5/7/2023 0 Comments Gaius julius caesarThis was a way of claiming Marius' inheritance. (A quaestor was a magistrate with financial tasks in a province.) Before his departure, Marius' widow Julia died, and Caesar held a funeral speech in which he praised his aunt and her family. In 68, he was quaestor and served in Baetica, a province in Hispania which is roughly equivalent to modern Andalusia. A career as a general and a politician had started. Being a war hero by now, Caesar returned to Rome in 73. On his own initiative and expenses, Caesar raised a small army and defended some towns, giving the official Roman commander Lucius Licinius Lucullus (117-56 BCE) time to organize an army and attack the enemy's homeland. They were interrupted, however, when Mithridates of Pontus attacked Asia Minor a second time (74). After this incident, he continued his studies ( text). After the ransom was paid, Caesar manned some ships, defeated the bandits and had them crucified. Caesar demanded this prize to doubled (after all, he was an aristocrat) and promised to punish his captors. In 75, he went to Rhodes for further education, and was again captured by pirates, who asked the usual tariff. This was a normal thing to do, and Caesar stayed far from politics. When Sulla died in the first weeks of 78, Caesar felt save to return to Italy, where he picked up a career as a criminal lawyer. All his courage, however, did not help him when - on his way back home - he was captured by Cilician pirates and forced to pay the usual ransom, 25 talents (c.500 kg) of silver. There is more certainty about another event: during the siege of Miletus, Caesar gained a decoration for bravery ( corona civica). Caesar was sent on a diplomatic mission to king Nicomedes IV Philopator of Bithynia (ruled 94-74) and was rumored to have had a love affair with this ruler. Between 81 and 79, Caesar served in Asia Minor on the personal staff of Marcus Minucius Thermus, who was praetor.
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