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Dennis Donovan

(18,770 posts)
Fri Mar 15, 2019, 05:46 PM Mar 2019

2062 Years Ago Today: A few years before the namesake salad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Julius_Caesar



The assassination of Caesar was the result of a conspiracy by many Roman senators led by Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, and Marcus Junius Brutus. They stabbed Caesar (23 times) to death in a location adjacent to the Theatre of Pompey on the Ides of March 15 March 44 BC. Caesar was the Dictator of the Roman Republic, having recently been declared dictator perpetuo by the Senate of the Roman Republic. This declaration made many senators fear that Caesar wanted to overthrow the Senate in favor of totalitarianism, as well as the fear that Caesar’s pro plebeian manifesto would endanger them financially. The conspirators were unable to restore the Roman Republic, and the ramifications of the assassination led to the Liberators' civil war and ultimately to the Principate period of the Roman Empire.

<snip>

Ides of March

On the Ides of March of 44 BC, a day used by the Romans as a deadline for settling debts,[9] the conspirators staged a game of gladiatorial sport at the Theatre of Pompey. The gladiators were provided by Decimus Brutus in case their services were needed. They waited in the great hall of the theatre's quadriportico. Caesar, however, was late, having received several warnings in the previous days. Therefore, Decimus Brutus was sent to fetch him, and managed to persuade Caesar to attend so as not to disappoint the Senate. Mark Antony, having vaguely learned of the plot the night before from a terrified Liberator named Servilius Casca, and fearing the worst, went to head Caesar off. The plotters, however, had anticipated this and, fearing that Antony would come to Caesar's aid, had arranged for Trebonius to intercept him just as he approached the portico of the Theatre of Pompey, where the session was to be held, and detain him outside (Plutarch, however, assigns this action to delay Antony to Decimus Brutus). When he heard the commotion from the Senate chamber, Antony fled.

According to Plutarch, as Caesar arrived at the Senate, 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 Metellus Cimber, "Why, this is violence!" ("Ista quidem vis est!&quot . At the same time, 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 "Help, brother!" in Greek ("ἄδελφε, βοηθεῖ", "adelphe, boethei&quot . Within moments, the entire group, including Brutus, were stabbing the dictator. Caesar attempted to get away, but, blinded by blood in his eyes, he tripped and fell; the men continued stabbing him as he lay defenseless on the lower steps of the portico. According to Eutropius, sixty 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 chest that pierced his aorta) 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 the Curia in the Theatre of Pompey.

The dictator's last words are a contested subject among scholars and historians. Suetonius himself says he said nothing, nevertheless, he mentions that others have written that Caesar's last words were the Greek phrase "καὶ σύ, τέκνον;" (transliterated as "Kai su, teknon?": "You too, child?" in English).[20] Plutarch also reports that Caesar said nothing, pulling his toga over his head when he saw Brutus among the conspirators. The version best known in the English-speaking world is the Latin phrase "Et tu, Brute?" ("You too, Brutus?&quot ; this derives from William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (1599), where it actually forms the first half of a macaronic line: "Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar." This has no basis in historical fact. Shakespeare was making use of a phrase already in common use at the time. According to Plutarch, after the assassination, Brutus stepped forward as if to say something to his fellow senators not involved in the plot; they, however, fled the building. Brutus and his companions then marched to the Capitol while crying out to their beloved city: "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 rumour of what had taken place had begun to spread. According to Suetonius, all the conspirators made off, and he (Caesar) lay there lifeless for some time, and finally three common slaves put him on a litter and carried him home, with one arm hanging down.

A wax statue of Caesar was erected in the Forum displaying the 23 stab wounds. A crowd who had amassed there started a fire, which badly damaged neighboring buildings. In the ensuing years, the Liberators' civil war resulted in the end of the Republic and the rise of Imperial Rome.

</snip>


6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
2062 Years Ago Today: A few years before the namesake salad. (Original Post) Dennis Donovan Mar 2019 OP
Pictures, or it didn't happen. NT mahatmakanejeeves Mar 2019 #1
Brutus: "Did you get to try the Senate hot dogs?" struggle4progress Mar 2019 #2
Mis-translation. Big J and the Senators were cocaine addicts. 3Hotdogs Mar 2019 #5
My Ides! My Ides! Hekate Mar 2019 #3
Still blows my mind how we have more records about what happened 2000 years ago than medieval times ansible Mar 2019 #4
I would teach my first graders that the Ides of March BigmanPigman Mar 2019 #6
 

ansible

(1,718 posts)
4. Still blows my mind how we have more records about what happened 2000 years ago than medieval times
Fri Mar 15, 2019, 06:02 PM
Mar 2019

The fall of the roman empire was truly a dark time.

BigmanPigman

(51,569 posts)
6. I would teach my first graders that the Ides of March
Fri Mar 15, 2019, 06:26 PM
Mar 2019

meant the 15th but a few of them would never get it straight and were convinced it was the EYES of March. You do what you can.....

I want to know if OUR current Senate has a Brutus waiting to make a move and stand up to tRump (not necessarily kill him but willing to make his presidency/dictatorship end)..

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