If modern technology had existed on March 15th 44 BC. The day would
have been an exploding fiasco of Twitter backlashes, endless television news debates,
and people spamming YouTube with reaction videos with “SHOCKING” in the title. Julius Caesar,
the dictator of Rome was assassinated in broad daylight at the senate of the
republic by his trusted allies and friends who were also the senators. No coup in the
history of humanity has been as dramatic and paradigm-shifting as the Ides of March,
which changed Rome forever and gave us two of Shakespeare’s most acclaimed historical plays.
On March 15th, the Ides AKA the middle of the month, the senate of Rome was waiting anxiously
for its dictator. But Caesar was iffy about going to work, not just because his stomach was upset
but also because his wife Calpurnia was worried sick of ill omens she has witnessed
leading up to this day. But then Decimus arrived, one of Caesar’s supposedly most loyal followers,
and urged the ruler of Rome to fulfill his duty as he carefully hid his dagger underneath his garb.
Shakespeare and Plutarch gave Cassius and Brutus the credit for coming up with the plot
to assassinate Caesar but Decimus was the real mastermind of this coup. Cassius and Brutus were
formerly loyal to Pompey, Caesar’s political ally turned rival. Decimus, on the other hand,
was Caesar’s day one and had been by his side for every achievement and victory.
But when Caesar had achieved everything he could for himself, he made his teen nephew Octavian
his heir and left his most loyal servant hanging out to dry. Decimus was ambitious and resentful,
a perfect recipe to create a backstabber. Decimus, Cassius, Brutus, and the rest of the 60 senators
pretended that they were killing Caesar to protect democracy as the dictator was changing the whole
system to acquire more and more power with every passing day. But as is often the case in history,
these senators were really more concerned with protecting their own power than the greater good.
The masses anxiously waiting outside the Senate on March 15th 44 BC were not amused when senators
walked out waving their bloody hands and chanting “Victory for Democracy”! As the conspirators
brought out Caesar’s punctured corpse, the crowd didn’t give the assassins the fanfare they were
expecting. Instead, they were stunned. Brutus took the lead and tried to address the crowd
but was shouted down by the agitated sections of the audience and his attempt to reason only
angered the mob further, forcing Brutus and the rest of the conspirators to retreat and barricade
themselves in the senate. The following days in Rome were like a modern martial law. With a curfew
in place, thanks to an arson caused by an angry mob amassed around a wax statue of Caesar. Elites
who were still loyal to Caesar hid in fear of being assassinated, while the lower-class people
rallied on the streets. Caesar was extremely popular among lower-class people of Rome and
by killing him, the conspirators accelerated the fall of the Roman Republic instead of saving it.
The calm eeriness that had taken hold of Rome allowed Mark Anthony to swoop in and
grab the reins of the Caesarean party and Roman administration. Once one of Caesar’s most trusted
generals, more recently Anthony had fallen out of the dictator’s favor. But Anthony was nothing if
not an opportunist and a resourceful one at that. Anthony’s ascension went pretty much unopposed
and he immediately followed it with an offer of parley with the conspirators giving them a full
pardon in return for their support. This along with his attempt to woo Cleopatra seemed like
an iron-clad plan to take over but there was one pebble in his shoe. Caesar’s will.
Caesar’s Will surprised everyone as it was revealed that the dictator had named
his teenage grandnephew Octavian as his political heir. Octavian was in Greece
at the time of Caesar’s death. The Senate was closely observing Antony’s sly efforts
to take over Caesar’s office with the aid of ‘The Liberatores’. When Octavian arrived in
Rome the senators sided with the very first alternative they were offered. Mark Antony,
scared of being eliminated as a competition, decided to flee.
Caesar’s Will left Antony between a rock and a hard place. By siding with The Liberatore, he lost
the Senate to Young Octavian, and denouncing the assassins would leave him friendless.
So, when he was given the choice of governing Syria after Octavian arrived to claim his right,
Antony demanded the region of Cisalpine Gaul instead.
Gaul was held by Decimus, the same guy behind Caesar’s death. Octavian wasn’t willing to take
the chance of giving Mark Antony the opportunity to regroup. So, he chased him to Mutina with the
aid of Counsel Aulus Hirtius where Antony was preparing a siege against Decimus. After two
bloody battles ended in stalemates, Octavian managed to save his grace by leading the army
to safety after Counsel Hiritus got killed. Mark Antony suffered huge losses and gave up on the
siege as Decimus escaped and fled towards Italy after losing fellow Liberatore Pontius Aquila.
When the Senate demanded Octavian to surrender the troops, he chose to form an alliance instead.
And not just anyone but with his enemies, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and Mark Antony.
Lepidus was a close ally of Caesar but since Caesar’s death, he allied with Mark Antony.
This alliance was called the Second Triumvirate. This defiance of the senate by Octavian was
the declaration that these were the final days of the Republic in Rome.
And the conflict of power between the Triumvirate and Senate thrust Rome into another civil war.
Assassins of Julius Caesar or the Liberatore allied under the leadership of Cassius and Brutus.
While Lepidus took a backseat in the Triumvirate, Antony and Octavian met the Liberatore’s armies
at the Philippi in modern Macedonia. After two decisive battles, all Liberatore and their allies
Optimates politicians were either killed in action or committed suicide. This not only
ended the threat of a military challenge but also neutered the Roman Senate. Antony and Octavian
also used this war as an excuse to divide the lion’s share of the Roman Empire between them,
effectively retiring Lepidus. While Octavian took over the seat of the ruler in Rome,
Antony moved east to live and rule with Cleopatra. The Senate still
existed but only had the role of the mute spectator in the Octavian and Antony show.
With everyone else out of the way, Octavian and Antony were each other’s only rivals. And Octavian
had a lot of reasons to consider Antony a pretty big menace. Antony though he married Octavian’s
sister Octavia was in love with Cleopatra who was not only a former lover of Caesar but was also the
mother of Caesar’s only legitimate son Caesarion. This plot’s more convoluted than a soap operas. It
only took some goading and rumor spreading on Octavian’s behalf to have Rome declare war on
Egypt. Also, Antony’s mistake to marry Cleopatra before divorcing Octavian’s sister fueled the
torches of war. Antony, as expected, supported Egypt. This caused the Senate to side with
Octavian and Rome witnessed the biggest internal conflict in its Republic history. After a critical
defeat at the Battle of Actium, Cleopatra and Antony committed suicide in Alexandria as Octavian
besieged the city. Octavian's pre-eminence was confirmed when he was granted the title Augustus.
It cemented his hold on power and allowed him to pass on his position to a designated heir.
The Senate established the first Roman imperial dynasty. For this, Augustus is regarded as the
first Roman Emperor and the founder of an Imperial system. The assassins of Caesar simply paved the
way for the rise of the man who was to quietly dismantle the Republic. Mission not really
accomplished. Let us know what you think about this historical hot mess of an assassination in
the comments along with what other historical aftermath you’d like to hear about next.