The Assassination of Julius
Caesar
“Under the mass of wounds, he fell at the foot
of Pompey's statue. Everyone wanted to seem to
have had some part in the murder, and there
was not one of them who failed to strike his
body as it lay there, until, wounded thirty-five
times, he breathed his last. "
 Assassination is the murder of an individual; usually a
political or famous figure. An added distinction
between assassination and other forms of killing is that
an assassin usually has an ideological or political
motivation, though many assassins (especially those
who are not part of an organised movement) also
show elements of insanity. Other motivations may be
money (as in the case of a contract killing), revenge,
or as a military operation.
 Assassinations are often politically driven when there
seems no other means by which the individual can be
removed from power.
 Was this true of Caesar? Was his murder politically
motivated or were their more basic motives?
Gracchi bros, Caesar, Lincoln, Kennedy
 three key traits of leaders that tend to precipitate
assassination behavior: “the means by
 which they come to power, the extent of that
power, and repressiveness of the regime they
lead.”
Ancient Sources
 NICOLAS OF DAMASCUS was a Greek historian and
philosopher who lived during the Augustan age of the Roman
Empire. His name is derived from that of his birthplace,
Damascus. He was born around 64 BC.
 He was an intimate friend of Herod the Great, whom he
survived by a number of years. He was also the tutor of the
children of Antony and Cleopatra (born in 40 BC
 His output was vast, but is nearly all lost. His chief work was
a universal history in 144 books. He also wrote an
autobiography, a life of Augustus, a life of Herod, some
philosophical works, and some tragedies and comedies.
 Nicolaus of Damascus wrote his account of the murder of
Caesar a few years after the event. He was not actually
present when the assassination occurred but had the
opportunity to speak with those who were. He was a friend of
Herod the Great and gathered his information during a visit to
Rome. His account is thought to be reliable.
Others
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Cicero
Appian
Dio Cassius
Suetonius
Plutarch
HOW
 “The conspirators never met exactly openly, but they assembled a few at a
time in each other's homes. There were many discussions and proposals, as
might be expected, while they investigated how and where to execute their
design. Some suggested that they should make the attempt along the
Sacred Way, which was one of his favorite walks. Another idea was to do it at
the elections, during which he had to cross a bridge to appoint the
magistrates in the Campus Martius. Someone proposed that they draw lots
for some to push him from the bridge and others to run up and kill him. A
third plan was to wait for a coming gladiatorial show. The advantage of that
was, because of the show, no suspicion would be aroused if arms were seen.
The majority opinion, however, favored killing him while he sat in the Senate.
He would be there by himself, since only Senators were admitted, and the
conspirators could hide their daggers beneath their togas. This plan won the
day.”
WHEN
 “ ...his friends were alarmed at certain rumors and tried to stop him
going to the Senate-house, as did his doctors, for he was suffering
from one of his occasional dizzy spells. His wife, Calpurnia,
especially, who was frightened by some visions in her dreams, clung
to him and said that she would not let him go out that day. But
Brutus, one of the conspirators who was then thought of as a firm
friend, came up and said, 'What is this, Caesar? Are you a man to
pay attention to a woman's dreams and the idle gossip of stupid men,
and to insult the Senate by not going out, although it has honoured
you and has been specially summoned by you? But listen to me, cast
aside the forebodings of all these people, and come. The Senate has
been in session waiting for you since early this morning.' This
swayed Caesar and he left.”
The attack
 "The Senate rose in respect for his position when they saw him entering. Those
who were to have part in the plot stood near him. Right next to him went Tillius
Cimber, whose brother had been exiled by Caesar. Under pretext of a humble
request on behalf of this brother, Cimber approached and grasped the mantle of
his toga, seeming to want to make a more positive move with his hands upon
Caesar. Caesar wanted to get up and use his hands, but was prevented by Cimber
and became exceedingly annoyed. That was the moment for the men to set to
work. All quickly unsheathed their daggers and rushed at him. First Servilius
Casca struck him with the point of the blade on the left shoulder a little above the
collar-bone. He had been aiming for that, but in the excitement he missed.
