Julius Caesar Quiz for Experts | Roman History

Answer: a priest

He became Flamen Dialis, the high priest of Jupiter, around the age of 16, with the help of his father-in-law, Cinna. In this function, he could not ride a horse, handle metal objects, or view a dead body. This would have made a military career impossible, but he was stripped of his title when Sulla began another dictatorship.

Answer: 23 times

On the Ides of March, March 15th, 44 BC, senators conspiring against Caesar who were led by Brutus and Cassius, stabbed him on the senate floor. The senate floor happened to be Pompey's Theatre at the time, because the senate building was under reconstruction. According to Suetonius, only one stab to his chest was fatal.

Answer: Leap months were needed and incorrectly applied, so moments like the equinox had no specific date.

There had been many issues with the Roman calendar, which counted only 355 days. Priests were in charge to regularly add leap months, but failed to do so in a scientific way. While Julius Caesar was in Egypt, he learned of their solar calendar, which had 365 days. Back in Rome, he put a team of mathematicians and philosophers to work to reform the Roman calendar. They came up with a year which had 365 days, and added a leap day every 4 years. This was based on the calculations of Eudoxus, who had calculated the solar year as 365.25 days.

Answer: Brutus was Caesar's ex-girlfriend's son.

According to some historians, Servilia was the love of Caesar's life. It is generally believed, however, that their relationship started when Brutus was already a teenager. Caesar had been some kind of mentor to Brutus, but they were far from best friends. Three years before the assassination, Caesar and Brutus were on opposing sides on the battlefield, at the Battle of Pharsalos, where Caesar defeated Pompey.

Answer: He shed tears for such an disgraceful end for his former friend, and executed the people involved in his murder.

According to Livius and Plutarch, it was the Egyptian king's tutor, Theodotus, who offered Pompey's head to Caesar. It is debated whether Caesar's tears were genuine, but he didn't take the offering as a sign of support, and ultimately sided against the Egyptian king Ptolemy, with Ptolemy's sister and co-ruler Cleopatra.

Answer: two years after his death

Julius Caesar, as the first historical Roman, was deified by the Senate on January 1, 42 BC. The deity was given the name Divus Iulius, or "divine Julius".
His successor, Augustus, took on the name of Divi Filius, or Son of the Divine.

Answer: He was popular with the people.

It is unclear what Caesar's job was at the time the alliance was made. According to one source, it started when he was already consul, having the highest political office in Rome. According to other sources, the alliance was made before he was elected consul. Julius Caesar was through his uncle connected to the Populares faction, which had been demanding social reforms for decades.

He also enjoyed spending money on games and festivities for the people, working himself into a massive debt. He didn't have a name as a general like Pompey The Great, the most famous general of the time.

Answer: It was a theater for the people.

When accused of striving for the highest function, a rex (king), it would be a good move to refuse it when offered. The idea of having another king was a very sensitive topic in Rome; they had overthrown their last king almost 500 years before Caesar, and it was still a topic that most people were unwilling to reconsider.

Answer: He inherited it from his father.

The name Caesar probably comes from the Latin verb "caedare", "to cut". The term "cesarean section" may have come from him, but it was not why he got the name. It was in fact quite simple: he inherited his name from his father, Gaius Julius Caesar, who inherited it from his father.

The Historia Augusta, believed to have been written prior to 485 AD, gave three other reasons why the original ancestor of Caesar got nicknamed Caesar: because he had a lot of hair ('caesaries'), because he had grey eyes ('caesiis') or that he killed an elephant during battle ('caesai' in Moorish).

Answer: They started to revolt against the conspirators, trying to set their houses on fire.

In his will, Caesar left a large sum of money to the common people. According to Suetonius, after the will was read at his funeral, the people were enraged about the killing of the dictator and started to pursue his assassins, who had to flee the city.

Eventually, after quite some words and fighting, the Second Triumvirate was formed which consisted of Octavian, Marc Antony and Lepidus. They defeated the armies of the conspirators (Brutus, Cassius, and others) at the Battle of Philippi. When the armies of the republic were defeated, one of the men of the Second Triumvirate would emerge as Rome's first Emperor, the first, the princeps, the Augustus.