Caesar Assassinated: The Republic Dies With Him

Twenty-three stab wounds. The most powerful man in the Roman Republic bled out at the base of Pompey's statue on the Ides of March, 44 BC, killed by men he had pardoned, promoted, and trusted. Julius Caesar's assassination was not a spontaneous act of rage but a carefully planned conspiracy involving at least sixty senators who believed they were saving the Republic from tyranny. Caesar had been declared dictator perpetuo, dictator in perpetuity, just weeks before his death. He had defeated his rivals in a civil war, absorbed the powers of multiple magistracies, and placed his portrait on Roman coins, a privilege previously reserved for gods. The Senate granted him the right to wear a purple toga, sit on a gilded chair, and have a temple dedicated to his clemency. To his enemies, every honor confirmed their fear: Caesar intended to make himself king. The conspirators gathered at the Theatre of Pompey, where the Senate was meeting while the Curia was under renovation. As Caesar took his seat, Lucius Tillius Cimber approached with a petition. When Caesar waved him away, Cimber grabbed his toga, the signal for the attack. Casca struck first, slashing at Caesar's neck. Caesar caught Casca's arm and stabbed back with his stylus, but the other conspirators closed in. Brutus, Cassius, Decimus, and dozens of others drove their daggers into the dictator. Ancient accounts say Caesar stopped resisting after he saw Brutus among his attackers. The conspirators expected gratitude. They got chaos. The Senate fled. Rome descended into panic. Mark Antony's funeral oration turned the mob against the assassins, and a thirteen-year cycle of civil wars followed that killed hundreds of thousands and destroyed the Republic the conspirators had claimed to defend. Caesar's adopted heir Octavian eventually emerged as Augustus, Rome's first emperor. The men who killed Caesar to prevent one-man rule guaranteed it.