Caesar

CAESAR (sē'zêr)

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CAESAR. Caesar was a cognomen of the Julian family, whose most eminent member was Caius Julius Caesar, the great soldier, statesman, orator, and author (102-44 b.c.). Caesar was the last of a series of commanders who, for a full cent. of constitutional crises and civil strife, had used the power of the army to impose political solutions for Rome’s recurrent breakdowns of law and order, a pernicious practice which was ultimately to destroy the Rom. state.

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

Originally the surname of the Julian gens (thus, Caius Julius Caesar); afterward a name borne by the Roman emperors. In the New Testament the name is definitely applied to Augustus (Lu 2:1, "Caesar Augustus"), to whom it belonged by adoption, and to Tiberius (Lu 3:1, "Tiberius Caesar"; compare Mt 22:17,21). The "Caesar" to whom Paul appealed (Ac 25:11,12,21) was Nero. The form is perpetuated in "Kaiser" and "Czar."