Was Julius Caesar A Tyrant?

“Et tu, Brute?”, the final words spoken by the infamous tyrant of Rome, Julius Caesar.

Julius Caesar was the dictator of Rome for ‘x time.’ In his short reign, Caesar went from beloved leader to betrayed tyrant. A tyrant is “an absolute ruler unrestrained by law or constitution” (Merriam webster School Dictionary). Julius Caesar epitomizes the characteristics of a tyrant because he was deceitful, ambitious, and oppressive.

One major reason Caesar was a tyrant is because he was tremendously deceitful. It started out when he was elected high priest “allegedly by heavy bribes” (McGill). This shows us that whe would do anything to gain power. Caesar was also in great debt from taking loans to fun and win-over the audience by using gladiator fights. These beloved fights made the people of Rome love caesar. Another prime example of he deceitfulness is when the “senate supported Pompey” and Caesar attacked Pompey and chased and killed him in Egypt (McGill). Caesar was willing to steal, kill, and bribe to rule. Caesar deceived many people including the Roman public, political figures, and would stop at nothing to gain power.

Caesar was also a very ambitious person.

Ambition is “a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work” (New Oxford American Dictionary). In today’s world ambition is an excellent trait, but during Caesar’s time ambition could be dangerous to that person and the people. Caesar set outlandish goals and had a strong desire to rule. This endangered the people of Rome with a great amount of wars and his willingness to do whatever it may take to rule over Rome. Several people such as Cassius and Brutus realized the danger of his ambition so “[They] slew him” (The Tragedy of Julius

Caesar).
On top of his ambitious and deceitful personality he was also an oppressive ruler. Oppressive is defined as “keep (someone) in subservience and hardship, esp. by the unjust exercise of authority” (New Oxford American Dictionary). When Caesar and Pompey were in rule the council favored Pompey. This made Caesar furious and with his army that had already taken over many territories Caesar then marched his army to forcefully take rule of Rome. Pompey’s army was no match for Caesar and he was chased and killed in Egypt. He also marched on friendly territory to show his dominance. “He [expanded the] kingdom, and [launched] a bloody civil war” (Julius Caesar: The Roman Empire). Although smart and strong with his army it was only a matter of time before Caesar overestimated the power of Rome.