JULIUS CAESAR ASSASSINATED BY ROMAN SENATORS
Rome (JFK+50) On March 15, 44 (B.C.), Julius Caesar*, emperor of the Roman Empire, was assassinated by members of the Senate who were part of a plot of sixty men intent on removing him from power.
Caesar, in February 44 (B.C.), declared himself dictator for life and soon the plot was organized. The group of conspirators, called "Liberatores," were led by Marcus Junius Brutus.
The assassination took place at the base of the curia in the Theatre of Pompey**. The scene is described by "Eyewitness to History" as follows...
"All quickly unsheathed their daggers and rushed at him. Under the mass of wounds, (Caesar) fell at the foot of Pompey's statue. Everyone wanted to seem to have had some part in the murder, and there was not one of them who failed to strike his body, as it lay there, until, wounded thirty-five times, he breathed his last."
In Shakespeare's play, "Julius Caesar," a fortune teller warns the emperor...
"Beware the ides of March!"
*JFK+50 NOTE
In the years following the assassination of Caesar, a civil war broke out resulting in the end of the Republic and the rise of Imperial Rome led by Octavian (Caesar Augustus).
*Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) was born in Rome to an aristocratic family. In 65 B.C. he was elected to the office of aedile, organizing public games. After becoming emperor, JC made important reforms, improved the calendar & set up a plan to reorganize city government in Italy. He became one of the great military leaders of all time.
**Theatre of Pompey was built in 55 B.C. by Pompey the Great during the latter part of the Roman Republic. The first theatre built in Rome, it enclosed large porticos with an expansive garden complex of fountains & statues.
SOURCES
"Caesar, Julius," The World Book Encyclopedia, Chicago, 1987.
"The Assassination of Julius Caesar, 44 B.C.," Eyewitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/2004
Rome (JFK+50) On March 15, 44 (B.C.), Julius Caesar*, emperor of the Roman Empire, was assassinated by members of the Senate who were part of a plot of sixty men intent on removing him from power.
Caesar, in February 44 (B.C.), declared himself dictator for life and soon the plot was organized. The group of conspirators, called "Liberatores," were led by Marcus Junius Brutus.
The assassination took place at the base of the curia in the Theatre of Pompey**. The scene is described by "Eyewitness to History" as follows...
"All quickly unsheathed their daggers and rushed at him. Under the mass of wounds, (Caesar) fell at the foot of Pompey's statue. Everyone wanted to seem to have had some part in the murder, and there was not one of them who failed to strike his body, as it lay there, until, wounded thirty-five times, he breathed his last."
In Shakespeare's play, "Julius Caesar," a fortune teller warns the emperor...
"Beware the ides of March!"
*JFK+50 NOTE
In the years following the assassination of Caesar, a civil war broke out resulting in the end of the Republic and the rise of Imperial Rome led by Octavian (Caesar Augustus).
*Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) was born in Rome to an aristocratic family. In 65 B.C. he was elected to the office of aedile, organizing public games. After becoming emperor, JC made important reforms, improved the calendar & set up a plan to reorganize city government in Italy. He became one of the great military leaders of all time.
**Theatre of Pompey was built in 55 B.C. by Pompey the Great during the latter part of the Roman Republic. The first theatre built in Rome, it enclosed large porticos with an expansive garden complex of fountains & statues.
SOURCES
"Caesar, Julius," The World Book Encyclopedia, Chicago, 1987.
"The Assassination of Julius Caesar, 44 B.C.," Eyewitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/2004
