Every calendar you’ve ever used owes something to Julius Caesar

After defeating his rivals in Rome’s civil war, Julius Caesar became the Republic’s most powerful leader. As dictator, he introduced a series of reforms that modernised the Roman state: reorganising the administration, tackling corruption, reforming taxation, expanding citizenship, and settling military veterans on land.

Among those reforms was the Julian Calendar, which later became the basis of the modern Gregorian calendar used across most of the world today. It is one of the most enduring legacies of a man remembered chiefly for the phrase ‘Veni, Vidi, Vici’ — ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’ — which he wrote in 47 BC after defeating Pharnaces II, King of Pontus, at the Battle of Zela.

Caesar’s rise to that power was neither quick nor guaranteed. Born in 100 BC into the noble but not especially powerful Julian family, he rose through Roman public life through determination, political skill and military talent, most notably during the Gallic Wars of 58 to 50 BC, which brought much of modern-day France, Belgium and parts of Switzerland under Roman control.

Yet with immense power came growing opposition, and Caesar was assassinated on 15 March 44 BC — the Ides of March — by a group of senators who feared he intended to crown himself king.

Image: Wikimedia Commons/by Wilfredor