in a circle Plutarch, Caesar 66.10.
Plutarch’s description of Caesar being driven Plutarch, Caesar 66.10.
Two ancient sources use the language of a sacrifice Plutarch, Caesar 66.11, cf. Brutus 10.1; Florus, Epitome of Roman History 2.13.92.
Nicolaus mentions three besides Casca Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 24.89.
Nicolaus also says that Cassius tried for a second blow Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 24.89.
Appian agrees that Cassius struck Caesar in the face Appian, Civil Wars 2.117.
Plutarch says that Brutus struck Caesar in the groin Plutarch, Caesar 66.11.
“Et tu, Brute?” or “You too, Brutus?” Shakespeare, Julius Caesar 3.1.77.
“kai su, teknon” which means, “you too, child” Suetonius, Julius Caesar 82.2; Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.19.5
he might have been quoting Caesar Pelling, Plutarch Caesar 482–83.
of modesty Valerius Maximus, Memorable Deeds and Sayings 4.5.6.
Suetonius states, and Dio implies Suetonius, Julius Caesar 82.2; Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.19.5.
According to Plutarch, it was only when he saw Brutus approach him Plutarch, Caesar 66.12, Brutus 17.6.
Less probable, Appian has Caesar do so after Brutus strikes him Appian, Civil Wars 2.117.
Suetonius adds that Caesar also drew his toga over his legs Suetonius, Julius Caesar 82.2; Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.19.5.
Valerius Maximus, a Roman writer of the first century A.D. Valerius Maximus, Memorable Deeds and Sayings 4.5.6.
Brutus, for example, had a wound in his hand Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 24.89.
No fewer than eight ancient sources say that Livy, Periochae 116; Plutarch, Caesar 66.7; Suetonius, Julius Caesar 82.3; Appian, Civil Wars 2.117 and 147; Valerius Maximus, Memorable Deeds and Sayings 4.5.6; Florus, Epitome of Roman History 2.13.95; Eutropius, Abridgement of Roman History 6.25; Zonaras, Epitome of Histories 10.11.
Nicolaus explicitly says otherwise Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 24.90.
He also says, alone of the sources, that Caesar received thirty-fve wounds Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 24.90.
there were more than eighty conspirators in total Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 19.59.
but it sounds like a poetic touch, echoing the mistreatment of Hector’s corpse Homer, Iliad 22.371, Toher, commentary ad loc.
great joy from seeing with his own eyes the just death of a tyrant Cicero, Letters to Atticus 14.14.4.
why Censorinus took on the undesirable role of a seller of public property J. T. Ramsey, “Did Julius Caesar Temporarily Banish Mark Antony from His Inner Circle?,” Classical Quarterly 54. 1 (2004): 168–69.
too shocked and horrified Plutarch, Caesar 66.9.
Nicolaus tells us only that the conspirators bore down on them Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 26.96.
Antistius Suetonius, Julius Caesar 82.2.
Assuming that this was Gaius Casca’s wound Wolfgang Klemm, Caesar, Biografie, vol. 2 (Vienna and Munich: Neckenmarkt, 2009), 185, 209.
“Thus he who had filled the whole world with the blood” Florus, Epitome of Roman History 2.13.95.
Caesar fell at the foot of the statue Professor Antonio Monterroso, University of Córdoba and Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), an archaeologist who resurveyed the ruins of Pompey’s Senate House, announced in 2012 that he had found evidence of a monument to mark the precise spot where Caesar fell, at the eastern end of the building where the tribunal would have stood. But other scholars responded with skepticism and the debate continues. See “Spanish researchers find the exact spot where Julius Caesar was stabbed,” ScienceDaily www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121010102158.htm (accessed February 2, 2014).
blood flowed from his woolen garments to the statue base Plutarch, Caesar 66.13.
“in that Senate, the greater part of which he had chosen” Cicero, On Divination 2.23. Cicero exaggerates. On a more sober estimate Caesar had handpicked more than a third of the members of the Roman Senate. Martin Jehne, Der Staat des Dictators Caesar (Cologne, Germany: Böhlau, 1987), 393, 404; Ronald Syme, Roman Papers, vol. 1, ed. E. Badian (Oxford: Clarendon Press, New York: Oxford University Press, 1979), 98–99.