Caesar rose to defend himself, and in the uproar Casca shouted out in Greek to
his brother. The latter heard him and drove his sword into the ribs. After a
moment, Cassius made a slash at his face, and Decimus Brutus pierced him in
the side. While Cassius Longinus was trying to give him another blow he missed
and struck Marcus Brutus on the hand. Minucius also hit out at Caesar and hit
Rubrius in the thigh. They were just like men doing battle against him. “
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwGDXp24uWo
WHO Assassins or Liberators
•Gaius Cassius Longinus
•Lucius Cassius
•Marcus Junius Brutus
•Servius Sulpicius Galba
•Quintus Ligarius
•Lucius Minucius Basilus
•Publius Servilius Casca
•Gaius Servilius Casca
•Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus
•Lucius Tillius Cimber
•Gaius Trebonius
•Gaius Cassius Parmensis
•Caecilius(brother of Bucolianus)
•Bucolianus
MARCUS BRUTUS
 Son of Servillia, nephew of Cato, he was from
a distinguished family
 Had fought with Pompey against Caesar in
the civil war
 Caesar had pardoned him and made him
governor of Cisalpine Gaul in 46BC and
Praetor in 44BC
CASSIUS
 Brother in law of Brutus
 Had benefited from Caesar’s clemencia after
Pharsalus
 Overlooked for urban praetorship
 Plans for a spectacle as Aedile had been
foiled by Caesar’s confisgation of lions
 “ Hated dictator more than dictatorship”.
SULPICIUIS GALBA
 Legate under Caesar in Gallic and civil war
 Incurring the wrath of Cato sought Caesar’s
help for Consulship of 49BC.
 Fails because of his association with Caesar
LUCIUS TILLIUS CIMBER
 had served in Greece and was an adherent of
Caesar. He was designated as governor of BithyniaPontus in 44. After the assassination, he went to
his provence, built a navy and fought in the civil
war against Marc Antony and Octavian
DECIMUS BRUTUS
 A friend who reaped great benefits from
Caesar’s patronage
 Caesar named him Praetor Urbanis in 48BC
 Pro magistrate in Spain 47-46 BC
 Consul 45BC
 Was to be assigned Asia for 43BC
Nicholas of Damascus
 “There were various reasons which affected each
and all of them and impelled them to lay hands on
the man. Some of them had hopes of becoming
leaders themselves in his place if he were out of
the way, others were angered over what had
happened to them in war, embittered over the loss
of relatives, property or offices of state.”
WHY? Depends on your view of Caesar
Justifiably slain for his
dominatio
Cicero, Plutarch, Suetonius,
Ferrero
Visionary, cut down before
he could establish a new
regime, for varied personal
motives of gain
Mommson, Syme, Meier,
Parenti, Storch, Raaflaub
WHY MOTIVES OF THE ASSASSINS
Complicity of Cicero???????????
 To Atticus 44BC
 “…..WHAT DISTRESSES ME IS SOMETHING WHICH
NEVER HAPPENED IN ANY OTHER STATE, THAT
THE RECOVERY OF FREEDOM DID NOT MEAN THE
RIVAL OF FREE GOVERNMENT….YET COME ONE,
COME ALL THE IDES OF MARCH ARE A
CONSOLATION. OUR HEROES MOST SPLENDIDLY
AND GLORIOUSLY ACVHIEVED EVERYTHING THAT
LAY IN THEIR POWER. THE REST REQUIRES
MONEY AND POWER AND WE HAVEW NEITHER.”
Plutarchs Biography of Marcus Brutus
 “From this time they tried the inclinations of all their acquaintances
that they durst trust, and communicated the secret to them, and took
into the design not only their familiar friends, but as many as they
believed bold and brave and despisers of death. For which reason
they concealed the plot from Cicero, though he was very much trusted
and as well beloved by them all, lest, to his own disposition, which
was naturally timorous, adding now the weariness and caution of old
age, by his weighing, as he would do, every particular, that he might
not make one step without the greatest security, he should blunt the
edge of their forwardness and resolution in a business which required
all the despatch imaginable”
A JOB HALF DONE

Caesar being thus slain, Brutus, stepping forth into the midst, intended to have made a speech,
and called back and encouraged the senators to stay; but they all affrighted ran away in great
disorder, and there was a great confusion and press at the door, though none pursued or
followed. For they had come to an express resolution to kill nobody beside Caesar, but to call
and invite all the rest to liberty. It was indeed the opinion of all the others, when they consulted
about the execution of their design, that it was necessary to cut off Antony with Caesar, looking
upon him as an insolent man, an affecter of monarchy, and one that, by his familiar
intercourse, had gained a powerful interest with the soldiers. And this they urged the rather,
because at that time to the natural loftiness and ambition of his temper there was added the
dignity of being counsel and colleague to Caesar. But Brutus opposed this consul, insisting first
upon the injustice of it, and afterwards giving them hopes that a change might be worked in
Antony. For he did not despair but that so highly gifted and honourable a man, and such a lover
of glory as Antony, stirred up with emulation of their great attempt, might, if Caesar were once
removed, lay hold of the occasion to be joint restorer with them of the liberty of his country.
