Notable conspirators The conspiracy to assassinate Julius Caesar began with a meeting between
Cassius Longinus and his brother-in-law
Marcus Brutus in the evening of 22 February 44 BC. After some discussion they agreed that something had to be done to prevent Caesar from becoming king of the Romans. The two men then began to recruit others. Brutus believed that for the assassination of Caesar to be considered a legitimate removal of a tyrant, done for the sake of their country, it must include a large number of Rome's leading men. They attempted to strike a balance: they aimed to recruit enough men to surround Caesar and fight his supporters, but not so many that they would risk being discovered. They preferred friends to acquaintances and recruited neither reckless youths nor feeble elders. In the end, the conspirators recruited senators near the age of forty, as were they. The men assessed each potential recruit with innocent-sounding questions. The ancient sources report that in the end, around sixty to eighty conspirators joined the plot, although the latter number may be a scribal error. Notable conspirators included
Pacuvius Labeo, who answered affirmatively on 2 March when Brutus asked him whether it was wise for a man to put himself into danger if it meant overcoming evil or foolish men;
Decimus Brutus, who joined on 7 March after being approached by Labeo and Cassius;
Gaius Trebonius,
Tillius Cimber,
Minucius Basilus, and the brothers Casca (
Publius and another whose name is unknown), all men from Caesar's own ranks; and
Pontius Aquila, who had been personally humiliated by Caesar. According to
Nicolaus of Damascus, the conspirators included Caesar's soldiers, officers, and civilian associates, and while some joined the conspiracy due to concerns over Caesar's authoritarianism, many had self-interested motives such as jealousy: feeling that Caesar had not rewarded them enough or that he had given too much money towards
Pompey's former supporters. The conspirators did not meet openly but instead secretly assembled at each other's homes and in small groups in order to work out a plan.
Planning on the obverse and the goddess
Venus on the reverse of the coin. Caption: First, the conspirators discussed the addition of two other men to the conspiracy.
Cicero, the famous orator, was trusted by both Cassius and Brutus, and had made it no secret that he considered Caesar's rule oppressive. He also had great popularity among the common people and a large network of friends, which would help attract others to join their cause. However, the conspirators considered Cicero too cautious; at that time, Cicero was over sixty, and the conspirators thought he would be too likely to put safety over speed when planning the assassination. Next, the conspirators considered
Mark Antony, aged thirty-nine and one of Caesar's best generals. The conspirators were agreeing to attempt to recruit him until
Gaius Trebonius spoke. He revealed that he had personally approached Antony the summer before and asked him to join a different conspiracy to end Caesar's life, and Antony had turned him down. This rejection to the old conspiracy caused the conspirators to decide against recruiting Antony. Subsequently, a new idea took place. Antony was strong because of his familiarity with the soldiers, and powerful due to his
consulship. If Antony was not to join them, then they must assassinate Antony as well, lest he interfere with the conspiracy. Eventually, this idea was expanded upon and split the conspirators into two factions. The , the "Best Men" of Rome, among the conspirators wanted to go back to the way things were before Caesar. This would entail killing both Caesar and all the men around him, including Antony, and reversing Caesar's reforms. The former supporters of Caesar among the conspirators did not agree to this. They liked Caesar's reforms, and did not want a purge of Caesar's supporters; however, even they agreed to kill Antony. Brutus disagreed with both. He argued that killing Caesar and doing nothing else was the option they should choose. The conspirators claimed to be acting based on the principles of law and justice, he told them, and it would be unjust to kill Antony. While the assassination of Caesar would be viewed as the killing of a tyrant, killing his supporters would be seen only as a politicized purge and the work of Pompey's former supporters. By keeping Caesar's reforms intact, they would both keep the support of the Roman people, who Brutus believed opposed Caesar the king, not Caesar the reformer, and the support of Caesar's soldiers and other supporters. His argument convinced the other conspirators. They began making plans for Caesar's assassination. The conspirators believed that how and where they assassinated Caesar would make a difference. An ambush in a secluded area would have a different impact on public opinion from an assassination in the heart of Rome. The conspirators came up with multiple ideas for the assassination. They considered an attack on Caesar while he was walking on the
Via Sacra, the "Sacred Street". Another idea was to wait to attack him during the elections for new consuls. The conspirators would wait for Caesar to begin crossing the bridge that all voters crossed as part of the election procedures, and then topple him over the rail and into the water. There would be conspirators waiting in the water for Caesar, with daggers drawn. Another plan was to attack at a gladiatorial game, which had the benefit that nobody would be suspicious of armed men. Finally, somebody brought up the idea to assassinate Caesar at one of the senate meetings. All other plans had one weakness: while Caesar had no official bodyguards, he asked his friends to protect him in public. Most of these friends were imposing and dangerous-looking and the conspirators were afraid that they would interfere with the assassination. Here, this would not be an issue, since only senators were allowed in the Senate House. Some also said that the murder of a tyrant in full view of the Senate would not be seen as a political plot, but as a noble act, done on behalf of their country. The conspirators ultimately settled on this as the chosen plan. Caesar would be leaving the city on 18 March to embark on a military campaign against the
Parthians. The last senate meeting before that date was on the 15th, the Ides of March, and so the conspirators chose this as the day of the assassination. In the days leading up to the Ides, Caesar was not completely oblivious to what was being planned. According to the ancient historian
Plutarch, a seer had warned Caesar that his life would be in danger no later than the Ides of March. The Roman biographer
Suetonius identifies this seer as a
haruspex named Spurinna. In addition, on 1 March, Caesar watched Cassius speaking with Brutus at the senate house and said to an aide, "What do you think Cassius is up to? I don't like him, he looks pale." Two days before the assassination, Cassius met with the conspirators and told them that, should anyone discover the plan, they were to turn their knives on themselves.
