Julius Caesar grew up in Rome at a time when it was a republic, run by senators rather than kings. He climbed the political ladder fast, then spent nine years conquering most of what we now call France, Belgium, and parts of Germany - a region the Romans called Gaul.
In 49 BCE he marched his army across a small river called the Rubicon and into Italy itself - basically declaring war on the Roman Senate. He won the civil war that followed and made himself dictator. He reformed the calendar (the “Julian calendar” gave us a 365-day year with leap years), reorganized Roman government, and renamed a month after himself: July.
But many senators feared Caesar wanted to be a king. On 15 March 44 BCE - the famous “Ides of March” - a group of them surrounded him in the Senate and stabbed him 23 times. Caesar’s death didn’t save the republic, though. His grand-nephew Augustus took over and became Rome’s first emperor.
