Gaius Julius Caesar most commonly known as
Gaius Caesar or
Caius Caesar, was the oldest son of
Marcus Vipsanius AgrippaMarcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and defense minister to Octavian, the future Emperor Caesar Augustus...
and
Julia the ElderJulia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only biological child of Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire. Augustus subsequently adopted several male members of his close family as sons...
. He was born between 14 August and 13 September 20 BC or according to other sources in 23 September 20 BC with the name
Gaius Vipsanius Agrippa, but when he was adopted by his maternal grandfather
Roman EmperorThe Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
AugustusAugustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
, his name was changed to
Gaius Julius Caesar.
Early life
Gaius was adopted along with his brother
Lucius CaesarLucius Julius Caesar , most commonly known as Lucius Caesar, was the second son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. He was born between 14 of June and 15 July 17 BC with the name Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa, but when he was adopted by his maternal grandfather Roman Emperor Caesar...
in 17 BC by their maternal grandfather, the
Roman EmperorThe Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
AugustusAugustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
, who named the two boys his heirs. In 6 BC the Roman plebs agitated for Gaius to be created consul, despite the fact that he was only 14 and had not yet assumed the toga virilis. As a compromise, it was agreed that he should have the right to sit in the Senate House, and he was made consul designatus with the intention that he should assume the consulship in his twentieth year. Gaius was at this point created "Prince of Youth" ("princeps iuventutis"), an honorific that made him one of the symbolic heads of the equestrian order. Lucius, three years his junior, was granted the same honours after the appropriate interval had elapsed. Temples and statues were erected in their honour (as in the case of the
Maison CarréeThe Maison Carrée is an ancient building in Nîmes, southern France; it is one of the best preserved temples to be found anywhere in the territory of the former Roman Empire.- History :...
in
NîmesNîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
). In 1 BC he was made army commander in the East and made a
peace treatyA peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a state of war between the parties...
with
Phraates VPhraates V of Persia, known by the diminutive Phraataces , ruled the Iranian Parthian Empire from 2 BC to AD 4. He was the younger son of Phraates IV of Parthia and the Musa of Parthia", with whom he is associated on his coins. Under Phraates V a war threatened to break out with Rome about the...
on an island in the river
EuphratesThe Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
. In 1 AD, he was made
ConsulA consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
with Lucius Aemilius Paullus as his colleague.
In 1 BC, he married his relative,
Livilla Livia Julia was the only daughter of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor and sister of the Roman Emperor Claudius and Germanicus...
, daughter of
Drusus the ElderNero Claudius Drusus Germanicus , born Decimus Claudius Drusus also called Drusus, Drusus I, Nero Drusus, or Drusus the Elder was a Roman politician and military commander. He was a fully patrician Claudian on his father's side but his maternal grandmother was from a plebeian family...
and
Antonia MinorAntonia Minor , also known as Antonia the Younger or simply Antonia was the younger of two daughters of Roman politician Mark Antony and Octavia Minor. Tacitus Ann. 4.44.2 and 12.54.2 may have confused the two Antonia sisters...
. This union had no issue.
Lucius died at
LimyraLimyra was a small city in Lycia on the southern coast of Asia Minor, on the Limyrus River, and twenty stadia from the mouth of that river.It is mentioned by Strabo , Ptolemy and several Latin authors...
in
LyciaLycia Lycian: Trm̃mis; ) was a region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a province of the Roman Empire...
on the 21 or 22 February AD 2 and his
cenotaphA cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...
is situated there. Gaius died two years later in
LyciaLycia Lycian: Trm̃mis; ) was a region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a province of the Roman Empire...
at the age of 24, after being wounded during a campaign in Artagira,
ArmeniaArmenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
.
The death of both Gaius and Lucius, the Emperor's two most favored heirs, compelled Augustus to adopt his stepson,
TiberiusTiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
, and his sole remaining grandson, Postumus Agrippa as his new respective heirs.
Ancestry