The line “Beware the Ides of March”, in William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, has immortalised the date as one of the most famous in history. For while the titular statesmen and most powerful man in the Roman republic did not heed the soothsayer’s prophetic warning, or the pleas of his wife not to go to the Senate, we know the reason why Caesar had to beware 15 March 44 BC.
IN CONTEXT
A group of senators, including former allies of Caesar, conspired against him as they had grown fearful that his dictatorial rule threatened the republic. No one, many believed, should wield too much power. Led by Brutus, Cassius and Decimus, no fewer than 60 assassins approached Caesar during a Senate meeting on the Ides of March, and attacked with daggers that had been concealed in their togas. Caesar was powerless to withstand the frenzied thrusts and died with 23 wounds.