were closely connected with the Marian faction in Roman politics . Caesar himself progressed within the Roman political system , becoming in succession quaestor ( 69 ), aedile ( 65 ) and praetor ( 62 ). In 61-60 BC he served as governor of the Roman province of Spain . Back in Rome in 60 , Caesar made a pact with Pompey and Crassus , who helped him to get elected as consul for 59 BC . The following year he was appointed governor of Roman Gaul where he stayed for eight years , adding the whole of modern France and Belgium to the Roman empire , and making Rome safe from the possibility of Gallic invasions . He made two expeditions to Britain , in 55 BC and 54 BC .
In 48 B . C . Julius Caesar arrived in Egypt and met a 22-year old Cleopatra -- rolled in a carpet , supposedly . An affair followed , leading to the birth of a son ,