Page 22 - HISTORY ANGKOR
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FORUM AND
FUNCTION
When he died, Caesar was
in the midst of building
two major structures in the
Forum: the Basilica Julia and
the Temple of Venus, shown
here in this reconstruction.
ILLUSTRATION: VALOR-LLIMÓS ARQUITECTURA
CONSPIRATOR he first blow fell at noon on March 15, “At almost the same instant both cried out,”
CURRENCY 44 b.c. The conspirators “suddenly writes Plutarch, the Greek biographer and his-
Minted by Brutus bared their daggers and rushed upon torian, describing how Caesar and Casca reacted.
in 43-42 b.c., a coin him,” writes Nicholas of Damascus, Caesar, in Latin, asked, “Accursed Casca, what
(below) bears the
f
a
i
inscription “Eid Mar” T rst-century b.c. historian. “First does thou?” Casca, in Greek, called to his nearby
(“Ides of March”) [Publius] Servilius Casca stabbed him on the left sibling, Gaius, “Brother, help!”
and commemorates shoulder a little above the collarbone, at which The lethal attack progressed apace. Appian
Julius Caesar’s he had aimed but missed through nervousness.” writes that “Cassius wounded [Caesar] in the
assassination.
After Casca’s glancing blow, Julius Caesar face, Brutus smote him in the thigh, and Bu-
BRITISH MUSEUM/SCALA, FLORENCE
“snatched his toga from [Tillius] Cimber, seized colianus between the shoulder-blades.” In re-
Casca’s hand, sprang from his chair, turned sponse to Servilius Casca’s cry for help, writes
around, and hurled Casca with great violence,” Nicholas, his brother Gaius “drove his sword
according to the Greek historian Appian of Al- into Caesar’s side.”
exandria. Suetonius, a Roman biographer and The majority of the Roman Senate, not privy to
antiquarian, offers a slightly different account: the assassination plot, sat in horrified silence, too
“Caesar caught Casca’s arm and ran it through scared to flee, though some rushed into the crowd
with his stylus,” a sharp tool used for writing on outside. The frenzied scene that unfolded that
wax tablets that could rip through flesh. fateful Ides of March was a blur of blood and gore.
POWER AND 49 b.c. 46 b.c.
AMBITION Caesar and Pompey lead In honor of his military
victories, the Senate names
rival factions in a civil war.
The following year, Caesar Caesar dictator for 10 years
will defeat Pompey, who is and lets him control the
then assassinated in Egypt. election of magistrates.
