He was elected praetor for 94 BC, though no evidence exists for his previous occupation of the roles of quaestor and aedile. In 93 BC, as propraetor, he was governor of Macedonia.
Consulship and Social War
At the end of 91 BC he ran for the consulship and was elected one of the two consuls for 90 BC. He was allotted the fight against the southern group of rebels while his consular colleague Publius Rutilius Lupus fought the northern group. Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the later dictator, acted as one of Lucius Caesar's lieutenants. Lucius Caesar sent a force of two legions to head off rebel reinforcements to the Italians besieging Aesernia, but they were defeated and retreated with the loss of 2,000 men. After regrouping his army and having received some reinforcements, Lucius Caesar marched against the Samnite 'consul' Gaius Papius Mutilus who was moving towards Acerrae. Mutilus made a direct assault on Lucius Caesar's camp, but was driven back with the loss of 6,000 men. It was the first substantial defeat of the rebels during the war. Lucius Caesar now tried to move to Aesernia again; he marched his army through the Volturnus valley, but was ambushed at a rocky defile called the Melfa Gorge. Since the Romans were expecting an ambush they were able to fight their way out of the trap to the nearby town of Teanum. Caesar lost some 8,000 of his 30,000 infantry, but the army stayed intact and continued to Acerrae. The Romans were not able to raise the siege of Acerrae but they were able to raise the defenders spirit and so they held out. At the end of the campaigning season Lucius Caesar left his army in winter quarters in Campania while he returned to Rome to propose legislation which gave Roman citizenship to any Italian who had not taken up arms against the Romans. This marked the turning point of the war. For his victory over Mutilus, Lucius Caesar was awarded a Triumph. Having finished his year as consul Lucius Caesar handed over to his successor and departed for Picenum where he served as a senior legate to Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo. In 89 BC Lucius or his relative Sextus inflicted a great defeat on the rebels outside Asculum by falling on the enemy while they were shifting to new camp-grounds killing 8,000 and routing the rest. Lucius Caesar also became censor in 89 and due to the success of the Julian Law, became responsible for allocating new citizens into voting districts, but was unable to do so due to continuing civil strife. His colleague in this task was a former consul, Publius Licinius Crassus.
Death
Lucius Caesar and his brother, Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo Vopiscus, were killed in 87 BC during the Civil War between Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla. After Sulla had left to the East to fight against Mithridates of Pontus, Marius returned from banishment and started executing his political opponents. Lucius and Gaius were among his first victims. According to Livy, their heads were displayed on pikes on the speaker's platform in the Forum.
