Born Into Chaos

Julius Caesar was born in 100 BC into a Rome at war with itself. Rigged elections, bribed juries, and street gangs that killed political rivals were normal. Then the general Sulla seized power and posted proscription lists in the Forum — public kill lists naming the men he wanted dead. Anyone could collect a bounty for murdering a name on the list.

The teenage Caesar landed on one of those lists. He went into hiding, reportedly changing safe houses every single night to stay a step ahead of Sulla's killers. When allies begged Sulla to spare the boy, the dictator gave in but warned them they were fools: in this one young man, he said, he saw many a Marius — another rabble-rousing rival who could one day tear Rome apart.