Informing them that they were clueless as to who they had just captured, he insisted he not be ransomed for anything less than fifty.Ĭaesar’s friends departed to gather the ransom, while Caesar himself remained a captive of the pirates. However, while still at sea, Sicilian pirates captured his ship and demanded a ransom of twenty talents. After earning a reputation for bravery and the second-highest military decoration in Rome for his bravery at the Siege of Mytilene, Caesar was eager to next advance his political career. It was a skill he developed early in his life and demonstrated in a peculiar encounter. He Was Once Captured by Pirates Fresco depicting Caesar shown talking to his pirate captors, Corgna palace in Castiglione del Lago, Italy Though he insisted that he was not a king nor desirous of becoming one, the Roman politicians were understandably suspicious of his motives and intentions, and they formed a conspiracy to murder him on the Senate floor.Ģ. At the crossing, he uttered his famous line, “the die is cast.”Īfter a long and brutal civil war against his former friend and father-in-law, Pompey the Great, Caesar emerged victorious and returned to Rome in possession of almost unlimited power. Instead, he crossed the Rubicon with an active army, breaking the ancient laws of Rome. The Senate attempted to force him into a no-win situation. However, he provoked the hatred of many of the Roman Senators by his popularity with the people and the soldiers of Rome and his apparent willingness to use that to his advantage. He enjoyed a stellar career as a politician and general. Julius Caesar Once Marched Against Rome Statue of Julius Cæsar by French sculptor Nicolas Coustou and commissioned in 1696 for the Gardens of Versailles, Louvre Museumīorn in 100 BCE, Julius Caesar was fast-tracked into the Roman political scene by his strong family ties.

Young julius caesar