He was the greatest of all the Romans.
Why was he so great?
He was a brave warrior, and had con-quered many countries for Rome. He
was wise in planning and in doing. He knew how to make men both love
and fear him.
At last he made himself the ruler of Rome. Some said that he wished to
become its king. But the Romans at that time did not believe in kings.
Once when Cae-sar was passing through a little country village, all the
men, women, and children of the place came out to see him. There were
not more than fifty of them, all together, and they were led by their
may-or, who told each one what to do.
These simple people stood by the roadside and watched Caesar pass. The
may-or looked very proud and happy; for was he not the ruler of this
village? He felt that he was almost as great a man as Caesar himself.
Some of the fine of-fi-cers who were with Caesar laughed. They said,
"See how that fellow struts at the head of his little flock!"
"Laugh as you will," said Caesar, "he has reason to be proud. I would
rather be the head man of a village than the second man in Rome!"
At an-oth-er time, Caesar was crossing a narrow sea in a boat. Before
he was halfway to the farther shore, a storm overtook him.
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