was julius ceasar really a dictator or a king "for" the people

[sepiasillouette]

please come back as soon as possible because if you have come here than u must ask questions

[Charles Darnay]

I believe he was truly "for" the people, more so than the senate at any rate.
He believed in the glory of Rome (the patricians and plebaens) unlike senate who believed in expanding their purses at the expense of the city.

[Union Jack]

I have never met him, so I honestly could not answer that question.

[Zippy]

Caesar was a dictator and was decreed 'dictator for life' by the Senate. This was a sort of emergency power given to someone in times of national emergency, as it has long been noted that a single person can make decisions much quicker than a committee or group can.

However, Caesar also courted the people. His books on the Gallic War and the Civil War can be seen as a propaganda exercise, designed to gain popular favour through his victories on behalf of Rome.

I think we have to be very careful about pigeon-holing Caesar and saying that he was a dictator (by the modern definition) on one hand and a man of the people on the other. He was both, and consciously so. He was first and foremost a politician and willingly assumed all the powers of a king without the trappings. He was conscious of the Roman people's hatred of monarchy and twice refused the crown. The emergency powers that he assumed as dictator were more than enough for him to control the entire state.

There are a few modern day politicians that are trying to assume the powers of a dictator through national emergencies. Maybe they should remember what happened to Julius!

[Boris239]

There is no doubt that Caesar was a patriot, loved Rome and its ideals. But at the same time he was extremely ambitious and power-hungry- of course, he wanted to become the Emperor and he built the foundation of the future empire used by Octavian August. His rejections of the crown, partly explained(as Zippy said) by his understand of Roman hatred of the whole concept of monarchy, were just a game- it reminds me of Richard III in Shakespeare's play.