The Assassination of Julius Caesar (The Ides of March, 44 B.C.E.) — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00The conspiracy to kill Julius Caesar began with a meeting between three men.
2. 0:05Cassius Longinus, Marcus Brutus, and Decimus Brutus.
3. 0:10Cassius, Brutus, and Decimus.
4. 0:15Cassius was an experienced soldier and general.
5. 0:19A decade earlier he fought the Parthians under Crassus.
6. 0:23After Crassus's humiliating defeat, Cassius rallied the survivors and successfully defended
7. 0:29Syria against a Parthian counterattack.
8. 0:32He would go on to commanded a Pompeian fleet during the Civil War, and to everyone's surprise
9. 0:37he proved himself to be Rome's most successful naval commander in a generation.
10. 0:43Not that it made much of a difference, because as we know Pompey was eventually defeated,
11. 0:47and Cassius was captured.
12. 0:49But Caesar recognized talent when he saw it.
13. 0:52He issued Cassius a full and complete pardon, and then put him in charge of one of his legion
14. 0:57destined for Egypt.
15. 1:02The Alexandrian campaign turned out to be was kind of a disaster, but thanks in part
16. 1:06to Cassius's leadership the Romans were able to hold on until reinforcements arrived.
17. 1:12After Egypt, Cassius let Caesar know that he would not participate in the slaughter
18. 1:17of Pompeians, and so Caesar sent him back to Rome.
19. 1:21Cassius payed a professional price for his loyalty, because when it came to the upcoming
20. 1:25Parthian campaign, Caesar planned stick Cassius in a thankless administrative job in Syria.
21. 1:37We've talked about Marcus Brutus before.
22. 1:39There's not that much to be said of his early political career beyond the fact that he aligned
23. 1:43himself with the ultra-conservative Cato.
24. 1:47Unlike Cassius, Brutus was not a military man.
25. 1:50During the Civil War he joined up with the Pompeians, but as far as we can tell he didn't
26. 1:54really do anything.
27. 1:57After Pompey's defeat he immediately surrendered to Caesar, who in turn gave him the fairly
28. 2:01important job of governing Cisalpine Gaul, promising to fast track him all the way up
29. 2:06to Consul in the years to come.
30. 2:08You see, through all of this, Brutus maintained a fairly good personal relationship with Caesar.
31. 2:15Brutus's mother Servilia had been in a romantic relationship with Caesar for about 20 years.
32. 2:20This was not seen as unusual; Servilia was an older woman, twice widowed, plenty of children,
33. 2:26she was free to see whoever she wished.
34. 2:28Because of this relationship, Brutus had known Caesar for his entire adult life, if not longer.
35. 2:34Caesar was happy to help out his mistress' son however he could.
36. 2:43Decimus Brutus, distant cousin, had a different story to tell.
37. 2:47Decimus was an honest-to-God dyed-in-the-wool Caesarian.
38. 2:51He had spent at least five years serving under Caesar in Gaul.
39. 2:55He even fought alongside Caesar and Antony at the at the Battle of Alesia.
40. 2:59You might even say that Decimus was in Caesar's inner circle.
41. 3:04During the Civil War, Decimus stayed behind in Cisalpine Gaul where he impressed everybody
42. 3:09by putting down a pretty bad uprising.
43. 3:12After this, Decimus got the nod from Caesar and was elected Praetor.
44. 3:17Next year, he would be heading off to Cisalpine Gaul once more, this time as its formal governor.
45. 3:27Each of these three men, Cassius, Brutus, and Decimus, came to believe that Caesar intended
46. 3:34to destroy Roman politics by crowning himself king.
47. 3:38In fact, this was already happening before their eyes.
48. 3:42Caesar wielded most of the powers of a king already, and Roman politics were becoming
49. 3:47more and more irrelevant by the day.
50. 3:49In their eyes, the only way out of this mess was to remove Caesar from the equation.
51. 3:54He had to die.
52. 4:04But in order to get a shot at this, first their little conspiracy needed to expand,
53. 4:09and it didn't take very long to get some top tier politicians on board.
54. 4:13People like Gaius Trebonius, a former Consul, general, and veteran of Gallic Wars who had
55. 4:19recently become disillusioned with Caesar over his treatment of the Senate.
56. 4:24People like Tillius Cimber, a Praetor and former Caesarian who saw this conspiracy as
57. 4:30his ticket to power.
