This man in the picture is Julius Caesar, although today his name is mentioned in many websites and books, in ancient Rome, he was merely known as a general.
Then in 49 B.C.E. , he and another general, called Pompey, were competing for the position of the leader of Rome.
Eventually, the conflict between the two generals broke out into a civil war and they both raced to put as much land under the Roman rule as possible.
Then one day, while Caesar was leading his army across the Rubicon River in Northern Italy, Pompey influenced the Roman Senate to refuse entrance to Italy to Caesar and his army.
However, on January 11, he and his army entered Italy by crossing the Rubicon, and the Senate named Caesar the dictator of Rome,ending the 500 year republic.
Caesar had many visions for Rome, including starting projects to build new roads and public buildings to create jobs for the plebeians. He also wanted to allow citizenship to residents of Gaul and Spain.
Unfortunately, in 44 B.C.E, he was stabbed fatally 23 times by an opposing group, which started the tradition of having an emperor.
Augustus Caesar was Julius Caesars grandnephew and he was the first emperor of Rome.
However,to obtain that status he had to defeat his rivals.
One of them was a popular general named Marc Antony, who was married to Queen Cleopatra of Egypt.