Ides of March woodcut manuscript illustration by , 1474 On the
Ides of March of 44 BC, conspirators and non-conspirators met at the Senate House of Pompey, located in the
Theatre of Pompey, for the senate meeting. Usually, the senators would be meeting at the Roman Forum, but Caesar was financing a reconstruction of the forum and so the senators met in other venues throughout Rome, this being one of them. There were gladiatorial games underway at the Theatre, and
Decimus Brutus, who owned a company of gladiators, stationed them in the
Portico of Pompey, also located in the Theatre of Pompey. The gladiators could be useful to the conspirators: if a fight broke out to protect Caesar, the gladiators could intervene; if Caesar was killed but the conspirators came under attack, the gladiators could protect them; and since it was impossible to enter the Senate House without going through the Portico, the gladiators could block entrance to both if necessary. The senators waited for Caesar's arrival, but he did not come. The reason for this is that in that early morning,
Calpurnia, Caesar's wife, was awoken from a nightmare. She had dreamt that she was holding a murdered Caesar in her arms and mourning him. Other versions have Calpurnia dream that the front pediment of their house had collapsed and that Caesar had died, and yet another shows Caesar's body streaming with blood. Calpurnia had no doubt heard Spurinna's warnings of great peril to Caesar's life, which helps explain her visions. Around 5a.m., Calpurnia begged Caesar not to go to the senate meeting that day. After some hesitation, Caesar acquiesced. Although not superstitious, he knew that Spurinna and Calpurnia were involved in Roman politics, and decided to be cautious. Caesar sent Mark Antony to dismiss the Senate. When the conspirators heard of this dismissal, Decimus Brutus went to Caesar's home to try to talk him into coming to the Senate meeting. Decimus asked him, "What do you say, Caesar? Will someone of your stature pay attention to a woman's dreams and the omens of foolish men?", and Caesar eventually decided to go. Caesar was walking to the senate house when he caught sight of Spurinna. Caesar called out playfully, "Well, the Ides of March have come!", to which Spurinna responded, "Aye, the Ides have come, but they are not yet gone." Mark Antony started to enter with Caesar, but was intercepted by one of the plotters (either
Trebonius or Decimus Brutus) and detained outside. He remained there until after the assassination, at which point he fled. According to
Plutarch, as Caesar took his seat,
Lucius Tillius Cimber presented him with a petition to recall his exiled brother. The other conspirators crowded round to offer their support. Both Plutarch and
Suetonius say that Caesar waved him away, but Cimber grabbed Caesar's shoulders and pulled down Caesar's
toga. Caesar then cried to Cimber, "Why, this is violence!" (""). At the same time,
Publius Servilius Casca produced his dagger and made a glancing thrust at the dictator's neck. Caesar turned around quickly and caught Casca by the arm. According to Plutarch, he said in Latin, "Casca, you villain, what are you doing?" Casca, frightened, shouted simultaneously "Brother! Help me!" (). Though Caesar was able to violently throw Publius Servilius Casca away, his brother Gaius Servilius Casca stabbed Caesar in the side. Within moments, Caesar was attacked from all directions, with Cassius slashing Caesar's face,
Bucilianus stabbing his back or the back of his head, and Decimus slicing his thigh. Caesar attempted to get away, but, blinded by blood, he tripped and fell; the men continued stabbing him as he lay defenceless on the lower steps of the portico. According to Roman historian
Eutropius, around 60 or more men participated in the assassination. Caesar was stabbed 23 times. Suetonius relates that a physician who performed an autopsy on Caesar established that only one wound (the second one to his ribs) had been fatal. This autopsy report (the earliest known post-mortem report in history) describes that Caesar's death was mostly attributable to blood loss from his stab wounds. Caesar was killed at the base of a statue of
Pompey the Great in the
Curia of Pompey attached to the
Theatre of Pompey.
Caesar's last words are a contested subject among scholars and historians. Both Cassius Dio and Suetonius state that he said nothing. which is transliterated as , meaning "You too, child?" in
English). Plutarch also reports that Caesar said nothing, pulling his toga over his head when he saw Brutus among the conspirators. According to Plutarch, after the assassination, Brutus stepped forward as if to say something to his fellow senators not involved in the plot; however, they fled the building. Brutus and his companions then marched through the city, announcing, "People of Rome, we are once again free!" They were met with silence, as the citizens of Rome had locked themselves inside their houses as soon as the rumours of what had taken place began to spread. According to Suetonius, after the murder all the conspirators fled; Caesar's body lay untouched for some time afterwards, until finally three slaves put him on a litter and carried him home, with one arm hanging down. ==Aftermath==