58. 4:31People like Publius Servilius Casca, a childhood friend of Caesar's, now a Tribune of the Plebs,
59. 4:38who had since become so alarmed at Caesar's authoritarianism that he signed onto this
60. 4:43conspiracy to end his life.
61. 4:47In the end, sixty Senators joined the conspiracy, which you could argue is too many people,
62. 4:53roughly 7% of the entire Senate.
63. 4:56Way too many to keep a secret.
64. 5:07The sixty conspirators began to meet regularly to strategize their next moves.
65. 5:12The majority argued that the logical next step was to bring Marc Antony on board.
66. 5:17He was Caesar's consular colleague for that year, if he signed off on the assassination
67. 5:22perhaps that would pacify Caesar's legions.
68. 5:25Plus, the conspirators believed that they had a lot to offer Antony.
69. 5:30After Caesar was gone, if Antony could bridge the divide between Caesar's veterans and the
70. 5:35conspirators, he would become one of the most powerful Senators in Rome.
71. 5:40A consensus was forming, but before any definitive action could be planned the former Consul
72. 5:46Trebonius spoke up.
73. 5:48He knew Antony well, as they had both served under Caesar in Gaul.
74. 5:53He revealed to the group that just last year he had personally approached Antony as part
75. 5:59of another conspiracy, and that Antony had flatly turned him down.
76. 6:04When Trebonius revealed this rejection to the old conspiracy, people got spooked, and
77. 6:09the whole thing fell apart.
78. 6:11Why risk tipping their hand, Trebonius argued, when they already knew Antony's answer?
79. 6:17The conspirators were convinced.
80. 6:20Fine, no Antony.
81. 6:23But what about Cicero?
82. 6:25He was one of the few remaining former Consuls who predated Caesar's rise to power.
83. 6:30He was the guy who put down the Catiline Rebellion 20 years earlier.
84. 6:34A hero.
85. 6:35An elder statesman.
86. 6:36Maybe he was the one to lead them out of this mess.
87. 6:40After some debate the conspirators ultimately decided against inviting Cicero into the conspiracy.
88. 6:47We don't 100% know why, but one reason may be that in an effort to influence the new
89. 6:53regime, Cicero had been spending an unhealthy amount of time with Caesarians.
90. 6:58Some conspirators may have feared that he had gone over to the other side.
91. 7:03Another unusual aspect of this conspiracy which may be pertinent here is that it reflected
92. 7:08a strong generational divide.
93. 7:11For whatever reason, the conspiracy consisted almost entirely of men in their early 40s.
94. 7:18Maybe these people just knew each other the best, or maybe they had the most to gain in
95. 7:22a power vacuum, who knows.
96. 7:25Cicero was well into his 60s, and quite simply, nobody in the conspiracy knew him that well.
97. 7:32So Cicero was fraternizing with the Caesarians, and nobody in the conspiracy could vouch for
98. 7:37him.
99. 7:38Fine, Cicero was out.
100. 7:39The conspiracy would have to move ahead in its current form.
101. 7:49One decision that the conspirators came to pretty early on was that the assassination
102. 7:53should occur in public.
103. 7:55This had to be seen by the people as a legitimate act, full of idealism and conviction.
104. 8:00No back alley murders.
105. 8:03But beyond this vague statement of principle, there was very little agreement as to how
106. 8:09they should actually proceed.
107. 8:11Some people threw around the idea of assassinating Caesar as he was overseeing that year's elections.
108. 8:17In a situation like that Caesar would be up on a raised platform, in full view of the
109. 8:23electorate.
110. 8:24That certainly met the criteria of being public, but how exactly were they supposed to pull
111. 8:30this off?
112. 8:31Caesar would be up in an exclusive VIP area surrounded by supporters.
113. 8:35And even if they did pull it off, an assassination before the entire electorate had a 100% chance
114. 8:42of causing a riot.
115. 8:44The conspirators might not survive.
116. 8:48Others considered killing him on the way to the elections.
117. 8:51If they could predict his route ahead of time, they could set up an ambush as he was crossing
118. 8:55a bridge.
119. 8:57Caesar would have bodyguards, there would be a tussle, but some of the conspirators
120. 9:01believed that if they moved quickly they might be able to rush Caesar and push him off the
121. 9:06side of the bridge.
