re: Why is Julius Caesar looked upon so fondly by history?

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The titles that are a derivation of Caesar are likely less connected to Julius Caesar than to Caesar Augustus.

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Didn't realize this. But didn't Augustus derive his title from Caesar. So it's still a bit of a derivative of a derivative.

Augustus was the adopted son of Caesar. He was the one who basically created a hereditary line of rulers, and it was based on the adoption of the Caesar name. He also took steps to have Caesar deified so that he was known as the son of a God. Future rulers took the name of Caesar as a source of divine approval of their regime.

Projecting opinion as absolute fact, and laughing off all dissenters, is pretty douchey behavior imo.

Battle of Alesia. Read about it if you haven't heard of it.

I am the walrus

He was an excellent military leader

Scumbag is probably too harsh and non-descriptive. However, you do well to remind us all that, Ceaser, despite being the most famous Roman and arguably the most famous person in history, committed many deeds that were destructive, evil, selfish and wrong.

He's not really deserving of any admiration or acclaim. In the play written by Billy Shakes, perhaps Brutus hit the nail on the head when he said, " I come not to praise Ceasar, but to bury him."

I know the period pretty well and I see Caesar in a sympathetic light. You have to consider the period that Rome was in. Hyper-politicization had been building up for decades before Caesar was even born. Political rebellions were tearing the republic apart and popular politics was becoming the prime motive of law making. The Grachii, Saturnius, Marius and Sulla, the Social Wars were all devastating to the Republic. When Caesar began his career, the Republican system of Rome had fallen to simply one of the most corrupt and partisan governments we couldn't even imagine. The contemporaries viewed Caesar in a similar vain, as a populist who would destroy the traditions of Rome. He got no slack from the get-go. He tried to find means to keep the war from breaking out. When he had no option left, he went to war, but he showed clemency when he could. I do think he wanted to reform the political system when he returned to Rome, but I don't believe he had a chance to carry it out before he was killed.

How he treated the Gauls and Germans is typical for his time. He was not as bad in that regard as some. Mithridates ordered 80,000 Romans murdered on the same day in Anatolia.

Bribing for votes: yes, but also an every day occurrence for the time by every politician.

fricking other men's wives: He was a politician. Simple as that. I have no problem with that.

Also, to the Romans, Augustus was a much, much more popular figure than Caesar. The title of Caesar was always subordinate to that of Augustus. The Russians got the title Caesar from the Byzantines. What I think happened is they wanted to appear subordinate to the Byzantines so they choose Tsar. No real facts from that, but Russia was supposed to be the 3rd iteration of Roman authority.

Et tu, Tiger1242?