Before Julius Caesar fully took control of the Roman Republic, various consuls of Rome took advantage of their power and used it to gain sole control of the Republic. Two notable examples include Marius and Sulla, who rose through the ranks of Roman politics to become Consul and wreaked havoc on Rome. While these two men provide a preview of what Julius Caesar would do, they came nowhere near Caesar's influence on the Roman Republic. Caesar separated himself from these two men through political, social, and militaristic efforts that led to his taking power. This process hit the Roman political landscape hard because at the time of Caesar's death the Republic was completely over. Caesar intended this to happen. Caesar saw this group of people as those who had been repressed for so long and that now it was time for them to speak out. The fact that he was seen as someone who cared about the common man increased his power because this way people were in favor of everything he proposed. For example, while he was away fighting Gaul, he had two of his tribunes of the people in Rome pass laws such as the grain subsidy, which gave free grain to the urban poor. The implications of Caesar's social influence include the fact that he was the only man still alive to have his face modeled on the coin of Rome. This allowed his popularity to increase throughout the Republic and for all his aurora around him to be shrouded in an almost divine reverence. The people would see his rise to power and his current status, while still looking to the common man, as the ideal Roman citizen and truly representing what pietas means. This idea of ​​pietas was widespread in Roman society and highlighted the main ways of life that one must adhere to: loyalty to the gods, to the Roman state and to one's ancestors. Caesar displayed this vital aspect of Roman culture by emphasizing the Roman family and the worship of the Roman gods through architecture. For example, when he launched a massive building program to erect his own Forum, he made sure to have a statue to his ancestors' goddess Venus Genetrix. This veneration of a goddess helped illustrate his dedication to upholding pietas in the daily lives of Rome's citizens. By being socially active by listening to the wishes of the plebeians and implementing pietas into the city's daily activities, Caesar was able to accumulate more power socially than other rulers before him had had in Roman times.