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. So by 60 BCE, Julius Caesar is roughly 40 years old, and he's already a significant figure in the republic. He is born to a patrician family, he rises up through the ranks, he's a charismatic figure. And in 60, he forms a triumvirate with two other powerful figures in Rome.