The alignments could shift, especially due to frequent intra- and inter-tribal conflicts, into which Rome was inevitably drawn. Caesar, following previous Roman practice, used the political disunity of the Gauls as a way of inserting Roman power into Gallic politics.Some tribes were formal allies of the Romans, others were clients, and still others were autonomous or actively hostile. When Caesar famously begins his book by dividing Gaul into three parts, he is dividing what was left of traditionally Gallic territory not actually part of the by now well-established Roman Empire. Eventually, the lands on either side of the Alps, Cisalpine Gaul and Transalpine Gaul, became incorporated into Roman territories. After the victory over the Samnites, Rome turned its attention to the north, finally pushing the Gauls out of the Po Valley and then the rest of Italy. Before Rome could drive the Gauls from Italy, it had to develop a more effective military and deal with other strategic threats to the south, especially the Etruscans and the Samnite. For the early Romans, Gallic tribes living in northern Italy were a fact of life. The Gauls, or Celts, were a massive race that extended across Europe venturing at one point as far as Asia Minor. Roman-Gallic relations had been strained, to say the least, ever since the Gauls sacked Rome in 390 B.C. Caesar’s Commentarii de bello Gallico tells the story of how he used them. Such extensive political responsibilities came with the command initially of four legions, probably between 15,000 and 20,000 heavy infantry. After his consulship he was chosen to be governor of Cisalpine Gaul, Illyricum, and Transalpine Gaul. Caesar, like many Roman statesmen, used his military prowess and experience to his political advantage throughout his life, achieving the consulship in 59 BC. During Sulla’s ascendancy Caesar took the opportunity to gain military experience in Asia Minor, where he showed himself to be a conscientious officer. Supposedly descended from Aeneas and Venus, as well as nephew to Gaius Marius, he did not lack an illustrious family. He rose to power by keenness of intellect as well as a healthy dose of democratic sympathies that made him one of the most popular politicians in Rome. Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44 BC), perhaps the most famous Roman of them all, was born a patrician. He is so well regarded as a writer that for a time he was probably more known as a master of Latin prose, rather than the man who reshaped Western Civilization. Great generals and statesmen are not always eminent men of letters, but the founder of monarchical Rome was such a man.
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