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What made Julius Caesar a great general

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==Use of Artillery==
Artillery was a regular feature of the ancient battlefield. Artillery in In the ancient World world, artillery referred to large equipment weapons that could fire bolts, stones or projectiles. These were very effective, and they were routinely used in sieges by both the defenders and the attackers. They were mainly used for defensive purposes because they were bulky and not very mobile. Caesar in his campaigns in Gaul brought these weapons in his train, for sieges. These included the ballista which could fire massive bolts and catapultacatapults, that could hurl rocks a great distance. Caesar in Gaul began to use these not as defensive weapons but as offensive weapons. He was able to integrate these weapons into his offensive strategies and used employ them in conjunction with the legionnaires and cavalry. Caesar recognized that catapulta catapults and ballistas could break up the massed formations of the Gaul’s. This allowed the Roman general to attack much larger forces and defeat himthem. Caesar also used these heavy weapons very successfully in the invasion of Britain. He skillfully used the ballistas on his ships to break the British formations that were preventing him from landing on the shore of southern England. He was a pioneer in the offensive use of this weapons and employed them on the battlefield and not just in sieges<ref> Hans Delbrück, Warfare in Antiquity, trans. Walter J. Renfroe, Jr., History of the Art of War 1 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990), p. 541</ref>. The only other ancient general who deployed artillery in this way was Alexander the Great. Caesar’s use of artillery was imitated by generations of future Roman commanders. However, Caesar was also able to use artillery in a conventional way and he was a master of siege warfare. He stormed many Celtic hill forts in Gaul by using ballistas and catapultacatapults, such as at the siege of Siege of Uxellodunum, in Gaul <ref> Caesar, p. 221</ref>.
[[File: Julius Four.jpg|200px|thumb|left|A modern reconstruction of a ballista]]
 
==Daring/ speed==
Caesar was a risk taker and he would regularly devise strategies that were very risky and even reckless. However, his gambles were always calculated ones and he would take great care with his plans and his tactics and strategies were always well-thought out. Caesar believed that the best way to win was to launching daring and rapid attacks, in this way he was not a conventional commander <ref>Holland, Tom, Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic (London, Anchor Books, 2003), p. 213</ref>. At times his risk-taking resulted in problems. He was often reckless, and this meant that he often advanced further than his logistics could supply him. It was noted at the time that Caesar would often run out of food on his campaigns. For example, when he defeated the Helvetii his troops had run out of food and other supplies. However, the great gambler was ready to be reckless if he could achieve his twin goals of speed and surprise. It was often stated that Caesar was very fortunate, but his remarkable victories were usually a result of speed and tactical surprise. A good example of this was his victory at Thapsus in modern Tunisia where his speed enabled him to defeat a larger alliance of Optimates and allied tribes. Despite being a risk taker, Caesar was flexible and was a master of the strategic retreat. That is, he could disengage from a battle or situation and regroup and then fight when the circumstances were more advantageous.

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