122. 9:07This probably wouldn't kill him, but they could have assassins waiting below to finish
123. 9:12the job.
124. 9:14This was a better plan, but it was extremely complicated, and a big part of it relied on
125. 9:19the physical prowess of a bunch of nerdy ass politicians.
126. 9:22They then toyed with yet another plan.
127. 9:26As a side business, Decimus happened to run a company of gladiators.
128. 9:31The conspirators discussed using these gladiators to somehow attack Caesar at some public games.
129. 9:37You know, leave the killing to the professionals.
130. 9:41So they had three plans on the table.
131. 9:44The Election Plan, The Bridge Plan, and The Gladiator Plan.
132. 9:47The conspirators went back and forth for meeting after meeting after meeting debating pros
133. 9:53and cons.
134. 9:55Each scenario introduced a dangerous amount of uncertainty into the equation, and the
135. 10:00group struggled to come up with any sort of consensus.
136. 10:03This is one of the downsides of having 60 people in the conspiracy.
137. 10:08When's the last time 60 people agreed upon anything?
138. 10:11But then, out of nowhere, Caesar publicly announced what up until now had been a closely
139. 10:17held secret.
140. 10:19He would be leaving Rome on March 18th.
141. 10:22The conspirators had been operating under the assumption that they would have months
142. 10:26to figure out a plan.
143. 10:27They were wrong.
144. 10:29They had weeks.
145. 10:31This changed everything.
146. 10:32All of the old plans were thrown away, and the conspirators started again from scratch.
147. 10:37They still agreed that the assassination still needed to happen in a public place, but after
148. 10:42debating the old plans they now knew that it also needed to happen in a controlled environment,
149. 10:48preferably away from bodyguards and potential rioters.
150. 10:51On top of all that, this new time constraint meant that they had to throw the whole thing
151. 10:56together quickly.
152. 10:58It couldn't be too elaborate.
153. 11:01You know, Senate meetings happened all the time.
154. 11:05A Senate meeting wouldn't wouldn't require any additional prep work.
155. 11:09It also had the virtue of still technically being a public place, while at the same time
156. 11:14being nice and isolated.
157. 11:16Caesar's bodyguards would not be allowed inside.
158. 11:19And then there was the whole symbolic thing, removing a tyrant during a Senate meeting.
159. 11:24This was perfect.
160. 11:25Finally, the conspirators agreed on something.
161. 11:27Now all they had to do was figure out the particulars.
162. 11:33Caesar would be leaving on March 18th, so they agreed that their attack should take
163. 11:37place during the last Senate meeting before his departure.
164. 11:41That would be March 15th, the Ides of March.
165. 11:46But coordinating this wasn't as simple as you might think.
166. 11:48Caesar was personally financing a complete redesign of Rome's downtown area, which included
167. 11:54Rome's old Senate house.
168. 11:56Because of this, the Senate had been randomly meeting in various temples scattered throughout
169. 12:01the city.
170. 12:02The conspirators agreed that the safest thing to do would be to stash some weapons on location,
171. 12:08but because of all of this bouncing they couldn't be 100% certain where this particular Senate
172. 12:13meeting would be taking place.
173. 12:15So instead, they decided that a select group of Senators needed to hide daggers in their
174. 12:20togas.
175. 12:21This would be dangerous, as it was a death penalty offense to carry a dagger inside the
176. 12:26pomerium.
177. 12:27But it had to be done.
178. 12:29For everybody else, they decided to smuggle weapons into the Senate meeting using these
179. 12:34baskets that were always full of note taking materials.
180. 12:38If the location of the meeting was changed at the last minute these baskets would HOPEFULLY
181. 12:42come with them.
182. 12:46Late in this process, Cassius brought up something that had been troubling him.
183. 12:51What about Antony?
184. 12:53Caesar and Antony were co-Consuls for that year, and if this thing was going down during
185. 12:58a Senate meeting, Antony would be only a few paces away.
186. 13:01Knowing him, he'd probably put up a fight.
187. 13:05Plus, if they were successful, Antony would be Rome's only remaining Consul.
188. 13:10What if he was angry?
189. 13:11What if he came after them?
190. 13:13Wouldn't it be much safer to just kill them both?
191. 13:17Cassius then went one step further.
192. 13:21So long as they're having this conversation, what about Lepidus?
