By the time of his assassination
on 15 March (the Ides of March) 44BC, Julius Caesar was at the
height of his power, having recently been declared dictator perpetuo by the
Roman Senate.
This kind of power made many senators nervous that Caesar would overthrow the
senate and establish one-man tyranny. Thus they planned to murder him and
restore the authority of the Roman Republic.
Despite being warned of the plot in the days before, Caesar went to the Senate
on the 15th. There, a group of about 30 Senators - including Marcus Junius
Brutus and Gaius Cassius - attacked him with knives, stabbing him numerous
times. Records of his last words vary; some mentioned that he said nothing, or
said "You too, child?" in Greek. The most famous supposed phrase,
"Et tu, Brute?" comes from William Shakespeare’s 1599 play Julius
Caesar and has no basis in fact.
In any case the goals of the assassination failed. It led to civil war and the
eventual assumption to power of Augustus, who
became the first Roman Emperor.
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