CHAPTER 9. A REPUBLIC IN THE BALANCE
They folded their togas around their left arms like shields Appian, Civil Wars 2.119; Plutarch, Tiberius Gracchus 19.4.
Cretan archers Plutarch, Gaius Gracchus 16.3.
vengeance of Caesar’s soldiers Appian, Civil Wars 2.119; Florus, Epitome of Roman History 2.17.2.
“with manly spirit but childish judgment” Cicero, Letters to Atticus 14.21.3.
The story that he exchanged his consul’s toga for slave’s clothes Plutarch, Antony 14.1.
Still, some Romans hid themselves in their homes Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 26.95; Plutarch, Caesar 67.1–2, Brutus 18.3, Antony 19.1. Appian, Civil Wars 2.118; Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.22.2; Cicero, Philippics 2.88.
Some say that earlier he tried to address the senators Plutarch, Caesar 67.1, Brutus 18.1; Appian, Civil Wars 2.119.
Appian says the conspirators expected the other senators Appian, Civil Wars 2.115.
This was not murder, said Brutus Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 25.92.
They had planned this move in advance Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 25.94.
Cassius, Brutus, and Decimus led them, along with Decimus’s gladiators Velleius Paterculus, Roman History 2.58.1–2.
daggers drawn—“naked,” as the ancient expression says Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 25.94, cf. 25.91; Plutarch, Brutus 18.3.
Nicolaus says they ran in flight; Plutarch says Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 25.94; Plutarch, Caesar 67.3, cf. Brutus 18.7.
They agree that the men cried out Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 25.94; Plutarch, Caesar 67.3, cf. Brutus 18.7.
Appian claims that one assassin carried a freedman’s felt cap Appian, Civil Wars 2.119.
Cicero claims that some of them called out his name Cicero, Philippics 2.28 and 30; Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.20.4.
Between them, Appian and Plutarch name some half-dozen men Plutarch, Caesar 67.4; Appian, Civil Wars 2.119.
Lentulus Spinther Cicero, Letters to Friends 12.14.
Gaius Octavius T. P. Wiseman, “Some Republican Senators and their Tribes,” Classical Quarterly 14 (1964): 124.
Marcus Aquinus On Marcus Aquinus, Patiscus, L. Staius Murcus, and Dolabella, see Pelling commentary on Plutarch Caesar 67.4, 487–88.
Still the sources report looting and frightened people Appian, Civil Wars 2.118; Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.20.2–3.
it was not much bigger than today’s St. Peter’s Square The square is about 20 acres or 8 hectares. The highest point of the Capitoline Hill stands about 160 feet (49 m) above sea level.
the conspirators divided the terrain into sectors Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 25.94.
“occupied the Capitol” Velleius Paterculus, History of Rome 2.58.2, cf. Livy, Periochae 116.
Some thought the killing of Caesar was the fairest of deeds Tacitus, Annals 1.8; Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 26a.99.
“justly slain”—iure caesus Suetonius, Julius Caesar 76.1; Cicero, Philippics 13.2.
“the wickedest man ever killed” Cicero, Letters to Atticus 12.2, trans D. R. Shackleton Bailey, Cicero: Epistulae ad Familiares: vol. 2, 47–43 BC (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1977), 481.
To Cicero, the conspirators were liberators Cicero, Letters to Friends 11.27.8.
To Caesar’s dear friend Gaius Matius, Caesar was a very great man Cicero, Letters to Atticus 11.28.
As Caesar’s friends saw things Velleius Paterc
ulus, History of Rome 2.57.1; cf. Cicero, Letters to Atticus 14.22.2.
“jealousy of his fortune and power” Appian, Civil Wars 2.111.1; Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.1.1; Florus, Epitome of Roman History 2.13.92.
“Congratulations!” Cicero, Letters to Friends 6.15.
To Decimus he called it the greatest deed in history Cicero, Letters to Friends 11.5.1.
“Has anything greater ever been done, by holy Jupiter” Cicero, Philippics 2.32.
When Brutus addressed his visitors Plutarch, Brutus 18.9–11.
Nicolaus of Damascus says that gladiators and slaves protected them Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 26a.99.
Nicolaus scoffed at Brutus’s “supposed reasonableness” Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 26a.99.
