Gaius Julius Caesar was a brilliant and ambitious Roman military and political leader who saw his popularity expressed in a few Hollywood movies. He played a major role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire and marked Roman and universal history. He increased Roman territory by conquering Gaul -later France- and used his army to gain power. He was named dictator in perpetuity only to be assassinated shorly after by a conspiracy of senators, including is nephew Brutus, on the Ides of March 44 BC. His assassination precipitated the end of the Roman Republic, which was followed by 5 civil wars that finally ended in the Roman Empire.