Julius Caesar stands as one of the most famous figures in human history. While most people know him for his assassination on the Ides of March, his life was full of bizarre adventures and scandals that history books often skip. For instance, he once forced pirates to increase the ransom they demanded for his life. Furthermore, he rode a horse that had toes instead of hooves. Prepare to cross the Rubicon with the man who ended the Roman Republic.
Gaius Julius Caesar
Pirates kidnapped him when he was a young man. When the Cilician pirates demanded twenty talents of silver for his release, Caesar laughed in their faces. He insisted they ask for fifty talents because he was worth far more. Consequently, he treated them like his servants while he waited for the money to arrive.
He was incredibly self-conscious about his baldness. Although we often see him with a laurel wreath in statues, he did not wear it just for fashion. The Senate granted him the right to wear the wreath at all times, which he used to comb his thinning hair forward to hide his receding hairline.
Soldiers mocked him as the “Queen of Bithynia.” Rumors swirled that Caesar had a romantic affair with King Nicomedes IV of Bithynia during a diplomatic mission. Therefore, his own soldiers sang a song during his triumph that went, “Caesar conquered Gaul, but Nicomedes conquered Caesar.”
He invented the leap year to fix the broken calendar. Before his rule, the Roman calendar was a mess that relied on the moon. He introduced the Julian calendar, which added a day to February every four years to keep the seasons aligned with the sun.
He rode a horse that had human-like toes. Ancient historians claim his favorite horse had feet that looked like human toes rather than normal hooves. Soothsayers predicted that the rider of this unique beast would rule the world, so Caesar refused to let anyone else ride it.
He was not born via a Caesarean section. A common myth suggests the surgery is named after him, but this is likely false because his mother Aurelia lived for many years after his birth. In Roman times, the procedure was only performed on dying mothers, so he likely got his name from an ancestor.
He suffered from the “falling sickness.” Historians believe he had epilepsy or perhaps mini-strokes that caused seizures. On several occasions, he collapsed during public events, yet he managed to project an image of strength despite his condition.
His last words were likely not “Et tu, Brute?” William Shakespeare invented the famous Latin phrase for his play. If Caesar said anything at all, ancient sources suggest he spoke in Greek to Brutus, saying “Kai su, teknon,” which translates to “You too, child?”
He wrote a book on grammar while crossing the Alps. Caesar was not just a soldier; he was a scholar who obsessed over language. He wrote a treatise called De Analogia about the proper use of Latin words while he was leading his armies through the mountains.
He divorced his wife because she was involved in a scandal. A man dressed as a woman sneaked into a female-only religious festival hosted by Caesar’s wife, Pompeia. Although she was likely innocent, Caesar divorced her anyway, stating that “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion.”
He was in massive debt before he conquered Gaul. As a young politician, he spent lavishly to win the favor of the people. Consequently, he owed so much money that he needed his wealthy friend Crassus to pay off his creditors before he could even leave Rome to govern Spain.
He doubled the pay of the entire Roman army. To ensure the absolute loyalty of his troops, he raised their annual salary from 225 to 450 denarii. As a result, his soldiers became more loyal to him personally than they were to the Roman state.
Augustus banned Caesar’s poetry after his death. In his youth, Caesar wrote several poems that apparently lacked literary quality. His successor Augustus was so embarrassed by them that he forbade librarians from preserving or publishing them.
He left his personal gardens to the public in his will. After his assassination, Mark Antony read Caesar’s will to the angry crowd. The dictator donated his massive private gardens to the citizens of Rome and gave a gift of money to every single man in the city.
Finally, a comet appeared during his funeral games. Shortly after his death, a massive comet streaked across the sky for seven days. The common people interpreted this as a sign that Caesar’s soul had ascended to the heavens to become a god.