Plutarch, who saw Brutus as a hero Plutarch, Brutus 18.11.
Just a month earlier, Caesar had sat on the same platform Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 26a.99; Plutarch, Brutus 18.11, Caesar 61.4.
his hand was still injured Appian, Civil Wars 2.122.
As he came forward Plutarch, Brutus 18.12; Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 26a.100; Appian, Civil Wars 2.122.
he had what the Romans called gravitas Tacitus, Dialogue on Oratory 25.5.
tedious and lax Tacitus, Dialogue on Oratory 18.5.
dull and cold Tacitus, Dialogue on Oratory 21.5, referring to Brutus’s speech for King Deiotarus.
accuses them of boastfulness and self-congratulation Appian, Civil Wars 2.122, cf. Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.21.
Nicolaus is probably referring to Cassius Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 26a.99.
“burning with enthusiasm” for Brutus and Cassius Cicero, Letters to Atticus 15.11.2.
Nicolaus says that many people came to join the men on the Capitoline Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 17.49.
Appian maintains just the opposite—the people hated the assassins Appian, Civil Wars 2.122.
Plutarch says that the crowd was silent Plutarch, Caesar 67.7, Brutus 13.
Nicolaus says that the people were confused and anxious Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 27.100.
that his goal was liberty and peace Cicero, Letters to Friends 11.2.2.
Plutarch says this showed how much the people objected Plutarch, Brutus 18.12–13, cf. Appian, Civil Wars 2.121, 126.
a kinship relationship by marriage For an example, see Eutropius, Abridgement of Roman History 10.5—Constantine’s attack on his sister’s husband Licinius as an example of misuse of this kinship relationship.
Some sources say that Dolabella As reported by Appian, Civil Wars 2.122.
Public opinion was still up for grabs. Robert Morstein-Marx, Mass Oratory and Political Power in the Late Roman Republic (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 150–58, esp. 157, is groundbreaking on this subject.
Cicero, who reports the news Cicero, Philippics 2.89.
“first day on the Capitoline” Cicero, Letters to Atticus 14.10.1.
“By the immortal gods” Cicero, Letters to Atticus 14.10.1.
“the two Brutuses [that is, Brutus and Decimus] and Cassius” Cornelius Nepos, Life of Atticus 8.1. See also Tacitus, Annals 1.10. On Nepos and his politics, see Cynthia Damon, Nepos, Life of Atticus (Bryn Mawr, PA: Thomas Library, Bryn Mawr College, 1993), 1–2.
“the whole state moved towards them” Cornelius Nepos, Life of Atticus 8.1.
If Appian is right, most of the senators sympathized Appian, Civil Wars 2.127.
“Enough service to a tyrant” Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 26.95.
These three ordinary slaves carried Caesar’s litter home Suetonius, Julius Caesar 82.3, 47.
Since it took four slaves to carry a litter Suetonius, Julius Caesar 82.3; Appian, Civil Wars 2.118.
The curtains of the litter were raised and people could see Suetonius, Julius Caesar 82.3; Appian, Civil Wars 2.118.
According to Nicolaus, they cried at the sight Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 26.97.
Remembering her warning that morning, she called Caesar’s name Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 26.97.
Suetonius says that the conspirators planned to drag Caesar’s body Suetonius, Julius Caesar 82.4.
Sometime before the day ended, a storm hit Rome Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.52.1. Pseudo-Aurelius Victor, De viris illustribus 78.10, says that on the day of Caesar’s funeral the sun hid its orb.
As the sun set Actually, apparent sunset (slightly later than actual sunset). See http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/grad/solcalc/; Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 27.101–2.
a paradox Elizabeth Rawson, “The Aftermath of the Ides,” in J. A. Crook, Andrew Lintott, and Elizabeth Rawson, eds., The Cambridge Ancient History, 2nd ed., vol. 9, The Last Age of the Roman Republic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 468.
The men who seized and defended the Capitoline Hill Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 25.94; Florus, Epitome of Roman History 2.17.2.
Lepidus moved his soldiers Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 27.106; Zonaras, Epitome of Histories 10.12 (492C).
Lepidus called a Public Meeting and delivered a speech Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.22.2.
Lepidus was ready Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 27.103, 106.
a gathering of Caesar’s close supporters in Mark Antony’s house Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 26.106.
