He maintained a friendly, joking relationship with the pirates while the money was being raised, but warned them that he would track them down and have them crucified after he was released. He did just that, with the help of volunteers, as a warning to other pirates, but he first cut their throats to lessen their suffering because they had treated him well. After this in 72 BC Caesar was elected military tribune. (4).
In 69 BC he spoke at the funerals of his aunt, Julia, and his wife Cornelia. On both occasions, he emphasized his connections with Marius and the ancient nobility of his family, descended from the first kings on his mother's side and form the gods on his father's. Thereafter, Caesar was elected quaestor and obtained a seat in the Senate; he married Pompeia, a granddaughter of Sulla. Caesar supported Pompey and helped him get an extraordinary generalship against the Mediterranean pirates, later extended to command of the war against King Mithridates in Asia Minor. He was elected curule aedile and spent lavishly on games to win popular favor; large loans from Crassus make these expenditures possible. There were rumors that Caesar was having an affair with Pompey's wife, Mucia, as well as with the wives of other prominent men. (4).
In 60 BC Caesar joined forces with two other ambitious politicians to from an alliance for political power called the First Triumvirate. One member of the Triumvirate was the military hero Pompey: the other Crassus was a military hero and the richest man in Rome. Caesar was elected consul against heavy Optimate opposition led by Marcus Porcius Cato, a shrewd and extremely conservative politician. Caesar married his only daughter, Julia, to Pompey to consolidate their alliance; he himself married Calpurnia, the daughter of a leading member of the Popular faction. Caesar pushed Pompey's measures through, helped Crassus" proposals, and got for himself a five year term as proconsul of Gaul after his consulship was over.
