Julius Caesar: Military and Political StrengthPerhaps no other man in the history of the world symbolizes military and political strength as much as Gaius Julius Caesar. This man became a legend for his military exploits and an almost global setting, his political manipulations that spanned decades of cycles that covered power and loss of power, and his personal life that was portrayed in the most melodramatic and theatrical. It is Caesar whose life, betrayal and death have been immortalized in history and literature. Caesar, which is the focal point of Shakespeare's most famous historical work, the Life of Julius Caesar, fits into an obvious organizational pattern. His early life was spent in the formative period for his rise to political power; his middle age was devoted to obtaining and consolidating power, and his death was the final contribution to the study of power and its effect on mankind. The Early Life of Julius Caesar is a classic study of the history of power and wealth in early Rome. Caesar was born on July 12, 100 BC. His father belonged to the prestigious Julian clan. His marital uncle was Gaius Marius, leader of the Populares who supported land reform and opposed the reactionary Optimates. Marius caused Julius Caesar to be appointed flamen dialis, which is an archaic priesthood without power. Caesar's marriage in 84 BC to Cornelia, the daughter of Marius' associate, was a political marriage. When Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Marius' enemy and leader of the Optimates, was appointed dictator in 82 BC, he published a list of enemies to be executed. Caesar was not harmed but Sulla ordered him to divorce Cornelia. Caesar refused that order and left Rome and did not return until Sulla's resignation in 78 BC. At the age of 22 Caesar failed to obtain office and went to Rhodes where he studied rhetoric. In 73 BC he returned to Rome as a very persuasive orator. The year before, while he was still absent, an important college of Roman priests had been elected pontificate. Julius Caesar's middle life was full of wars, political intrigue, and changes in fortunes. Caesar's first and one of his greatest political moves was when he helped Pompey take office. In 69 BC Caesar was elected quaestor and in 65 BC curule aedecutor, gaining great popularity for his sumptuous gladiatorial games. When Caesar returned to Rome in 60 BC, after a year as governor of Spain, he