Carinae, or the Keels Located northeast of the Forum on the saddle of land between the Oppian and Velian Hills, the Carinae lay roughly between the modern Colosseo metro station and the church of San Pietro in Vincoli.
because certain buildings Or possibly because the lay of the land looked like a row of upturned boats. See Lawrence Richardson, A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992), 71.
The meeting lasted until evening Appian, Civil Wars 2.124. On the details of the meeting see also Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 27.106.
Matius feared an uprising in Belgian Gaul Cicero, Letters to Atticus 14.1.1, 14.9.3.
Sextus Pompey Cicero, Letters to Atticus 16.4.2.
Antony had no troops of his own Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.34.5–6.
The conferees at Antony’s house decided to negotiate Appian, Civil Wars 2.124.
What followed was a long night in Rome Appian, Civil Wars 2.125, 134.
Antony got control both of Caesar’s private fortune and his state papers Appian, Civil Wars 2.125.
According to Plutarch, Caesar’s fortune amounted to 4,000 talents Plutarch, Antony 15; probably equivalent to 25 million denarii or 100 million sesterces. See Plutarch, Cicero 43.8; Appian, Civil Wars 3.17; Christopher Pelling, Life of Antony/Plutarch (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988), commentary ad loc., 155.
Cinna appeared for the meeting Appian, Civil Wars 2.126; Cicero, Letters to Atticus 14.14.2, Philippics 2.89.
By now, March 17, more of Caesar’s veterans were starting to arrive Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 17.49, 27.103.
Nicolaus claims that most of the conspirators’ supporters melted away Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Caesar Augustus 17.49.
leader of the Early Republic Spurius Cassius Vicellinus, executed 485 B.C.
map of Italy Or possibly an allegorical representation. Varro, On Agriculture 1.2.1; Lawrence Richardson, A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992), 379.
The details of the debate come largely from Appian and Cassius Dio For the points in the following paragraphs see Appian, Civil Wars 2.126–35; Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.22–34.
Transalpine Gaul Unlike the previous situation, the province now comprised central and northern France as well as Belgium but
not Provence or Marseille, which were now separate.
would later father a son who became Emperor Tiberius Suetonius, Tiberius 4.1.
“Peace!” called some and “vengeance!” cried others Appian, Civil Wars 2.131.
Cicero gave a long speech Cicero, Philippics 1.1; Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.22–34; Plutarch, Cicero 42.3; Livy, Periochae 116.4.
Cicero called Caesar a king in private Cicero, Letters to Atticus 13.37.2.
“since it is advantageous to the state” Appian, Civil Wars 2.135.
Antony moved to abolish the dictatorship Cicero, Philippics 1.3, 2.91.
considered this merely a tactical retreat Cicero, Philippics 2.90–92.
Cicero later said in private Cicero, Letters to Atticus 14.10.1, 14.14.2; Philippics 1.1.
Temple of Jupiter Appian, Civil Wars 2.141.
Appian reports what Brutus is supposed to have said Appian, Civil Wars 2.137–42.
Cicero wanted thunderbolts Cicero, Letters to Atticus 15.1a.2.
He understood their anxiety Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.34.5.
In addition to Antony and Dolabella, Cicero spoke Appian, Civil Wars 2.142.
Dio says that the conspirators sent a letter down the hill Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.34.3.
and even, says Dio, swore the strongest oaths Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.34.3.
hostages Appian, Civil Wars 2.142; Joel Allen, Hostages and Hostage-Taking in the Roman Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 47–48.
Perhaps, as Appian says, Antony and Dolabella fretted Appian, Civil Wars 2.142.
To some, it looked like the majority of Romans were glad Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.35.1; Livy, Periochae 116.4.
He asked Cassius if he had a dagger under his armpit Cassius Dio, Roman History 44.34.7.
CHAPTER 10. A FUNERAL TO REMEMBER
The Senate was meeting again Plutarch, Brutus 20.1; Appian, Civil Wars 2.135–36; Suetonius, Julius Caesar 83.1.
So, in private, did Cicero’s friend Atticus Cicero, Letters to Atticus 14.10.1, 14.14.3.
as Appian has Antony say, Caesar’s soldiers would never tolerate it Appian, Civil Wars 2.134.
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