1. A history written by Plutarch
“The Life of Caesar”
A history written
by Plutarch

2. Consuls-Two chief magistrates of the common people.
Praetors-A magistrate with judicial duties, ranking just below consul
Tribunes- City officials responsible for guarding the interests of common people

3. Caesar was openly hated because he wanted to be made king.
Story begins after Caesar has defeated Pompey.
Caesar offended the senate because he did not stand to receive them, showing a lack of respect.

4. Lupercalia-A Roman festival held on February 15 during which priests, magistrates, and young noblemen held races throughhout streets of Rome
Caesar denied the diadem (crown) when it was offered to him three times by Antony
When he denied the crown, the crowd cheered loudly.

5. Why would the crowd cheer loudly when he denied the crown?
When Caesar returned from defeating Pompey, the crowd decorated his statue to celebrate his return.
Flavius and Marullus tore these decorations off of the statues, Caesar then fired them for doing so

6. Marcus Brutus-Ancestors abolished the monarchy, close friend of Caesar
Cassius-Overlooked for the same job as Brutus, hates Caesar-is very jealous of him
People looked to Brutus to make a change in Rome

7. Cassius was head of the conspiracy to kill Caesar, he sent fake letters to Brutus signed by the “Citizens.”
These letters claimed that Brutus did not live up to his name or the legacy that his ancestors left. This made Brutus want to better Rome
Caesar was afraid of Brutus and Cassius-They were “the pale thin ones.”

8. Romans looked at fate and signs to foretell the nature of future events.
Some signs that the Romans saw were strange apparitions, thunder and lightening, birds in the forum, crowd of men on fire, slaves hand on fire with no burn, animal that was sacrificed had no heart (animal lived a supernatural existence)

9. Soothsayer (Truth-sayer) is able to foretell events, he warns Caesar to “Beware the Ides of March”
“Ides of March”-March 15th
Calpurnia has a strange dream, she takes this dream as a sign not to allow Caesar to go to Senate the next day.

10. The dream can be interpreted in two ways
1. She was holding Caesar’s dead body
2. She saw the gable ornament (Mark of honor and distinction) torn down
She then begged Caesar not to go to Senate that day and he agreed

11. Decimus Brutus is a conspirator, he has two very important jobs
1. Convince Caesar to go to senate on this day
2. Distract Mark Antony during the assassination so he does not interfere with their plans

12. How does Decimus Brutus convince Caesar to go to senate?
1. He tells him that they are going to name him king this day
2. He should go to senate and dismiss them himself
3. Everyone would think differently of Caesar if he was to dismiss senate until Calpurnia had better dreams.

13. Artemidorus-Teacher of philosophy, along with Brutus, who found out about conspiracy.
He tried to warn Caesar about conspiracy by handing him a letter as he went into senate, but Caesar only took the piece of paper, he never got a chance to read it.

14. Tillius Cimber began the plan by asking Caesar to repeal his brother’s banishment (allow him to return from exile)
The other senators also asked the same thing as they crowded around Caesar.
Caesar rejected their request and as he said no, they continued to inch closer and closer to Caesar.

15. Now they are all crowded around Caesar and Tillius pulls down Caesar’s toga, which is the sign to attack
Casca was the first to strike
He wounded Caesar in the neck with his dagger
This begins the assassination
Why did the senators not involved run from senate?

16. Brutus was the last to strike
When Caesar sees Brutus, he simply gives up and dies at the foot of Pompey’s statue
The Senators that were not involved in the conspiracy ran from senate, they were afraid that they would be the next victims

17. The following day, Brutus and the conspirators came down to the pulpit to talk to the public about the conspiracy.
At first the people passed a decree of general pardon and agreed to honor Caesar as a God
However, this quickly changed when Caesar’s will was read aloud

18. Caesar left each citizen something in his will, which made the people realize what a generous man he was.
The people then noticed the condition of Caesar’s dead body. It was disfigured, dirty, and showed signs of the brutal death he endured
The people quickly turned on all the conspirators

19. The citizens began to burn everything around them, and quickly turned into an angry mob
Cinna, one of Caesar’s friends, came to pay his last respects to his friend. However, the conspirators tore him limb from limb because they believed him to be Cinna the Conspirator

20. Caesar was fifty-six when he died
Cassius killed himself with the same dagger he killed Caesar
After Brutus saw a phantom twice (It is believed that this phantom was the ghost of Caesar) he believed it was his time to die.
With the help of a friend, he ran into his own sword and died