conquest was, in fact, the greatest achievement of Cæsar’s genius. [Illustration: From History of Rome, by G. W. Botsford, The Macmillan Co., Publishers WARFARE IN CÆSAR’S TIME] [Illustration: ROMAN LEGIONARY SOLDIER From Duruy’s “History of Rome”] [Illustration: GALLIC SOLDIER] No sooner had he finished this work than he came to blows with the Senate, which feared his towering ambition. A civil war ensued (49-45 B. C.) The champion of the Senate was Pompey, who also had met with great success in war. Though in appearance the struggle was between Cæsar and the Republic, its real object was to determine which of the two leading generals should be master of the Roman world. Pompey was defeated and killed; and in the end Cæsar subdued the whole empire to his will. He ruled as Dictator, appointed to that office by the submissive Senate. _His Reforms as Dictator_ [Illustration: ROMAN WORKS OF APPROACH Showing parts of a Gallic wall in which stones are intermixed with beams] During the civil war and the year following its close Cæsar gave attention to internal reforms. Humanely and prudently he forgave political offenders, and associated with himself in the government many who had fought against him in the war. He sought to reconcile old hatreds and to introduce an era of good feeling. There can be no doubt of his sympathy with the subject peoples. Those in authority in the provinces were no longer to enrich themselves and their friends by oppression, but were held strictly accountable to the Dictator. Roman citizenship was a highly-prized possession, as it meant justice and an enviable social standing to the possessor. Cæsar granted it freely to individuals and to entire communities. Obviously, his aim was the rapid equalization of all freemen of the empire.