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Caesar's Assassination Aftermath · Acedra
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Caesar's Assassination Aftermath
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0:07
When a cabal of Roman Senators assassinated Julius Caesar on March 15th, 44 B.C.E., they were making a bet. They were betting that Caesar's extraordinary tyrannical powers would die with him. They were betting that the Roman Republic was more resilient than any one man. Only time would tell if they were right. No spoilers. In the moments after Caesar's assassination, the Conspirators marched out of the Theatre of Pompey and proudly showed off their blood-soaked weapons, hands, and clothing.
0:49
In fact, many Conspirators who had failed to get in on the action ran over and dipped their hands in Caesar's blood just for appearances. Caesar's co-Consul Antony had not been present for the assassination - he had been strategically detained outside. When he learned of Caesar's fate, he threw on some clothing to disguise himself as a slave, rushed home, and began planning his flight from the city.
1:19
As a group, the Conspirators crossed the pomerium and marched on the the Capitoline Hill, escorted by armed gladiators. They picked up a bunch of followers along the way. Somebody grabbed a pole, placed the iconic hat worn by freed slaves on it, and carried it high in the air before the victorious Conspirators. The tyrant was dead. Rome was free. Word began to spread throughout the city. The ringleaders of the successful conspiracy, Decimus, Cassius, and Brutus, were overjoyed.
1:56
But by the time they reached the Capitoline Hill, the city was falling into a bit of a panic. The streets were empty. The rumour was that a group of Senators and gladiators had gone mad and were indiscriminately killing people on sight. People were fleeing to their homes. Several Conspirators, including Brutus, addressed a small crowd, saying in part, "there's no reason to be upset. Nothing bad has happened. Nobody has been murdered. A tyrant has been killed!"
2:28
We don't have a lot of details from this speech, but the general vibe is that it didn't go over that well. When the crowd was informed of Caesar's death, and they mostly just listened in silence. For all of Caesar's faults, he was popular with the people. Now, the future of Rome was uncertain. Speaking of an uncertain future, the Conspirators didn't really know what to do next. All of their planning had basically ended at Caesar's death.
3:01
There had always been vague notions of a political movement to restore and revitalize the Republic, but nobody really knew what that meant. They needed a leader. The conspiracy had begun with a meeting between Decimus, Cassius, and Brutus, and so there was a general feeling among the Conspirators that one of them should take the reins. Decimus was immediately deemed to be too controversial. To the extent that there was public anger out there, it was mostly directed at Decimus.
3:34
People were already becoming aware of the extent of his betrayal. The fact that Decimus and Caesar broke bread the night before his assassination would become a big deal in the days to come. Decimus was fine with this. He was a military man, and had very little experience with (or taste for) politics. Cassius was another possibility, but he was another military man with a reputation as a hot-head. Personally, he had very little time for diplomacy. Not a great quality in a politician.
4:09
That left Brutus. He didn't have a lot of political experience, but he was a deep thinker and a good public speaker. He also had a famous name, claiming to be a descendant of another Brutus who had founded the Republic by expelling the last King of Rome. The message of "another Brutus, expelling another King, founding another Republic" was powerful. That settled it. Going forward, Brutus would be the public face of this new political movement.
4:44
The Conspirators couldn't be sure how the world would react to Caesar's murder. For the time being they decided to use their armed gladiators to barricade themselves on the Capitoline Hill. It's worth noting that there has been lots of second guessing as to whether or not this was a smart move, since occupying the capitol seems less like a political movement thing and more like an insurrectionist thing. Nevertheless, that's what they did. On the Capitoline Hill, they waited.
5:15
No word from Antony, who was now Rome's highest ranking politician. No word from Lepidus, Caesar's old right hand man, who was Tiber Island in command of a full legion. Late in the day, Brutus and the Conspirators decided to make the first move. They sent a bunch of former Consuls to Antony's home to negotiate. Lepidus was invited too. The Conspirators told Antony and Lepidus that they had no intention of seizing power. They merely wanted to restore Republican ideals.
5:52
They invited Antony and Lepidus to participate in that restoration. Antony and Lepidus made no promises at this time, but they all agreed to hammer this out at a formal Senate meeting the day after tomorrow. Antony cancelled his plans to flee the city. The Conspirators considered this a success. A political settlement seemed on the horizon. That evening, the Conspirators fanned out throughout the city, meeting privately with so-called "neutral" Senators.
6:34
Nobody knew what would happen during this Senate meeting, but they needed to know that they had numbers on their side. But they weren't the only ones busy that night. Under the cover of darkness, Lepidus's legion moved off of Tiber Island, crossed the pomerium, and occupied key government buildings in the Roman Forum. While this was happening, Antony met with Caesar's wife, now widow, Calpurnia. With her permission, Antony took control of a portion of Caesar's vast fortune, and all
7:09
of his private correspondence. This transfer was an informal signal from Calpurnia indicating who should be the heir to Caesar's political movement. A massive win for Antony. The Senate meeting took place in the Temple of Tellus, on neutral ground, way over on the Esquiline Hill. Lepidus stationed soldiers just outside the temple. Brutus decided that for their own safety, none of the Conspirators should attend the meeting.
7:50
This was perhaps a foolish move, and it was much criticized after the fact, but Lepidus's soldiers inside of Rome's pomerium were making everybody nervous. The Conspirators sent a bunch of prominent Senators to advocate on their behalf, including perhaps the most prominent Senator of all, Marcus Tullius Cicero. The Senate was broadly supportive of what the Conspirators had done. They agreed that Caesar showed kingly ambitions, and many argued that the Senate should somehow
8:25
thank the Conspirators for their service to the Republic. Antony rose to speak. He said that a Roman Consul had been assassinated, and Caesar's soldiers would not tolerate the Senate THANKING his killers. That would be a step too far. Another question facing the Senate, just as important, was whether or not they considered Caesar a tyrant. If Caesar was declared a tyrant, all of his political acts would be declared illegal and would be repealed.
9:02
Caesar had pushed through a tonne of legislation, this would be incredibly chaotic. Additionally, anybody appointed to office by Caesar would have to step down. Antony offered a compromise. He said that if the Senate would agree to ratify all of Caesar's acts, he would agree to offer the Conspirators, not exactly thanks, but amnesty. A truce. An end to the violence. Cicero made a long speech in favour of Antony's compromise position, and with his support, the Senate made it official.
9:36
All of Caesar's legislation was ratified by the Senate. The Conspirators were granted immunity for Caesar's murder. An interesting footnote to all of this is that Cicero would later write that he did NOT feel free to speak his mind during this Senate meeting. The Conspirators had their gladiators, Antony and Lepidus had their soldiers, and Cicero had nothing. He saw a chance at peace and he took it, but in no way was he comfortable with ratifying Caesar's illegal actions.
10:18
That evening, as a symbol of their reconciliation, Antony hosted Cassius for dinner, and Lepidus hosted Brutus. At the Antony-Cassius dinner, Antony tried to lighten the mood by joking around and asking if Cassius had a dagger hidden on him. Cassius replied, "I own such a dagger, and if you follow in Caesar's footsteps, maybe you'll get to see it some day!" Good Lord! Cassius's reputation as a hot-head was well-earned.
10:48
Soon after this rapprochement between the two factions, a small group of Caesarians met in Antony's home and opened up Caesar's last will and testament. Its contents were surprising. Caesar's will stipulated that every adult male citizen receive, from his personal estate, the equivalent to like 3 months' wages for a Roman soldier. A truly mind-blowing expense, incredibly generous, and enough money to really make a difference in the lives of Rome's poor.
11:25
He also gifted to the Roman people one of his estates on the other side of the Tiber, saying that it should be converted into a public park. After those expenses were met, the rest of his vast fortune would be broken up like this. Octavius, Caesar's sister's grandson, would receive 75% of whatever was left. The remaining 25% would be split between two of Octavius's cousins. In the will, these three beneficiaries were referred to as Caesar's "primary heirs."
11:58
He also named a number of secondary heirs, who were basically named just in case everybody else was dead. These secondary heirs would also be responsible for bringing up any of Caesar's nonexistent children. Dang, I guess Caesar really was ambitious. Antony was named as a secondary heir, but so was Decimus, one of the chief architects of Caesar's assassination! This really goes to show the full extent of Decimus's betrayal.
12:30
But that was all preamble to the shocking reveal contained within the will. Caesar's would posthumously adopt his 18 year old great-nephew as his son and heir. In doing this, he gave Octavius the most precious thing he possessed. He gave him his name. Caesar. Reportedly, Antony felt slighted by Caesar's will. He considered himself the heir to Caesar's political movement, but apparently Caesar didn't feel the same way.
13:08
Octavius wasn't even in Rome, he was off in Illyricum preparing for a military campaign that would never come. Thousands and thousands of people attended Caesar's funeral. Roman funerals were highly theatrical events. I won't get into all the details, but just for example, rich people would hire actors to dress up as the deceased party to give speeches on their behalf. This was in addition to musical acts, parades, all kinds of wild stuff.
13:45
Caesar's funeral was... a lot... even by Roman standards. His body was carried into the Forum by a phalanx of veterans of the Gallic Wars. Before them, on the tip of a spear, they carried the clothes that Caesar was wearing when he died, still crusted with his blood. The veterans placed Caesar's body on a golden shrine high up on a speaking platform. Then, several of Caesar's friends and colleagues spoke to the crowd.
14:15
This is where Antony gives his famous "friends, Romans, countrymen" speech in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. The speech is worth reading on your own simply because it's a great piece of writing, but it's not accurate. What actually happened in way weirder. Antony read a list of Caesar's achievements to the crowd, and after every item, he gestured to Caesar's dead body as if to say "and this is what happened to him!".
14:42
He made a particular point of reminding the crowd that the Senate had taken an oath to protect Caesar's life with their own. At this he raised his arms to the heavens and turned toward the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in the distance, shouting, "Oh Jupiter, [...] for my own part I am prepared to defend Caesar according to my oath, [...] but since it is the view of my equals that what we have decided will be for the best, I pray that it is for the best!"
15:15
Antony was saying that the only thing preventing him from avenging Caesar's death was the compromise that he had hammered out with the Conspirators. Several Senators raised a note of protest, but Antony continued, telling the crowd that it was all water under the bridge. What mattered now was the future. He warned of another Civil War. He then raised his arms to the sky once more and began to weep, crying out that he would gladly give his own life for Caesar's.
15:47
He went over and grabbed the spear carrying Caesar's bloody clothes waved it before the frothing crowd for all to see. The actor pretending to be Caesar then raised his voice, quoting what at the time was a famous play, "to think that I saved these men just so they could destroy me." On cue, a giant wax figure was hoisted into the air. This figure showed all 23 of Caesar's wounds in graphic detail, including the humiliating ones to the face and to the groin.
16:26
The crowd was already worked up into a fervor, and now, the dam finally broke. They surged forward and took control of Caesar's body. The mob now had a mind of its own. There was a funeral pyre prepared on the Campus Martius, but that was no longer good enough for them. Instead, they took Caesar's body up to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. Lepidus's soldiers were stationed nearby, and they were able to repel the mob and save the temple.
16:57
The mob then returned to the Forum, stormed some nearby law courts, and began breaking down wooden benches. They would make their own pyre. Caesar's body was placed upon a makeshift pyre in the middle of the Roman Forum, and the pyre was lit. As a sign of respect, nearby soldiers spontaneously began throwing their weapons and armour into the fire. What followed genuinely turned into mass hysteria. People began throwing their jewelry into the fire.
17:36
People began ripping their own clothes off their bodies and throwing it in the fire. Nearby buildings were stormed and looted so that even more valuables could be thrown into the blaze. The mob was completely out of control now. Several groups showed up outside the homes of Brutus and Cassius with the intention of dragging them outside and doing who-knows-what to them. Wisely, the Conspirators had gone into hiding at the first sign of trouble.
18:05
As a plan B, the mob tried to burn down their estates, but armed guards were able to repel them. The madness spread throughout the city and persisted all through the night. By the next morning, several important buildings in the Roman Forum had been consumed by Caesar's funeral pyre. Caesar's assassins had lost the support of the people. Caesar's funeral marked a dramatic shift in Roman politics. I mean, you don't get any more dramatic than Caesar being murdered during a Senate meeting,
18:50
but what I'm saying is that things were never the same after his funeral. As we've seen, the events of recent days had featured people brashly bringing weapons across the pomerium. Lepidus had done it with his soldiers. Decimus had done it with his gladiators. This was supposed to be a death penalty offense, but in the chaos following Caesar's death nobody had bothered to enforce this rule. From his position as Consul, Antony made an announcement.
19:22
From now on, soldiers would be permitted to cross the pomerium under arms, but nobody else. Lepidus's legion could come and go as it pleased, but Decimus's gladiators could not. The Conspirators saw this as a power grab, which it was, but they didn't have the votes in the Senate to do anything about it. Antony followed this up with a written letter to the three main Conspirators, Decimus, Cassius, and Brutus, informing them that as Consul, he could no longer guarantee their safety.
19:57
Regrettably, too many soldiers wanted vengeance for Caesar. It doesn't take a genius to see the threat hidden in that message. The Conspirators were outraged, but what could they do? What Antony said about the soldiers was true. Besides, were they going to insist on being able to bring their armed thugs across the pomerium? How would that go over with the public? Decimus had had enough. Next year, he was scheduled to take over as the governor of Cisalpine Gaul, which according
20:33
to Caesar's example was Rome's most strategically significant province. It wouldn't hurt to head up there early to start making preparations. Cassius and Brutus spent some more time weighing their options, but they couldn't come up with anything. They eventually decided to retire to the Italian countryside and wait for the situation in Rome to cool down. On his way up north, Decimus wrote to Trebonius, another Conspirator, who was on his way to his province in Asia Minor.
21:08
Something to the effect of, "Get ready. If Antony makes a move, we might need you to raise an army." Cicero was distraught over the abrupt retreat of the Conspirators. He wrote to his friend, "Can it be true? Is this all that our noble Brutus has accomplished - that he should have to live at Lanuvium, and Trebonius should have to slink to his province by side-roads? That all the acts, memoranda, words, promises, and projects of Caesar should have more validity than if he were still alive?"
21:49
Another politician put it even more succinctly, writing to Cicero of the rising tensions and the possibility of yet another Civil War. "If a man of [Caesar's] genius was unable to find a way out, what hope do we have now?"
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