Thus did Brutus save Antony's life.
Second Philippic against anthony
 “ but remember please, how this astute man
demonstrated my complicity. When Caesar had
been killed, said he, Brutus immediately
brandished a bloodstained dagger and called out
Cicero’s name, congratulating him on the
recovery of national freedom.”
Why was Caesar killed?
Cassius Dio asserts that the conspirators held “Jealousy of
Caesar’s onward progress and hatred of his being
esteemed above others”
Michael Parenti
 "It is a mistreatment of history to reduce this struggle to a
factional or personal feud or even a purely constitutional issue
devoid of social content. The oligarchs were less Caesar's
personal rivals,, than his bitter politico-economic enemies. His
power greatly alarmed them because he used it to work against
,rather than for their interests. Like other populares, he
attempted to deal with unemployment, poverty, unfair taxes,
excessive luxury consumption, land redistribution, debt relief
and overrall aristocratic avarice......He had committed the
unforgivable sin of trying to redistribute some of the wealth
that the very rich siphoned from the state coffers".
PARENTI ON BADIAN
 “Only a handful of writers have supported Badian’s indictment of senatorial
rule in the Late Republic.
 ”No administration in history has ever devoted itself so wholeheartedly to
fleecing its subjects for the private benefit of its ruling class as Rome of the
last age of the Republic”.
 The ideology of nobilitas served to promote class interests but to cloak its
self interest and represent them as tantamount to the general interest.
Those historians who are immersed in this age –old ruling ideological
perspective and emphasize Cicero’s republic founded on law and selfless
virtue, explain away Caesar’s assassination in terms favourable to the
assassins. Republican liberty was first and foremost liberty for the
aristocracy. Caesar was a threat to this liberty. He was assassinated
because of what he was , not what he wanted to become.”
R H Storch
Relative Deprivation
 "Although the personal motives of the men who assassinated
Caesar are most difficult to determine and have been endlessly
debated, the notion of relative deprivation, i.e., and uneven
relation between personal expectation and the means of
satisfaction, may help in understanding why certain friends of
Caesar and members of his own party, who benefited and were
benefiting from his support, turned on him."
 “When Caesar made himself responsible for all
important decisions, he fostered a dangerous
atmosphere… those he had disappointed, frustrated…
could easily focus their anger directly on Caesar; and it
was Caesars friends, who nurtured the highest
expectations, who felt this deprivation most keenly
WHY WAS CAESAR KILLED?
Caesar was killed because of his own failure but also the failure of
the Senate and Rome to meet the changing needs of Empire
ROME'S FAILURE
Empire was a double edged
sword.Wealth appreciated
but required a more
representative style of
government or a
monarchy
SENATE'S FAILURE
TO ACCEPT REFORMS
UNDERMINING THE
TRADITIONS OF THE ELITE
CAESAR'S FAILURE TO
REWARD THOSE WHO
SUPPORTED HIM
relative deprivation
CAESAR'S FAILURE
TO RESPECT TRADITION
Failed to stand in the presence
of the Senators
A MORE HOLISTIC VIEW
“In the course of Caesar’s career,
the Senate had several
opportunities to overcome
narrow group interests, thereby
to reintegrate Caesar……power
structures and hierarchies that
were sanctioned by age old
tradition, gigantic egos and
ambitions, strong enmities and
hatreds, deeply entrenched
interests and not least Caesar’s
self centred independence,
impatience and tendency to
react to any resistance. In some
way he was his own worst
enemy, no wonder his adopted
son, tried to imitate and distance
himself from him…”
Kurt A Raaflaub
The legacy of Caesar’s death
CAESAR’S LEGACY IN POPULAR CULTURE
BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH