Born to a family of modest political standing despite ancient patrician blood, the young Caesar showed early ambition, once reportedly telling his mother he would either be first in Rome or nothing at all. His later conquests, populist reforms, and eventual assassination would make him one of history's most consequential and mythologized figures.
Ancient sources disagree on the exact year of Caesar's birth, but July 12 is the traditionally cited date, later commemorated by the month named in his honor. He was born into the gens Julia, a family that claimed descent from the goddess Venus through Aeneas, yet by the time of his birth the family had fallen on relatively hard political times.
Caesar's rise was neither swift nor guaranteed. He survived proscriptions under Sulla, accumulated staggering debts financing his political career, and was nearly 40 before he held real military command. Only after conquering Gaul and crossing the Rubicon did he become the figure whose name would become synonymous with imperial power itself — Kaiser, Tsar, and Caesar all descend linguistically from this one Roman general.
His birth month, Quintilis, was renamed Julius (July) in his honor after his death, meaning the very date we now use to mark his birthday exists because of him.
Key people: Julius Caesar