193. 13:24He wasn't a Consul or anything, but he was sitting on Tiber Island just outside of Rome's
194. 13:29pomerium with a full legion.
195. 13:31If Antony declared a state of emergency or something, he might ask Lepidus to cross the
196. 13:36pomerium and restore order.
197. 13:39This would be a disaster.
198. 13:42Cassius continued, if on the other hand, they took out Caesar, they took out Antony, they
199. 13:47took out Lepidus, they took control of that legion, they would probably be able to pressure
200. 13:52the Senate into endorsing the assassinations retroactively.
201. 13:59Brutus strongly disagreed.
202. 14:00They were not revolutionaries.
203. 14:02They were not here to overthrow the government.
204. 14:05In fact, that's exactly what they were trying to prevent!
205. 14:09What they had all agreed to do was remove a tyrant.
206. 14:13What Cassius was talking about was a purge.
207. 14:19This argument escalated, and eventually it split the conspirators along partisan lines.
208. 14:25The former Pompeians sided with Cassius, and the former Caesarians sided with Brutus.
209. 14:31After some high drama, Brutus finally turned the tide.
210. 14:35He told the group that like it or not, Caesar's reforms were popular.
211. 14:41If they started down the road of purging Caesarians, they would inevitably eventually start repealing
212. 14:47Caesarian legislation as well.
213. 14:50They wouldn't be able to help themselves.
214. 14:53When that happened, Brutus said, the Roman people would turn on them.
215. 14:57It would forever politicize the assassination.
216. 15:00A better path, he argued, was to surgically remove the rot at the heart of Roman politics.
217. 15:08Once Caesar was gone, everything else got easier.
218. 15:12This argument convinced Cassius and the the ex-Pompeians.
219. 15:15Fine, no purges.
220. 15:18Caesar only.
221. 15:27So what was Caesar doing while this was going on?
222. 15:31Just going about his business, making preparations for the upcoming campaigns.
223. 15:34But he wasn't totally oblivious to the fact that something strange was going on.
224. 15:40Around this time, the priest Spurinna, who in my opinion probably had contacts inside
225. 15:45the conspiracy, began to warn Caesar to "beware the Ides of March."
226. 15:52Caesar was getting other clues as well, although in the moment he didn't quite know what to
227. 15:56make of them.
228. 15:57For instance, days before the Ides he pulled Cassius aside for a quick meeting.
229. 16:02When Cassius left, Caesar turned to one of his aids and said something like "what's his
230. 16:08problem?
231. 16:09He looks sick."
232. 16:11On the day before the Ides of March, Lepidus invited Caesar and Decimus to his home for
233. 16:17dinner and drinks.
234. 16:19As one of the original three conspirators Decimus had been careful to stay on good terms
235. 16:24with the Caesarians, and apparently this strategy was paying off because even at this late stage
236. 16:30he was still in Caesar's inner circle.
237. 16:33The three men ate and drank and chatted late into the night.
238. 16:38Much of the conversation centered around the upcoming Dacian and Parthian wars.
239. 16:43Caesar and Lepidus would be leaving in a few days to meet up with the legions, and Decimus
240. 16:46would be leaving later in the year to go and take over as the governor of Cisalpine Gaul.
241. 16:52This province would be key to keeping the Caesar supplied in Dacia, and so the three
242. 16:56men spoke of stockpiles and supply lines and oh boy it must have been RIVETING.
243. 17:04As the night wore on and the drinking took its toll, the conversation turned philosophical.
244. 17:09Somehow, somebody brought up this question: "what's the best way to die?"
245. 17:15Lepidus and Decimus went back and forth pontificating, and Caesar got uncharacteristically quiet.
246. 17:23After a bit, he made up his mind, and told the others that the best way to die would
247. 17:28be "suddenly, and unexpected."
248. 17:31When I imagine this incident, I imagine of a half drunk Decimus dying inside and trying
249. 17:37to think of a way to change the subject.
250. 17:41But it was fine.
251. 17:43Eventually, the evening wound down and everybody went home.
252. 17:55The next morning, Caesar awoke to the sound of screaming.
253. 17:59It was still hours before dawn, and his wife Calpurnia was inconsolable.
254. 18:05She told him that she had just experienced the most vivid dream of her life, where she
255. 18:10witnessed the roof on their home collapse.
256. 18:13In the last moments of the dream, the part where she was quite literally screaming, she
257. 18:18saw herself covered in blood and holding Caesar's mangled corpse in her arms.
