Born 100 BC, into an established patrician family, Caesar was a Roman politician, senator, general (Imperator), Triumvir and Dictator. He was an accomplished writer. We know much about the Gallic conquest because his books (I-VIII) on the subject, Commentarii de Bello Gallico, have come down to us intact. He was a member of the Populares party, a faction in the Senate that favored land and debt reform and, as its name suggests, a policy that favored the interests of the common Roman citizen. After concluding the Gallic War, he tried to stand for Consul in order to maintain immunity from prosecution by his political enemies. The Senate did not comply, so Caesar crossed the Rubicon River into Italy proper with his XIIIth Legion. This began the great civil war against the conservative forces of the Senate, the Optimates, led by his fellow Triumvir, Pompey. He won that conflict, settled matters in the Near East and in Egypt. He defeated the opposition in North Africa and proceeded to make political reforms in the capital. He was declared Dictator for Life, which led to his assassination in March of 44 BC. Although it had been coming for quite some time, Caesar acted as a catalyst for the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Principate form of government. Caesar was a genius, who saw the world in broad terms and understood that the Republican machinery of state no longer functioned effectively in administering the Roman Empire.