Top 10 Facts about the Death of Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar by Andreas Wahra from Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Facts about the Death of Julius Caesar

A group of senators in the Roman Senate killed Roman emperor Julius Caesar on March 15, 44 BCE because they thought he had grown to be an all-powerful tyrant. In his tragedy Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare immortalised the incident, and scholars continue to argue his legacy even today.

But there are some details concerning Caesar’s tragic demise that you probably didn’t know.

1. There were 23 stab wounds on Julius Caesar

On the Ides of March, Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times, but only one of them—the second one, to the breast—proved deadly to the 55-year-old. Military historian Barry Strauss claims in his book The Death of Caesar.  The Story of History’s Most Famous Assassination that the issue was that many of the alleged 60 conspirators were novice murderers. 

According to Strauss, “few troops, even good ones, have what it takes to stab a guy to death.” To pierce a man’s flesh with a dagger, one needs extreme physical power and savagery. A few of the stabbings struck the rib cage bone. Not lethal, but excruciatingly unpleasant.

2. He had no bodyguards present 

Ingeniously, the conspirators waited until Caesar sat down in his golden chair for the Senate tribunal in the Teatro di Pompeo, which put some of them in a position to sneak up behind him and stab him in the back.

In order to prevent Mark Antony from assisting Caesar, a protracted conversation was purposefully kept going outside the room. Caesar didn’t have bodyguards since the members of his entourage, which included former soldiers and gladiators with axes, couldn’t enter the Senate.

3. He most likely suffered a slow death

Caesar’s woollen toga, which was coloured a reddish purple and embroidered with gold and absorbed most of the blood, was another factor that prevented him from dying an extremely rapid death. The killers’ togas made it simple to hide their knives as well.

4. The murderers were intelligent, well-educated individuals

The murderers were intelligent, well-educated individuals. The initial strike was delivered by Casca, a tribune of the people, while Brutus and Cassius were both praetors (second only to consuls).

The worst treachery was probably committed by Decimus, a longtime comrade, friend, and fellow diner the previous evening, who practically took Caesar by the hand into the senate despite the fact that Brutus receives the worst press (“Et tu, Brute,” as Shakespeare tells us). He was allegedly irritated by being passed over for second-in-command and his ambitious wife, who came from a family that had backed Caesar’s adversary, Pompey, during the Civil War.

5. There’s a famous painting that depicts his death

Julius Caesar by Rlbberlin from Wikimedia Commons

The Death of Caesar, a well-known oil painting by Frenchman Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904), showed the immediate aftermath of the terrible killing. Dinner parties and back-slapping between victims followed the planned murder of the most illustrious and powerful man in Western civilization.

Octavian, Caesar’s adoptive son and heir, defeated Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium (31 BC), and Octavian was later transformed into Augustus, the first Roman emperor. As a result of the Roman soldiery and populace’s less-than-ideal perspective on their acts, a violent civil war ensued.

6. His wife had warned him

Caesar was told not to approach the Senate because of different reports a few days prior to his death. Even after she revealed to him that she had seen a warning, his wife’s worries were dismissed. What if he had paid attention?

7. His legacy was continued by his adopted son

Death of Julius Caesar by William Holmes Sullivan from Wikimedia Commons

Frenchman Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904) captured the immediate aftermath of the violent killing in his iconic oil work The Death of Caesar. The planned assassination of the most illustrious and influential figure in Western culture was followed by dinner celebrations and handshakes.

A bloody civil war ensued as a result of the Roman soldiery and the populace’s less-than-ideal actions. It culminated in the victory of Octavian, Caesar’s adopted son and heir, over Antony and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium (31 BC), and Octavian’s transformation into Augustus, the first Roman emperor.

8. The murderers significantly underestimated how the public would respond

Most of the conspirators who were engaged in Caesar’s murder were forced to leave Rome because of the uprising that ensued. They must not have been all that appreciative of being delivered from Caesar’s control after all.

 9. His last words were probably not what you think they were

“Et tu, Brute?” Caesar is said to have questioned Brutus, the principal conspirator. But no, not quite. You’d be shocked by how many people believe that Shakespeare’s phrase was indeed his final statement.

However, there is no evidence that Caesar actually stated those exact words, and a number of additional possibilities point in a different direction. In one instance, the Roman historian Suetonius reported that some claimed that Caesar’s last words were the Greek proverb “You too, child?” Both the Greek historian Plutarch and Suetonius believed that Caesar said nothing.

10. The senators were terrible knife users

Due to the conspirators’ irrational attack, the Senators who stabbed Caesar also managed to hurt themselves. For instance, Brutus was rumoured to have hand and leg wounds.

At the time of his death, Caesar was about to launch a new military expedition to exact revenge on the Parthians for Crassus’ devastating defeat in 53 BCE.  Would Caesar have been successful in regaining the lost lands east of the Euphrates for the Greco-Roman world, especially Babylonia?