Ancient Rome · 15 March 44 BCE
Who Killed Julius Caesar — and Why?
Julius Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March — 15 March 44 BCE — stabbed 23 times at a Senate meeting in the Curia of Pompey in Rome. The plot involved about 60 senators, led by Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius, who believed killing the newly declared dictator for life would save the Republic. It did the opposite: the murder triggered civil wars that ended with Caesar's heir Augustus as Rome's first emperor.
Key facts
- A month before his death, Caesar had been named dictator perpetuo — dictator for life — shattering the Republic's most basic rule: no permanent kings.
- Of the 23 wounds, a physician reported only one was fatal — the conspirators' frenzy was real, their skill less so; several stabbed each other in the scrum.
- "Et tu, Brute?" is Shakespeare, not history: Suetonius records Caesar's rumored last words as Greek — "kai su, teknon?" ("you too, child?") — and adds he may have said nothing at all.
- Caesar fell at the base of a statue of Pompey, the rival he had defeated in civil war — a detail even ancient writers found almost too poetic.
- Rome's Senate never met in the Curia of Pompey again; the site was walled up. Today its ruins are part of a protected cat sanctuary in Largo di Torre Argentina.
Why the Senate turned on Caesar
By 44 BCE Caesar had won the civil war against Pompey, pardoned many of his enemies, and accumulated honors no Roman had ever held: consecutive consulships, his face on coins in his lifetime, a month renamed for him (July), and finally, in February 44, the title dictator perpetuo. The dictatorship was a legal, temporary emergency office — Caesar made it permanent, which to Roman ears meant one thing: rex. King. Rome had expelled its kings 450 years earlier and made hatred of monarchy its founding myth.
The conspirators — self-styled Liberatores — were a mix of motives: principled republicans like Brutus (whose ancestor had expelled the last king), resentful pardoned Pompeians like Cassius, and even disappointed Caesarian officers. What united them was the conviction, sincere or convenient, that the Republic could not survive Caesar alive. Brutus's participation gave the plot its moral cover — which is exactly why Cassius recruited him.
The Ides of March: how it happened
The Senate met on 15 March in the Curia of Pompey. Caesar almost didn't come — he was unwell, his wife Calpurnia had ominous dreams, and a soothsayer had warned him of the Ides — but the conspirator Decimus Brutus, a trusted friend, personally talked him into attending. Caesar had recently dismissed his bodyguard.
Inside, Tillius Cimber approached with a petition and yanked Caesar's toga — the signal. Casca struck first, a glancing blow to the neck; Caesar fought back until, seeing Brutus among the blades, he covered his face with his toga and fell at Pompey's statue. Twenty-three wounds; one, to the chest, fatal — per the physician Antistius, who examined the body in what is history's first recorded autopsy report. The assassins marched out proclaiming liberty. Rome responded with shuttered doors and silence.
The gamble that backfired
The Liberatores had planned a murder but not a government. They killed Caesar and then — fatally — spared his deputy Mark Antony and let Caesar's will be read publicly: generous cash gifts to every citizen and his gardens left as a public park. At the funeral, Antony's oration over the wound-torn body flipped the city; the crowd burned the Senate house and hunted the conspirators from Rome.
Then came the twist no one saw: Caesar's will adopted his 18-year-old great-nephew Octavian as son and heir. Within two years Brutus and Cassius were dead at Philippi; within fourteen, Octavian had eliminated Antony too and become Augustus — emperor in all but name, ruling for over 40 years. The daggers meant to prevent a monarchy delivered one, more absolute and more durable than anything Caesar had attempted. "They killed the man," as historians have put it ever since, "and got the system he was accused of wanting."
Timeline at a glance
- 49 BCE — Caesar crosses the Rubicon — civil war against Pompey begins
- 48 BCE — Pompey defeated at Pharsalus, then murdered in Egypt
- Feb 44 BCE — Caesar named dictator perpetuo — dictator for life
- 15 Mar 44 BCE — Assassination in the Curia of Pompey: 23 wounds, ~60 conspirators
- 42 BCE — Brutus and Cassius defeated and dead at Philippi
- 27 BCE — Octavian becomes Augustus — Rome's first emperor
Frequently asked questions
How many people stabbed Julius Caesar?
Around 60 senators joined the conspiracy; Caesar received 23 stab wounds. According to the physician Antistius, who examined the body, only one wound — to the chest — was fatal.
Did Caesar really say "Et tu, Brute?"
No — that line is Shakespeare's (1599). The ancient historian Suetonius reports a rumor that Caesar said in Greek "kai su, teknon?" ("you too, child?") to Brutus, but adds that others said he died silently, covering his face with his toga.
What happened to Brutus and the assassins?
Nearly all died within three years. Rome turned against them after Antony's funeral oration; Brutus and Cassius raised armies in the east but were defeated at Philippi in 42 BCE, where both died by suicide. Reportedly, not one assassin died a natural death.
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