7 unforgettable leadership lessons from the ancient Roman conqueror Julius Caesar

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Julius Caesar

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What would Julius Caesar do?

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Beware the Ides of March!

On this day - March 15 - in 44 BCE, Julius Caesar had a pretty bad day at work. The dictator of Rome was lured to a meeting and stabbed to death by his coworkers.

Several years earlier, the politician and general had rose to power in a civil war. His assassination sparked yet another civil war that doomed the Roman Republic. The state ended up mutating into an empire with Caesar's adopted heir Octavian at the helm.

Today, Caesar is still considered one of the greatest military commanders in history. His name is also synonymous with cults of personality and political strongmen.

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So how exactly did the one-time high priest of Jupiter accrue so much power during his lifetime?

Business Insider looked through some of his own writings - as well as the less-reliable but still interesting works of contemporary ancient writers - to get a sense of his leadership style.

Here are the top seven lessons we came up with: