Caesar Falls: Senators End the Roman Republic

The conspirators cornered Julius Caesar in the portico of Pompey's Theatre on March 15, 44 BC, with Tillius Cimber presenting a petition as the signal to attack. When Cimber grabbed Caesar's toga and pulled it from his shoulder, Casca lunged with his dagger, slicing the dictator's neck. Caesar seized Casca's arm and cried out in Latin, "Casca, you villain, what are you doing?" Casca shouted for help in Greek, and the remaining conspirators surged forward. The scene descended into a frenzy of stabbing. Approximately sixty senators participated. Caesar attempted to flee, blinded by blood streaming from his wounds, but tripped on the steps of the portico. The assassins continued stabbing him as he lay on the ground. According to Suetonius, a physician who later examined the body determined that Caesar received twenty-three stab wounds, but only the second wound to his chest was fatal. Most of his injuries were inflicted after he had already fallen. The assassination had been months in planning. Cassius Longinus organized the core group of conspirators, driven by personal grievance, ideological conviction, or both. Marcus Brutus provided the moral authority the conspiracy needed, his family name linked to the legendary Lucius Junius Brutus who had expelled Rome's last king five centuries earlier. Decimus Junius Brutus, one of Caesar's most trusted generals, was tasked with ensuring Caesar attended the Senate that day, overcoming the dictator's last-minute hesitation. The conspirators had debated killing Mark Antony alongside Caesar but decided against it, a decision that proved fatal to their cause. Antony survived, seized Caesar's papers and treasury, delivered a devastating funeral oration that turned public sentiment against the assassins, and formed a military alliance with Octavian that eventually destroyed the Republican cause at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC. The assassination of the most powerful man in the Roman world did not save the Republic. It buried it.