Returning to Rome after completing his studies in Rhodes, Julius Caesar held several offices which he used to increase his fame and popularity. In 60 B.C. he was elected consul and succeeded in forming the First Triumvirate with Pompey and Crassus. In 58 B.C. he was appointed governor of Roman Gaul and for the subsequent nine years conducted brilliant military campaigns including the first invasion of Britain. He conquered the Germans under Ariovistus in 58 B.C. and within a year defeated of the Nervii in modern day France. By 52 B.C. he went on to defeat Vercingetorix at the battle of Alecia and subjugated most of Gaul under Roman control. During this time Crassus was killed in the East in 53 B.C, and Pompey was awarded the governorship of Spain. Jealous of Caesar's fame, Pompey lead the senate in ordering Caesar to lay down his command. The First Triumvirate was no more. The senate made no concessions and Caesar marched his army across the Rubicon into Italy. Pompey fled to Greece and within three months Caesar was master of Italy. In the battle of Pharsalia in 48 B.C., Pompey was defeated and Caesar was made dictator for one year. He went on to Egypt where he installed Cleopatra as Queen; overthrew Pharnaces in Pontus where he exclaimed "Veni, vidi, vici". (I came, I saw, I conquered) Traveling to Africa he then defeated Scipio and Cato in the Battle of Thapsus. In 45 B.C. he defeated Gaeus Pompeius, son of Pompey, at the Battle of Munda. Upon his return he was made dictator for life. On the Ides of March the conspirators led by Brutus and Cassius stabbed him to death.

~~MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO~~

Marcus Tullius Cicero was the greatest speaker among the many famous statesmen of ancient Rome. He practiced law and studied philosophy in Greece before holding a rising sequence of important jobs in the Roman Empire. In 63 B.C. he became Consul where he won fame for his orations against Cataline, the head of a secret conspiracy to seize the government. Always a staunch supporter of the Republic, Cicero was eventually forced into exile by his enemies, and when Julius Caesar consolidated his power in 48 BC, Cicero went into political retirement. During this time he wrote his famous essays on happiness, on old age, and on friendship. After Caesar's assassination, Cicero returned to public life and delivered a series of scathing speeches against Marc Antony. When Antony took power in the Second Triumvirate with Octavian and Lepidus, Cicero was declared an outlaw and was killed.

~~GNAEUS POMPEIUS MAGNUS~~

At age 17, Gnaeus Pompeius fought alongside his father against Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Cinna. In 84 B.C. he raised three legions and defeated the Marian party and earned the moniker Magnus or "Great." Pompey went on to defeat supporters of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus whom he'd previously driven out of Italy, and annihilated the Marian party in Spain in 76 B.C. He later ended the Servile War brought about by Spartacus. In 70 B.C. he was elected consul and served with Marcus Licinius Crassus. Between 65 and 62 B.C. Pompey went on to conquer Mithridates VI of Pontus; Tigranes the Great, King of Armenia; and Antiochus XIII of Syria. He subdued the Jews and captured Jerusalem. When the senate failed to honor Pompey's victorious veterans, he and Crassus formed an alliance with Julius Caesar, creating the First Triumvirate. The coalition ran smoothly until Crassus' death in Syria. Pompey called for Caesar to disarm and return to Rome. Caesar disobeyed and the two engaged in fierce battles that yielded premature victory to Pompey until 48 B.C. when his army was defeated at Pharsalus. Pompey escaped to Egypt where he was murdered.

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