The principle that “life is one damned thing after another” seems on the evidence of quotation-hunters only to have been discovered in 1909, but should have been self-evident. To mitigate damnation, here is an outline of principal events relevant to Caesar’s book.
146 BCE | Destruction of Carthage by Scipio the Elder and the end of serious rivalry to Rome in the western Mediterranean. |
133 and 121 BCE | Assassination of Tiberius (133) and Gaius (121) Gracchus, senators who as tribunes advanced land-reform policies that infuriated the entrenched aristocracy. |
107, 104, 103, 102, 101, 100, and 86 BCE | Consulates (the last terminated by death after only two weeks) of Gaius Marius, the first generalissimo— army reformer, successful commander, and effectively military dictator, with achievements surpassing all earlier leaders. |
88, 82/81, and 80 BCE | Years of consulships (88 and 80) and dictatorship (82/81) of Lucius Sulla, who began as an officer of Marius and ended as his rival. His retirement at the end of 80 allowed restoration of a version of normal constitutional government. |
70, 55, and 52 BCE | Consulships of Pompey, the first when he was years younger than the normal age for holding that rank. He rose to notice under Sulla, and his victories over Sertorius’ rebels in Spain (76– 71),the rebel slave Spartacus (71), and king Mithri-dates of Pontus (61) garnered him an unprecedented three triumphs. It was Sulla who nicknamed him “the Great,” a moniker he proceeded to earn. |
63 BCE | The Catilinarian conspiracy crushed and its leaders executed by the consul Cicero. |
59 BCE | Caesar’s consulship. |
58ff: | Caesar in Gaul. |
58 BCE | Campaigns against the Helvetians and Germans led by Ariovistus; Cicero sent into exile. |
57 BCE | Campaigns against the Nervii, while one of his generals is active in Britany and Normandy. |
56 BCE | Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus meet at Lucca to collaborate on dominating the Roman world, creating the “first triumvirate”; relatively minor campaigns in northern Gaul. |
55 BCE | Campaign against the Usipetes and Tencteri invading from across the Rhine; shows of force for Caesar across the Rhine and across the English Channel. |
54 BCE | Caesar’s second visit to Britain, then disaster when a legion and a half are destroyed in winter quarters. |
53 BCE | Restoring order, recruiting additional troops. |
52 BCE | Great Gallic revolt, nominally under Vercingetorix; battles of Avaricum, Gergovia, Alesia. Final score: Caesar 2, Vercingetorix 1. |
51 BCE | Mainly quiet in Gaul, Caesar’s attention diverted to Rome and the prospects for his return to another consular campaign. |
50 BCE | Caesar’s last year in Gaul, mainly quiet. |
49 BCE | Caesar returns from Gaul; Pompey and his allies flee to Greece; civil war begins. |
48 BCE | Battle of Pharsalus (August 9), death of Pompey (September 28) in Egypt. |
46 BCE | Caesar’s triumph at Rome for all his conquests. |
44 BCE | Caesar murdered at the foot of Pompey’s statue on the Ides of March |
43 BCE | “Second triumvirate” arranged by Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus (November); proscriptions of their enemies, with the murder of Cicero (December). |
31 BCE | Battle of Actium eliminates Antony and secures the regime of Octavian; he takes the name Augustus in 27 BCE, dies in 14 CE. |