Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/318

 266 Outlines of European History Rise of Julius Caesar Caesar con- quers Gaul (58-50 B.C.) from seizure, and Rome, as he claimed, from fire and sword, at the hands of the notorious Catiline and his associates. But the aims of such lawless leaders as Catiline may perhaps have been more laudable service on behalf of the people than the famous speeches of Cicero would lead us to believe. Thus military leadership became the controlling power in the Roman world, and it was evident to the practical statesman that the old machinery of the •Republic could never again re- store order and stable govern- ment in Italy. The situation absolutely demanded an able and patriotic militaiy com- mander with an army behind him, who should make him- self undisputed and permanent master of Italy. Convinced of this, the young patricia n poli- ti cian Tulius Caesar (Tig. 110), steadily aiming to gather the reins of power in his own hands, adopted the cause of the people against the Senate. Rising through the consulship, he secured appointment as governor of Gaul, the ancient region corresponding to mod- FiG. "iio. Bust said to be a Portrait of Julius C^sar The ancient portraits commonly accepted as those of Julius Caesar are really of uncertain identity ern France (58 b.c). This gave him the desired military op- portunity. He organized a powerful army, and in the use of it he displayed a military skill which placed him among the world's greatest masters of the art of war. In eight years of march and battle he subdued the Gauls and conquered their territory from the ocean and the English Channel eastward to the Rhine. He even crossed the Channel and landed in Britain. He added a vast dominion to the