258. 18:26After this, both husband and wife found it impossible to go back to sleep, so they got
259. 18:30up and spent hours talking as they waited for dawn.
260. 18:35The ancient sources take care to point out that Calpurnia was basically an atheist, and
261. 18:40that she wasn't the kind of person who believed in prophetic dreams.
262. 18:44By now Calpurnia had definitely heard Spurinna's warnings to "beware the Ides of March."
263. 18:51Today was the Ides.
264. 18:52Calpurnia's subconscious appeared was playing out a version of the thing that she feared
265. 18:56the most.
266. 18:59When the sun came up, Caesar complained to his wife that he was feeling sluggish and
267. 19:03dizzy.
268. 19:05Some historians have taken this to mean that Caesar may have had a seizure in his sleep,
269. 19:09but with the drinking the night before how could you possibly say.
270. 19:13That morning, Caesar was scheduled to make an appearance at some minor religious ceremony
271. 19:18in his capacity as Rome's chief priest.
272. 19:21This thing would have taken place literally steps from Caesar's front door, not a big
273. 19:25time commitment.
274. 19:27Caesar went to the ceremony, and spotted Spurinna across the crowd.
275. 19:32Caesar playfully called out to him, "the Ides of March have come!"
276. 19:36Spurinna responded mysteriously.
277. 19:38"Yes, the Ides have come, but they have not yet gone."
278. 19:45When Caesar returned home, he complained to Calpurnia that he was still wasn't feeling
279. 19:49well.
280. 19:50The two talked it over for a bit, and they eventually decided that since Caesar would
281. 19:54be leaving on campaign in a few days, he should rest and recover while possible.
282. 19:59The Senate was scheduled to meet that day, so Caesar sent word to Antony to go ahead
283. 20:04and cancel the meeting on account of him being sick.
284. 20:09Caesar had just unknowingly upended the conspiracy.
285. 20:19Like a flash, Decimus showed up at Caesar's home and asked him why he was cancelling the
286. 20:24meeting.
287. 20:25Caesar told him about Calpurnia's dream, and about how neither of them had really gotten
288. 20:29any sleep.
289. 20:31Decimus laughed in Caesar's face, calling the whole thing superstitious nonsense.
290. 20:36He then played up the misogyny angle, and said that if it got out that he was cancelling
291. 20:41Senate meetings on account of his wife's bad dreams, a lot of Senators would take it as
292. 20:46a deliberate insult.
293. 20:48After a pause, Decimus was like, "I'm not supposed to tell you this," and then revealed
294. 20:53that certain Senators had been working behind the scenes on a bill that would allow Caesar
295. 20:59to use the title of King so long as he was outside Italy.
296. 21:04Decimus continued, saying that the bill was not universally supported, and so if Caesar
297. 21:09insulted the Senate now, it might never see the light of day.
298. 21:16This was boldfaced lie.
299. 21:19The bill did not exist.
300. 21:21Decimus made it all up.
301. 21:24But the lie flattered Caesar's ego, and so it was super effective.
302. 21:29He agreed to go to the Senate meeting.
303. 21:32Decimus's quick thinking had just saved the conspiracy.
304. 21:39On their way, a guy named Artemidorus pushed through the crowd, grabbed Caesar, and put
305. 21:44a scroll in his hand.
306. 21:46He told him, "Caesar, read this quickly, and read it alone.
307. 21:50It concerns you personally."
308. 21:54Caesar was constantly getting approached on the street like this, and so he handed the
309. 21:58scroll off to one of his attendants and continued on his way.
310. 22:02Later investigations would reveal that this scroll contained detailed information about
311. 22:08the conspiracy.
312. 22:09Caesar would never read it.
313. 22:12Now, I mentioned before that the Senate couldn't meet at their normal Senate House, and that
314. 22:17for the time being they were ping ponging around the city to a bunch of temporary locations.
315. 22:23As dumb luck would have it, today's Senate meeting would be happening in a place called
316. 22:28the Theatre of Pompey, outside of Rome's pomerium.
317. 22:30The Theatre of Pompey was actually an entire complex of buildings that had been financed
318. 22:36and built by Pompey at the height of his power.
319. 22:38It included a theatre, an arena, a temple, a place for shopping, all sorts of amenities,
320. 22:44super fancy.
