Sextus Julius Caesar was a Roman praetor in 208 BC, during the Second Punic War.
[1] Sextus is the earliest member of the Julii Caesares whose name is found in historical sources.
[4][1][2] It is likely that the praetor had a third son, Gaius, who was a senator, and is said to have written a Roman history in Greek about 143 BC.
[6][1][7] A great calamity befell the Roman forces when the consuls Marcus Claudius Marcellus and Titus Quinctius Crispinus, who were scouting Hannibal's position, fell into a trap, and Marcellus was slain.
[8][1][7] Gravely wounded, Crispinus was unable to return to Rome in order to hold the elections for the following year, and accordingly the senate dispatched Sextus Julius Caesar and two other envoys to meet with him, and urge the consul to appoint a dictator for the purpose of holding the elections.