Gaul. Where exactly is Gaul? It was a massive area that is mostly modern-day France, plus parts of Belgium and Germany. For the next eight years, Caesar fought tribe after tribe in the Gallic wars. Was he a good general? He was a genius! His most famous battle was the Siege of Elysies in 52 BC. A Gallic leader named Vercingeterix retreated into a hilltop fort called Elysia with 80,000 warriors. 80,000? That's enough to fill a massive football stadium. How many soldiers did Caesar have? Caesar had about 50,000 to 60,000 men. Since the fort was on a high hill surrounded by rivers, Caesar knew he couldn't just attack it. So he decided to build a wall, completely wrapping around the fort, to trap them inside. Wait, he built a wall around the whole city. Yes, it was an 11-mile-long wall made of dirt and wood, surrounded by a 20-foot-wide dry trench, a separate water-filled trench, hidden pits with spikes, and 23 lookout towers. That's insane. Did it work? It was working. Until Caesar found out that a massive backup army of a quarter million Gauls was marching right toward him to rescue the fort. Oh no! So Caesar was trapped between the fort and the backup army. Exactly. But Caesar didn't run away. He ordered his men to build a second wall, facing outward. This one was 14 miles long. So Caesar's army was camped inside a doughnut of walls. He built a wall to keep people in and another wall to keep people out. That is the craziest strategy I've ever heard. When the massive backup army arrived, they attacked Caesar's outer wall, while the 80,000 Gauls inside the fort attacked the inner wall. It's a double attack! How did Caesar survive? He rode around the battlefield on his horse, wearing a bright red cloak so all his men could see him, shouting orders and sending reinforcements to wherever the walls were breaking. His army held the line, and eventually the Gauls surrendered. That is unbelievable. So Caesar won. He did. He conquered all of Gaul. But his incredible success made the Senate back in Rome very nervous. They thought he was getting too powerful. Did they fire him? They tried. In 49 BC, the Senate ordered Caesar to give up his army and return to Rome as a regular citizen. But Caesar knew if he did that, his enemies would arrest him. What did he do? He marched his army to a small river in northern Italy called the Rubicon. It was the border. Roman law strictly forbade any general from bringing an army across the Rubicon. If he crossed it, it meant civil war. Did he cross it? On January 10, 49 BC, Caesar stood at the riverbank. He said a famous phrase in Latin, Alia Yacta est, which means the die is cast. Like rolling dice in a game, there was no turning back. He stepped into the water. Yes. The civil war lasted for years, but Caesar won. By 44 BC, he returned to Rome and was named Dictator Perpetuo, which means dictator for life. He was officially the most powerful man in the world. So he finally got what he wanted. He's the boss of Rome. He was. But the Roman Republic had stood for almost 500 years without a king. Many senators hated that Caesar was acting like one. They decided the only way to save the Republic was to eliminate Caesar. Wait, you mean assassinate him? Yes. The plan was led by senators named Brutus and Cassius. On March 15, 44 BC, a date known as the Ides of March, Caesar walked into the Theatre of Pompey for a Senate meeting. Did he know they were waiting for him? He had been warned by a fortune teller to beware the Ides of March, but he ignored it. Inside, 60 senators surrounded him. They pulled daggers from inside their togas and attacked him. That's so scary. Did he fight back? He tried, but there were too many. According to history, he suffered 23 wounds. While a famous play by Shakespeare claims he said, et tu brutae when he saw his friend Brutus, historical records suggest he actually said nothing at all. Wow. So his own friend betrayed him. Yes, Caesar died there that day. But the senators didn't save the Republic. Caesar's death sparked another massive civil war. Eventually, his adopted son Augustus won and became the very first Roman Emperor. So Caesar's death actually created the Roman Empire. Exactly. The Republic was gone forever. But his legacy is everywhere. As we mentioned for Adam's birthday, the month of Quinctilus was renamed July in his honour. Because he created the 12-month calendar we use today, right? Almost. He created the Julian calendar, which was the basis for our modern Gregorian calendar. Alright, Finn, quiz time! Let's see how much you remember about Julius Caesar. Okay, I'm ready. Hit me with those history questions. First question. What month of the year is named after Julius Caesar? Next one. How many talents of silver did Caesar demand the pirates ask for? Question 3. What modern day country was the region of Gaul mostly located in? Here's number four. What is the name of the river Caesar crossed with his army, sparking a civil war? Last question. On what exact date was Caesar assassinated by the senators? Great job! Let's see how you did. The first answer is, the month of July is named after him, just in time for Adam's birthday. For question two, he demanded they ask for 50 talents of silver, which was over 3,000 pounds. Number three, the answer is Gaul was mostly located in modern day France. Question 4. He crossed the Rubicon River, saying, the die is cast. And the final answer is he was assassinated on March 15, 44 BC, also known as the Ides of March. I still can't get over the fact that he built a donut wall. 11 miles on the inside and 14 miles on the outside.

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Haha!

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I know! It's one of the greatest military engineering feats in history. Caesar was definitely a genius, even if he did end the Roman Republic to get what he wanted. What an incredible story. History really is not boring. It sure isn't! Hey everyone, we promise we aren't dictators like Caesar, but we would absolutely love it if you gave us a five-star review. Yeah, just scroll down on whatever app you're using and tap the five stars. It helps us out a ton. Oh, and don't forget to check out our site, kidopoly.com. We've got tons of fun learning games and cool activities there to keep exploring history. And if you want to shout out on the show like Adam got today, or you just want to say hi, send us an email at hello at kidopoly.com. Thanks so much for listening. See you next time on History's Not Boring. Bye everyone.