Julius Caesar, dictator of Rome, was stabbed to death on the Ides of March, 15 March 44 BCE, at a meeting of the Senate in the Curia of Pompey, a hall attached to Pompey's theatre complex in Rome. The plotters, led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, claimed to be saving the Republic from a king. Instead, the killing set off a new round of civil wars that ended with the rule of Caesar's adopted heir as Rome's first emperor.
Caesar's power
Caesar had risen through Roman politics as a general and populist politician, conquered Gaul in the 50s BCE, and in 49 BCE crossed the Rubicon with his army, starting a civil war against Pompey and the conservative faction in the Senate. By 45 BCE he had defeated all his main opponents. He was named dictator repeatedly, and early in 44 BCE he became dictator for life. He was voted extraordinary honours, sat on a golden chair in the Senate, and his image appeared on coins during his lifetime. Although he publicly refused a royal crown, many senators saw his permanent supremacy as the end of their traditional share of power.
The conspiracy
The plot grew to include around sixty men, according to the ancient sources. Some, like Cassius and Brutus, were former followers of Pompey whom Caesar had pardoned; others, such as Decimus Junius Brutus and Gaius Trebonius, had served under Caesar himself. Their motives mixed principled republicanism with personal grievance and lost status. Timing was pressing: Caesar planned to leave Rome within days for a long campaign against Parthia.
The Ides of March
Ancient writers describe warnings, including a soothsayer's caution to beware the Ides of March, and the anxiety of Caesar's wife Calpurnia, but Caesar went to the Senate meeting. Trebonius, or in some accounts Decimus Brutus, delayed Caesar's ally Mark Antony outside. Inside, Lucius Tillius Cimber approached with a petition and pulled at Caesar's toga, and Publius Servilius Casca struck the first blow. The others joined in. According to Suetonius, Caesar was stabbed twenty-three times and fell at the foot of a statue of Pompey. The famous last words "Et tu, Brute?" come from Shakespeare; ancient sources either report nothing or a Greek phrase addressed to Brutus.
Aftermath in Rome
The conspirators had made no clear plan for what would follow, and the city did not rise to support them. A compromise in the Senate granted them an amnesty while confirming Caesar's acts. At Caesar's funeral, however, Antony stirred the crowd with a speech and the display of the dictator's bloodied robe, and rioters burned the body in the Forum and attacked the conspirators' houses. Brutus and Cassius soon left Italy for the eastern provinces.
Civil war
Caesar's will named his eighteen-year-old great-nephew Gaius Octavius as his adopted son and main heir. Octavian, as he became known, joined Antony and Marcus Lepidus in 43 BCE to form the Second Triumvirate. Their proscriptions killed many opponents, including the orator Cicero. In 42 BCE the triumvirs defeated Brutus and Cassius at Philippi in Macedonia, and both took their own lives. In the same year Caesar was officially deified.
Consequences
The assassination failed in its stated aim. The Republic's institutions survived in form, but real power passed to military leaders. The alliance between Octavian and Antony eventually broke down, and Octavian's victory at Actium in 31 BCE left him sole ruler. As Augustus, he founded the system of rule by emperors that historians call the Principate.
On our maps
Our 100 BCE map shows the Roman Republic before Caesar's conquests, and the 1 BCE map shows the Roman Empire under Augustus.
In pictures
3 images · scroll →From the atlas
Assassination of Julius Caesar in time and on the map
Assassination of Julius Caesar took place in 44 BCE. The nearest maps from before and after are 100 BCE and 1 BCE; compare them side by side.
Living through it, among others on this site: Augustus (63 BCE–14 CE), Cicero (106–43 BCE), Cleopatra (69–30 BCE), Herod the Great (74–4 BCE), Julius Caesar (100–44 BCE), Mark Antony (83–30 BCE) and Virgil (70–19 BCE).
Other events of the same years: Han–Xiongnu wars (139 BCE–89 CE).
Next to it in time on this site: before, Battle of Alesia (52 BCE) and Battle of Pharsalus (48 BCE); after, Battle of Philippi (42 BCE) and Battle of Actium (31 BCE).
Quick answers
- When did Assassination of Julius Caesar happen?
- In 44 BCE.
- Where did Assassination of Julius Caesar take place?
- Theatre of Pompey and Ancient Rome.
- How did the map change?
- Compare the atlas’s maps of 100 BCE and 1 BCE side by side.