321. 22:45Early in the day the Senate meeting would take place in the temple, and later in the
322. 22:49day there would be some kind of gladiator thing in the arena next door.
323. 22:53Wait a second, gladiators!
324. 22:56Decimus had gladiators!
325. 22:59Apparently when Decimus learned the location of the Senate meeting he tried to get his
326. 23:03gladiators signed up for the games next door.
327. 23:06For whatever reason they were rejected, so instead their plan was to just loiter outside
328. 23:12the arena as if they belonged there.
329. 23:15With their weapons.
330. 23:16In broad daylight.
331. 23:18Not exactly subtle.
332. 23:21In case anybody asked, they had an elaborate cover story prepared about how they were waiting
333. 23:26to see if another gladiator showed up so that they could arrest him for violating a contract.
334. 23:32Anyways, Caesar and Decimus were extremely late to the Senate meeting, so most of the
335. 23:38Senators were hanging around outside the temple and making small talk.
336. 23:49But not Cassius.
337. 23:50He was all alone inside the temple, looking up at a larger-than-life statue of Pompey
338. 23:56in complete silence.
339. 24:01After Pompey's death, Cassius was one of the few who proved his loyalty by refusing to
340. 24:06take up arms against his fellow Pompeians.
341. 24:09What was he thinking here?
342. 24:17Commotion outside indicated that Caesar was approaching, so Cassius snapped out it and
343. 24:22went out to greet him.
344. 24:25Looking around, Cassius would have been able to see a lot of his fellow conspirators in
345. 24:28the crowd.
346. 24:29Cassius hadn't seen Decimus for several hours, so he pulled up beside him and Casca, another
347. 24:36conspirator, just to make sure everything was alright.
348. 24:38A mob of Senators each wanted a private word with Caesar, so they would have to wait a
349. 24:43while before they could head inside.
350. 24:46As Cassius and Decimus and Casca were waiting, some rando Senator named Laenas approached
351. 24:52them and said way too loudly, "Casca!
352. 24:56Brutus told me your little secret, how dare you keep me in the dark like this!"
353. 25:02Casca panicked.
354. 25:03The dude continued, "I hear you're running for Aedile!
355. 25:07When did this happen?"
356. 25:10As Laenas was making a scene, another rando Senator, somebody from outside of the conspiracy,
357. 25:16pulled Cassius and Decimus aside.
358. 25:19In hushed tones, he told them, "I hope that you accomplish your task.
359. 25:23Please, do not delay.
360. 25:25People know, and they are talking."
361. 25:28Cassius and Decimus were stunned by this.
362. 25:31They looked toward Caesar, but everything appeared normal.
363. 25:34At that moment, that loudmouth Laenas made his way over to Caesar, pulled him aside,
364. 25:39and made a big show of whispering something in his ear.
365. 25:43Cassius and Decimus and Casca watched with their hearts in their throats.
366. 25:48Maybe they should just do it now.
367. 25:50Maybe Decimus should go get his gladiators.
368. 25:52But it was nothing.
369. 25:54Laenas walked away, and everybody started making their way inside.
370. 25:59On cue, the conspirator Trebonius pulled Marc Antony aside for a private word.
371. 26:12Caesar entered the temple and took a seat in his special golden chair/throne.
372. 26:18As this was a Senate meeting, his bodyguards remained outside.
373. 26:22Under normal circumstances Antony would be sitting only a few paces away, but for the
374. 26:27moment he was still outside with Trebonius.
375. 26:31This particular Senate meeting was pretty poorly attended.
376. 26:35Of the 900 or so potential attendees, only 2 to 300 actually showed up.
377. 26:41Of this 2 to 300, 60 were in on the conspiracy.
378. 26:45That's what...
379. 26:4620 to 30%?
380. 26:48Massive.
381. 26:49It's no wonder that people were talking.
382. 26:53A signal was given, and a bunch of conspirators rose to their feet and moved toward Caesar.
383. 26:59Tillius Cimber loudly asked Caesar to consider pardoning his brother, an ex-Pompeian who
384. 27:05had fled after the Civil War.
385. 27:08As Cimber made his appeal, the rest of the conspirators slowly fanned out and formed
386. 27:13a perimeter.
387. 27:15Still seated, Caesar answered Cimber, saying that his brother had shown no contrition or
388. 27:20remorse whatsoever, and so no, he wouldn't be pardoning him any time soon.
