Julius Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC. The image most people remember is two assassins. Roughly how many senators were actually in on the conspiracy?
Approximately 60 senators were in the conspiracy, although only a fraction were active in the actual stabbing in the Theatre of Pompey. The 23 wounds reported in the autopsy weren't all from the same person. Brutus and Cassius were the political organisers; the stabbing itself was a group act, with each conspirator expected to make a personal contribution. Caesar's body lay where it fell for some hours before being recovered. None of the assassins survived the resulting civil war; Brutus and Cassius died at Philippi in 42 BC.
Read the full facts →Gaius Julius Caesar (100–44 BC) was a Roman general, politician, and historian whose conquest of Gaul, civil war against the senate-aligned Pompey, and dictatorial rule of Rome marked the effective end of the Roman Republic. His assassination on the Ides of March 44 BC triggered a second civil war that ended with his adopted heir Octavian becoming the first Roman emperor.
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