"So it began... those who had come prepared for the murder all bared their daggers and hemmed Caesar in on every side. Whichever way he turned, he met the blows of daggers and saw the cold steel aimed at his face... for it had been agreed that they must all take part in the sacrifice, and all flesh themselves with his blood... Either by chance or because he was pushed there by his murderers, he fell down against the pedestal on which the statue of Pompey stood." 26
Conclusion
March 15, 44 BC. The Ides Of March. On this day, Caesar was brutally assassinated at the Senate house by a group of armed conspirators, former and present Senators who had broken their oath to protect him with their lives. As Plutarch said, "When the murder was newly done, there were sudden outcries of people that ran up and down the city, which indeed increase the fear and tumult." 27 The leading conspirators, C. Cassius Longinus28 and his brother-in-law, Marcus Brutus29, had slain him in an attempt to maintain the Republic from reverting into the hated monarchy. His death came about, not from Caesar's power, nor from his aspirations, but from the fear held by the conservatives over Caesar and his power. Caesar's real intentions was to save Rome from the "greed and injustice, [from which] all our provinces are mourning, all our free communities are complaining; even foreign kingdoms are protesting"30 Their efforts to save the republic from a non-existent threat eventually forced Rome into Empire, thus in retrospect, the futility of their actions, and the waste of a powerful well intentioned ruler, becomes evident.
Bibliography
- Grant, Michael, Caesar. (London: Cox & Wyman Ltd., 1979)
- Bruns, Roger, Julius Caesar. (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986)
- Scullard, H.H., From The Gracchi To Nero. (London: Routledge, 1982)
- >"Rome, Kings Of" Microsoft Encarta 96 Encyclopedia (1995).
- [Computer program]. Redmond: Microsoft Corporation
- "Rome, Republic Of" Microsoft Encarta 96 Encyclopedia (1995).
- [Computer program]. Redmond: Microsoft Corporation
- Cavendish, Michael, The Roman World. (Freeport: Cavendish Corp., 1989)
- "Caesar, Julius" The World Book Encyclopedia, 1989, Vol. III, pp12-13
(1) C.Marius, Caesar’s uncle was a military reformist, and a leader of the populares. He had influenced Caesar’s political beliefs and ideas while Caesar was still a youth.
(2) When the Pontifex Maximus died in 63BC, Caesar went against all odds by running for election against two prominent candidates. Through bribery and his excellence in oratory, he won the election, giving him a good standing for further political office. He was made an augur in 47BC.
(3) Caesar was eventually hailed as ‘Imperator’ by his troops (superior commander above all other military leaders); although
according to Scullard, he never used the term to describe his power or position.
(4) Caesar’s political career began in 65B.C., when he was elected Curule Aedile. In 59 BC, with the help of Pompey and
Crassus, he gained the consulship. He was consul again in 48 BC and 46 BC, when he was appointed Dictator for ten years.
(5) The ‘Director Of Public Morals’ gave Caesar the right to use powers equivalent to that of a Censor. He also used this title
to ‘belittle’ the harsher sounding ‘dictator’ title.
(6) The secondary sources consulted vary on their description of the powers attained by Caesar during his ‘reign’ as dictator.
Scullard described his powers as ‘superior to other magistrates’, with other rights as well. Grant compares the dictatorship as
effectively having the power of all political magistracies combined into one.
(7)An unprecedented number of Senators were now representing places in Italy, outside the city of Rome. A few were drawn
from Romanised provinces (such as Gaul, whose citizens were granted citizenship by Caesar).
(8) Some of these Senators were being rewarded for faithful service during the Civil War, or for defecting to Caesar from
Pompey’s ranks.
(9) To safeguard himself, he gained the sanctity of the tribunes - his murder would be illegal.
(10) According to Scullard, Caesar refused the right to appoint magistrates, but Grant and other sources agree that Caesar did
‘suggest’ candidates, or ‘influenced’ the elections of these magistrates. However, before he was due to leave to fight in
Spain, he did appoint a number of candidates to various posts, two years in advance.
(11) Grant, Michael, Caesar (London: Cox & Wyman Ltd, 1979) pp185-186.
(12) ibid pp186
(13) ibid pp187
(14) In his earlier stint as a consul, Caesar had a problem with a tribune. His threat to move his army into Rome, made him
unpopular with some of the mob.
(15) Previously, there had been outcry when Ti.Gracchus removed Octavius (Tr.Pl.) from office in order to remove his “senate
induced” veto to his Lex Agraria. Caesar’s inviolability by tribunes was ‘worse’ - the removal of a single tribune (by
Ti.Gracchus), against the removal of the vote of all tribunes.
(16) Caesar hastened his campaign preparations because he wanted to fight before he became too old. Also, on previous
occasions during battle, he had experienced seizures, possibly epileptic in nature.
(17) An unknown source wrote of how the law was carried out to the extremes - to such extent that inspectors would be sent
to dinner parties held by the aristocracy, and would briskly remove all food that exceeded a certain price. Also, the
inspectors would remove the clothing ,off people in the street, which they deemed to be expensive.
(18) Grant, Michael, Caesar (London: Cox & Wyman Ltd, 1979) pp 186
(19) Caesar while delivering the eulogy during his aunt’s funeral, boasted about his regal ancestry. This played a slight role in
the arguments used by his opponents.
(20) ibid pp194 [Caesar]
(21) The diadem (crown) was a symbol of the ancient Roman monarchy. This incident occurred at Lupercalia, a month before
he was assassinated.
(22) Scullard, H.H. From The Gracchi To Nero (London: Routledge, 1982) pp149
(23) In addition to the rumours concerning his wanting to become king, there were also rumours that he wanted to be
worshiped like a God. He had been given an order of priests by the Senate as flattery (the order Julian Lupreci), but it is
unlikely he wanted to be worshipped; although Greek and Eastern monarchs were worshipped as divinities.
(24) Caesar was the first ruler to have his head placed on Roman coins during his lifetime. However, it had been performed
by Greek monarchs, which may have added to his opponents arguments. Scullard claims in his notes that the coins were of
military issue, thus were not significant, but Grant and Bruns state otherwise.
(25) Caesar did have a son, Caesarion, born from Cleopatra (queen of Egypt). However, since he was illegitimate, he could
not stand to be Caesar’s heir.
(26) Grant, Michael, Caesar (London: Cox & Wyman Ltd, 1979) pp194-195 [Plutarch]
(27) Bruns, Roger, Julius Caesar (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987) pp103.
(28) Cassius was one of Caesar’s friends. His discontent may have started when he felt he didn’t receive sufficient reward for
when he helped Caesar in battle.
(29) It is coincidental that Caesar was a descendent from the ancient Roman Monarchy, and Brutus, (at first his personal
protege, and then one of his assassins) was a descendant of the Brutus which killed the last Roman Monarch, Lucius
Tarquinius Superbus (reigned 534-510BC).
(30) Bruns, Roger, Julius Caesar (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987) pp25 [Cicero]
Copyright ©1996 by Greg Ong. All rights reserved. Retaining portions of this essay for educational purposes is acceptable. Use of the complete essay may occur as long as due credit to the author is given. To contact me, e-mail: corvus@tartarus.uwa.edu.au
