You might remember that during the Punic Wars, they were able to take over Carthage's possessions in Africa and in Spain. At the end of the third Punic War, they were also, and this wasn't part of the Punic War, but they were separately in 146 BCE, were also able to take over Greece. So any state that has conquered these people that have different languages, cultures, and they don't have the same rights as the citizens of that state, well, this is, by most definitions, what would constitute an empire. But during Julius Caesar's birth and during his life, Rome was still officially a republic, and that's referring more to its form of government. You had a very powerful Senate, you had these consuls who were elected for these one-year terms, and there were all of these checks and balances. As we'll see, his life, especially the end of his life, marks the transition to an empire in which there is a Roman emperor who holds most of the power. But let's go into the story, and there's going to be a significant cast of characters here that I'm going to go into.