Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman who is one of the most famous figures in history. He is best known for his military conquests and his eventual assassination, which led to the end of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire.

Caesar's personality and reputation have been the subject of much discussion and debate among historians and scholars. Some view him as a brilliant military strategist and visionary leader, while others see him as a power-hungry and ambitious politician who was willing to do whatever it took to achieve his goals.

One aspect of Caesar's personality that is widely agreed upon is his ambition. He was known to be driven and highly ambitious, and he was willing to take significant risks in order to achieve his goals. He was also known to be intelligent and well-educated, and he was skilled at public speaking and persuasion.

In terms of his reputation, Caesar was both admired and reviled during his lifetime. He was well-respected for his military accomplishments, and many people saw him as a strong and capable leader. However, he was also seen as a controversial figure, and his ambition and desire for power were viewed with suspicion by some.

Overall, Julius Caesar was a complex and controversial figure whose personality and reputation continue to be debated by historians and scholars today.

Cattell (1978) and The Big Factor Model - Lewis Goldberg (1990).  R.  B.  Cattell emphasized sixteen different basic components of personality (intangibility, apprehension, dominance, emotional stability, liveliness, openness to change, perfectionism, secrecy, logic, rule consciousness, self-reliance, sensitivity, social courage, tension, vigilance, warmth) .  He pointed out that these traits represent the source of all human personality. The Big Five factors of personality are considered by Goldberg (1990) as broad categories of personality: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness.  We used these personality trait theories because they describe broad areas of personality.  Empirical evidence suggests that this set of characteristics is found in many people.

Early Life and Military Career

Caesar was born into a patrician family in Rome, the son of Gaius Julius Caesar and Aurelia Cotta. His family was well-connected, and his father served as praetor, a high-ranking official in the Roman Republic. However, his father died when Caesar was only 16, and he was forced to fend for himself in a political climate that was increasingly hostile to the patricians.

According to Taylor, despite these challenges, Caesar quickly made a name for himself as a military leader. In 81 BC, he served as a military tribune in Asia Minor, where he gained valuable experience fighting against the Cilician pirates. In the following years, he served as a quaestor (financial official) in Spain and as a praetor in Rome, where he earned a reputation for his administrative skills and his ability to get things done.

In 59 BC, Caesar was elected consul, the highest political office in the Roman Republic. As consul, he implemented a number of political and economic reforms, including the introduction of a new calendar and the construction of a network of roads and aqueducts. According to Wells, However, his reforms also sparked opposition from other political factions, and he eventually fell out of favor with the Roman Senate.

Political Life

Caesar's first political success came in 63 BC, when he was elected Pontifex Maximus, the chief religious official of Rome, who also held important political responsibilities.  After this, Caesar was elected Predator for 62 BC.  Caesar soon used his power to campaign against some of the local tribes in Lusitania, a Roman province in western Europe.  Meanwhile, his political rivals accused him of inciting or starting a war.

In 59 BC Caesar won the election and became ambassador.  The Senate quickly put an end to his desire for military and political power.  He found that he would have to forge alliances to deal with his opponents in the Senate.

The Rise of Caesar

In 49 BC, Caesar's political rivals in the Senate ordered him to return to Rome and disband his army, fearing that he might use his military power to seize control of the government. Instead of complying, Caesar led his army across the Rubicon River, a symbolic act of defiance that marked the beginning of a civil war.

Over the next several years, Caesar campaigned across the Roman Republic, defeating his opponents and consolidating his power. In 45 BC, he was named dictator for life, and in 44 BC, he was assassinated by a group of senators who opposed his rule.

Legacy

Despite his short reign, Caesar had a profound impact on the Roman Empire. His military campaigns expanded the Roman territory, and his political reforms helped to centralize power and lay the foundations for the Roman Empire.

Caesar is also remembered for his literary works, including his "Commentaries on the Gallic War," a detailed account of his campaigns in Gaul, and "The Civil War," a history of the conflict between himself and Pompey.

According to William Smith, In all these, Caesar was a supreme virtuoso. But if he had not also been something more than this he would not have been the supremely great man that he undoubtedly was.

Caesar was great beyond—and even in conflict with—the requirements of his political ambition.(9) He showed a human spiritual greatness in his generosity to defeated opponents, which was partly responsible for his assassination. (The merciless Sulla abdicated and died in his bed.)(10)

Another field in which Caesar’s genius went far beyond the requirements of his political ambition was his writings. Of these, his speeches, letters, and pamphlets are lost. Only his accounts (both incomplete and supplemented by other hands) of the Gallic War and the civil war survive. Caesar ranked as a masterly public speaker in an age in which he was in competition first with Hortensius and then with Cicero.(9)