1. Julius Caesar leader or tyrant?<br />Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman.. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. I believe Julius Caesar was a great leader and hero to his people. The problem was that he was TOO much of a hero to the people. The senate at the time had him killed because they thought he might become a king. Their fears were not unfounded for JC has the best example history has to offer of a benevolent dictator. Julius Caesar recognized two facts about the Romans:1. That as Rome grew in size, it had a greater need for strong central government.2. That the republic was most beneficial to the extremely wealthy and that the Senate was ineffective because of bureaucracy and corruption.While overthrowing the incumbent government and declaring oneself quot;
lifetime rulerquot;
isn't something we generally approve of in democratic modern societies, a strong leader was called for at the time. It's unlikely that Rome would have risen to prominence without him. Since three of the five emperors after him (Caligula, Claudius and Nero) were weak rulers but the Empire survived, he must have done something right. There’s also the fact that people doubting JC’s leadership must realise We cannot judge someone who lived 2000 years ago using our standards. If someone ruled today like Ceaser ruled back then, he would certainly be a tyrant. But in Caesers time glory was a synonim of conquest and military victory, and Caeser brought glory to Rome. Therefore, its not wrong to say he was a hero(to Rome of course, the gauls and britons would think differently). Theres also another fact that is possibly most important of all which symbolises how great this man was. He lived in a time of chaos when the Roman Republic was crumbling, and helped to stabilize it (for a short time) and set the stage for the glorious Roman Empire. He was also quite merciful by Roman standards. He refused to kill many of his personal enemies, and instead pardoned them (a move that probably ended up costing him his life).And he was a generous man of the people. He always kept commoners in mind when he made governmental decisions, and the commoners loved him while the elites hated him. When he died, he left every Roman citizen 300 sesterces (the equivalent of several thousand dollars).<br />So yes in my eyes JC was an amazing leader who helped the roman empire greatly in its time of chaos, although times change and some of the stuff he did would today be seen as barbaric, it must be remembered that this was a very very long time ago, when people didn’t have the luxuries we have today.<br />