389. 27:26By the time Caesar was done speaking, Casca was standing directly behind him.
390. 27:31Suddenly, Cimber reached out and grabbed Caesar's toga, yanking it hard, exposing his bare shoulder.
391. 27:39This was the predetermined signal to attack.
392. 27:42Casca immediately drew his dagger and stabbed down as hard as he could.
393. 27:46He missed.
394. 27:47The dagger grazed Caesar's shoulder, and drew a bit of blood.
395. 27:52Caesar grappled with Casca, shouting, "CASCA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
396. 27:56Another version has Caesar shouting, "THIS IS VIOLENCE!"
397. 27:59A quick reminder that Caesar and Casca had known each other since childhood.
398. 28:04Conspirator and non-conspirator alike were frozen in shock.
399. 28:08Caesar and Casca were engaged in a little tug of war, but nobody moved to help either
400. 28:14one of them.
401. 28:15For several long moments, nothing happened.
402. 28:21Casca finally cried out in Greek, "brother, help me!"
403. 28:26Casca's brother Titiedius sprang forward, which broke the spell.
404. 28:30Suddenly, the room was a flurry of activity.
405. 28:33Caesar was able to rise to his feet and get free of Casca.
406. 28:36The first person he saw was Cassius, who drew his blade and slashed Caesar in the face.
407. 28:43Caesar backed away, right into Casca's brother Titiedius, who stabbed him between the ribs.
408. 28:49Two non-conspirators rushed forward to help Caesar, but the conspirators forming the perimeter
409. 28:54held them back.
410. 28:55The rest of the conspirators then pushed in, attacking wildly.
411. 28:59Decimus delivered a nasty wound to Caesar's thigh.
412. 29:03Cassius then struck for a second time, but amid all the pushing and shoving his dagger
413. 29:07was deflected and he ended up hitting Brutus with friendly fire, stabbing him in the hand.
414. 29:13Eventually, Caesar's leg wound got to the better of him, and he fell to the ground.
415. 29:18Brutus came forward, hand still dripping with blood, and hunched down over the Dictator.
416. 29:25Caesar spoke in Greek.
417. 29:27"You too, my child?"
418. 29:29Brutus stabbed Caesar between the legs.
419. 29:32Those were Caesar's last words.
420. 29:35He pulled his toga up over his face to preserve his last shred of dignity, and he died.
421. 29:43Coincidentally, Caesar's body had come to rest directly underneath the statue of Pompey.
422. 30:01Now that the deed was done, many of the conspirators suddenly found their courage and took turns
423. 30:07stabbing Caesar's corpse.
424. 30:09They would be part of the assassination, if only symbolically.
425. 30:15Even with this extra bit of postmortem stabbing, Caesar only sustained a total of 23 wounds.
426. 30:21That means that the vast majority of the conspirators just stood around and watched the assassination.
427. 30:28In fact, using the ancient sources, we can confidently track five of Caesar's wounds.
428. 30:35#1, from Casca, to the shoulder.
429. 30:37#2, from Cassius, to the face.
430. 30:40#3, from Casca's brother Titiedius, between the ribs.
431. 30:44#4, from Decimus, to the thigh. and #5, from Brutus, to the groin.
432. 30:50It's very possible that these five people were the only ones who struck Caesar while
433. 30:57he was still alive.
434. 30:58The remaining 18 stabbings may all have been postmortem.
435. 31:04Earlier I said that the conspiracy was arguably too large, but maybe I was wrong.
436. 31:09When the big moment came, an many as 90% of the conspirators did nothing.
437. 31:15Later examination of Caesar's body revealed that of his 23 wounds, 22 were superficial,
438. 31:22and only 1 was fatal.
439. 31:24The fatal wound was stabbing #3, the shot between the ribs delivered by Casca's brother
440. 31:29Titiedius.
441. 31:40The assassination was over in like a minute.
442. 31:43Many Senators never even got a chance to leave their seats.
443. 31:46Silenced filled the room.
444. 31:52Marcus Brutus, his hands covered in blood, both Caesar's and his own, was the first to
445. 31:58move.
446. 32:00He approached the seated Senators, pointed to one Senator in particular, and shouted,
447. 32:08"CONGRATULATIONS, CICERO!
448. 32:10YOU'VE REGAINED YOUR LIBERTY!"