The Ides of March

The Ides of March

Written by Kendra Jahn

On March 15, 44 B.C., a group of Roman senators worked together to assassinate Julius Caesar to prevent Rome from becoming an Empire. This plan, although succeeding in the murder of the Roman leader, failed immensely in the long run and only pushed Rome into its Empirical history quicker. 

In the historical aspect, Julius Caesar was a Roman general and also a senator within the Roman council (including Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus). Julius himself was seen as a promising war general who had the favor of the people with his generosity and justified power. 

Due to his rising fame and status within Rome, the majority of the plebeians wanted Julius as their one ruler, rather than being ruled over by a council of senators. Marcus Antonius (commonly known as Mark Antony) was Julius’ best friend and greatest supporter, serving underneath Caesar in Gaul as a military commander. 

At the feast of Lupercalia on February 15, 44 B.C., Mark Antony presented Caesar with a diadem (or a kingly crown) three times, saying, “The People give this to you through me;” giving Julius the title ‘Dictator Perpetuo’ or ‘Dictator for Life.’ Yet Caesar refused the diadem each time since the idea of a king was looked upon negatively in Rome. This event slowly began the downward spiral of conspirators and whispered secrets. 

After this public proclamation, however, Caesar began to act more and more kingly, such as placing his image on coins, wearing high-ranking purple clothing, and even sitting on a golden throne. This behavior and the deeply offending act of being claimed a dictator took a toll on Caesar’s relationship with the senate, to which conspirators began plotting. 

During all of this, Julius Caesar had a son-like-figure, known as Marcus Junius Brutus, but was more commonly referred to as Brutus. Brutus worked underneath Pompey, Caesar’s friend-turned-rival, before Caesar eventually slayed Pompey and showed mercy to Brutus, taking him in as a son. 

Brutus worked closely with Julius and they were great friends, but Brutus didn’t approve of the treatment Caesar was receiving as a faux king. This seed of judgement took root as something Gaius Cassius Longinus could use for his own gain. Cassius had been working with roughly 60-70 other senators to plan Caesar’s downfall, but they needed someone super close to Julius to work this plan correctly. That’s where Brutus comes in.

They would never ask Mark Antony because they knew he was too loyal to Caesar. Mark Antony would tell Caesar their plot and ruin the plans of a revolution. So, Cassius turned to Brutus, someone who was already wavering in his trust. At first, Brutus stubbornly refused to go against Julius, but he never outed the secret. Eventually, after becoming impatient, Cassius, along with Lucius Cornelius Cinna, planted forged letters in Brutus’ home, staging themselves as civilians who wanted Caesar killed.

With the growing pressure Brutus felt, he finally snapped and sided with the conspirators. So, on March 15, 44 B.C., after a senate meeting had finished wrapping up, the conspirators struck. Not much is known of what took place in the heat of the moment, but theories are drawn. Publius Servilius Casca Longus was the first to stab Julius Caesar, the wound supposedly being nervous and aiming for Julius’ neck or shoulder. Quickly after, the others joined in. 

Julius was stabbed a total of 23 times, with the final blow coming from Marcus Junius Brutus, his own son-figure. In the play written by Shakespeare, Julius Caesar’s last words were recorded as “Et tu, Brute?” which translates to “You too, Brutus?”. But the likelihood of this phrase being real is very low and belief is rather put into an ancient source written by Suetonius, reciting that Julius said "καὶ σύ, τέκνον;" (Kai su, teknon? — "You too, child?") which is a Greek translation.

The goal of the assassination was to stop the fall of the Roman Republic and return power to the senate, but the plan horribly backfired. Civil wars broke out and Caesar’s heir, Octavian, sided with Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus—a close ally of Julius Caesar’s—to form the Second Triumvirate. The trio consolidated power to hunt down each of the conspirators, waging a war against the “Liberators” (Brutus and Cassius) at the Battle of Philippi in 43 to 42 B.C.; both conspirators ended up committing suicide. Brutus is suspected to have killed himself from utter grief and despair for having betrayed Caesar. 

Eventually, Octavian and Mark Antony turned against each other and another battle ensued. Octavian defeated Mark Antony and his ally, Cleopatra, at the battle of Actium in 31 B.C., allowing Octavian to become the sole ruler of Rome. In 27 B.C., Octavian renamed himself to Augustus Caesar, finalizing the transformation of turning Rome from a republic into the Roman Empire. 

Many legacies followed Caesar after his death, such as the play written by Shakespeare Julius Caesar or the Julian Calendar that prompted the basis for 365-days and a leap year, inspiring the commonly used Gregorian Calendar. One overlooked legacy is the creation of a political system known as Caesarism. This authoritative ruling is based on one ruler, usually with a military background, who claims legitimacy directly from the popular/majority rather than a democratic institution. This merges with dictatorship with mass popularity, often arising during crises to replace weak representative institutions, like how Julius replaced the senate.

The Ides of March is an ancient day legacy that is still observed today, where we remember how too much power can result in traitorous scandals by even the closest friends.