Caesar

The assassination of Julius Caesar, the self-titled dictator for life of Rome, led to a room full of people murdering him. This was not uncommon due to political chaos and infighting in the Roman Senate. Caesar himself had battled and defeated fellow Romans in the past. Despite the Roman belief in democracy, Caesar's rise to dictatorship was controversial. He was attacked and brutally stabbed to death on the ides of March. This event had a significant impact on the Roman Empire and its influence continued for centuries. Shakespeare even wrote a play about Caesar's death and the assassination became one of the most important in history. For more information, read Mary Beard's article "Death of a Dictator." What caused a whole room of people to murder a man? This was truly the question Romans were asking themselves, after Julius Caesar, their self-titled dictator for life, was stabbed to death. Though this might have caused some concern for the Romans, it certainly wasn't a rare occurrence. The previous two centuries had been plagued by political chaos. Constant infighting and influx from the population caused a lot of strife in the Roman Senate, so much so that most Roman political figures were more likely to die at the hands of other Romans than at the hands of their enemy nations. Caesar himself wasn't a stranger to taking on his fellow Romans. Historian Plutarch was able to uncover a first-hand account from Caesar detailing his battle against his former friend Pompey. This battle resulted in Pompey's defeat, exile, and eventually, his death. Despite all of this infighting, the Romans had subscribed to the idea of democracy since 600 BCE. This, of course, made Caesar's rise to dictatorship very controversial. This controversy resulted in Roman senators attacking him on the ides of March, now March 15th. The assassination, led by Caesar's former friend Brutus, was brutal. Caesar was stabbed 23 times before he died. The murder was instantly seen as a defining moment in the Roman Empire, and its impact was still felt centuries later. One of Shakespeare's most famous plays is a dramatization of Caesar's death, and the code word John Wilkes Booth used for his plans to assassinate President Lincoln was Ides. Its continued relevance and popularity assumed Caesar's murder as one of the most important assassinations of all time. More information about this topic can be found by reading Mary Beard's article, Death of a Dictator.