- Caesar's wealth grows as one-third of the triumvirate, but his brutal tactics make enemies, forcing him to remake his image as a military conqueror.
- Caesar's wealth grows as one-third of the triumvirate, but his brutal tactics make enemies, forcing him to remake his image as a military conqueror.
Rome in 59 BC is 1 MM sq miles and an army of 150,000 men. But Caeser struggles to push through land allocations for Pompey's army and Tax cuts for Crassus through the senate, as everybody can see he is doing it for their individual gains. Caeser deploys street thugs to beat up Senators who oppose his plans. Tactics work and the legislation passes, but Caeser gains reputation as a dangerous politician, one who was willing to do anything to acquire power. Caeser becomes partner in Crassus's businesses and gets rich (increasing his net worth by over a 100 times).
Caeser buys a palace, throws lavish parties and begins an affair with a married aristocrat Servilia (Natalie Medlock). Brutus is Servilia's son, who had seen Caeser in bed with his mother, many times. As the senate turns against Caeser, Pompey and Crassus decide to replace Caeser as consul. Pompey offers Caeser a governorship as consolation. Servilia explains to Caeser that there are riches to be made in the provinces and convinces him to take the offer. Caeser chooses a province, close to the Northern border, next to a territory of Gaul (200,000 sq miles, spanning Mordern day France and Belgium), that Romans had been trying to conquer for centuries. To keep them from invading, there are 4 Roman Legions at the Northern borders. Romans feared Gauls as they had sacked Rome just after the founding of the Republic.
To conquer Gaul would make Caeser an undisputed hero. But this conquest of Gaul is not approved by the Senate, so Caeser risks charges of treason if he fails. in 58 BC Caeser invades Gaul with 20,000 men. Caeser picks of Gallic tribes one by one, before they can unite. He makes quick inroads into Gaul. By 56 BC he has conquered most of present day France. Caeser sends reports of his conquests to Rome. This establishes him as a hero and attracts more soldiers to his army. One new joiner is a cavalry office Mark Antony (Tim Carlsen). After Gaul, Caeser attacks Germania and Britania. To counter Caeser, Crassus sets off the conquer the kingdom of Parthia. In a Gallic ambush, Mark Antony saves Caeser from certain death. Caeser loses 700 men at the hands of a ruthless General Vercingetorix. Vercingetorix unified the remaining Gallic tribes into a formidable army. To slow down Caeser, he launches a Scorched earth campaign, destroying valuable resources that Caeser was using to sustain his army.
Gauls gather all the rations and retreat to the town of Alesia. Mark Antony wants to retreat, but Caeser wants to keep moving forward with less rations for his men. Caeser then orders his men to build a massive wall surrounding Alesia, trapping Vercingetorix and his army. Meanwhile Crassus loses 20,000 men in Parthia. He is captured, tortured and killed. Pompey gets elected as Consul of Rome. Caeser knows his future depends on the outcome in Gaul. He learns that 250,000 Gauls are heading for Alesia. So, Caeser creates another outer wall to protect themselves from the Gallic army. Roman army was between the outer wall and the inner wall. As the reinforcement reach Alesia, the attacks begins from both sides. Vercingetorix attacks from the inside wall, while his reinforcements attack from the outside wall.
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