Caesar

• The poet Juvenal said Rome "anxiously hopes for two things: bread and circuses"
•  Bread (free grain from the state) and entertainment (circus Maximus, Colosseum), partly to keep them alive,  and partly to keep them quiet, distracted, and docile

A Change in Rule

•  Tiberius Gracchus recognized the advantages of courting the plebeians (even though he was ultimately unsuccessful)
•  Military generals worked that angle - lead an army that conquers a land, then give them a share in the spoils
•  Soldiers' loyalty was to their military leader, not necessarily to Rome or the Republic

No one did that better than Caesar

•  Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE) (test question)
•  A highly successful general
•  He conquered the huge territory of Gaul

He could play the game (of politics)

•  Made common folks happy
•  Made friends in high places
•  Pompey (a general who conquered Syria and Palestine)
•  Crassus (the richest man in Rome, one of the richest men in all history)
•  These three men formed the first Triumvirate (rule of three men)

"Crossing the Rubicon" =  to Cross the point of no return