60 BC – 50 BCs

Events in 60 BC – 50 BC 2

• 60 BC – 53 BC First Triumvirate — Caesar, Pompey, Crassus Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great and Marcus Licinius Crassus form an informal alliance in 60 BC to dominate Roman politics. Caesar gets the consulship and a command in Gaul; Pompey gets ratification of his eastern settlements and land for his veterans; Crassus gets tax-farming contracts in Asia. The alliance is renewed at the conference of Luca in 56 BC. It begins to disintegrate when Crassus dies at the Battle of Carrhae (53 BC) — defeated by the Parthians, his severed head used as a prop in a performance of Euripides.
• 58 BC – 50 BC Caesar's Gallic Wars Julius Caesar conquers Gaul (modern France, Belgium and parts of Germany and Switzerland) in a series of campaigns from 58 to 50 BC, recorded in his own Commentarii de Bello Gallico — still used to teach Latin. He bridges the Rhine twice, makes two expeditions to Britain, and suppresses the great revolt of Vercingetorix (52 BC), culminating in the siege of Alesia. The conquest kills perhaps one million Gauls and enslaves another million. Caesar enriches himself enormously and acquires an army of hardened veterans loyal to him personally.