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It’s a story of violence, intrigue and power. The Murder of Julius Caesar, Channel 5 2015
Caesar’s triumphs were like nothing Rome had ever seen. Caesar may have won over the people, but he would find it harder to gain the trust of Rome’s political elite. ibid.
They drove their blades home with blow after blow. ibid.
Have we learned nothing from the past? Julius Caesar 2002 starring Richard Harris & Christopher Walken & Valeria Golino & Chris Noth & & Pamela Bowen & Sean Pertwee & Jeremy Sisto & Tobias Moretti & Samuela Sardo & Daniela Piazza et al, director Uli Edel, 2002 mini-series, Walken
I’m going to cross the Rubicon. Will anyone be coming with me? To Rome! ibid. Julius Caesar
If our plot is discovered before we even begin then we turn our knives on ourselves without hesitation. ibid. Caesar
After Caesar’s death, the Roman empire was shaken by 15 years of civil war. None of Caesar’s murderers survived him by more than three years. Not one of them died a natural death. ibid. caption
This is the story of how the Roman Republic was killed off ... Julius Caesar was cut down by his fellow Senators, his friends ... He has been called both hero and villain, but so have his killers. Rome Revealed s1e1: Killing Caesar, National Geographic 2010
The 1st Century BC. Rome has been an empire for four hundred years. ibid.
Their ambition is the engine that powers this state. ibid.
The only danger is that one day one man will become too strong. ibid.
What he does will bring the Republic down. ibid.
History, tradition, above all family. ibid.
The ancient clans – these are the men who really run the city. ibid.
It’s not just spin – this man writes his own history. Time and again he turns adversity into advantage. ibid.
He is appealing directly to the mob. The old guard find it disturbing. ibid.
He plans to run for Consul – the most senior office of state. ibid.
Before Caesar, Pompey had dominated. ibid.
What he does in Gaul – modern day France – is the stuff of legend. Whether the threat to Rome is real or imagined, Caesar needs no encouragement to begin a vast campaign of conquest. He will defeat three hundred different tribes, he will destroy eight hundred cities, he will kill one million people. ibid.
Caesar has increased the size of the empire by almost a third. His achievement is a match for Pompey’s. ibid.
A power-struggle that will determine the course of history ... It’s battles are fought in every Roman territory. ibid.
When Caesar returns to Rome after some four year’s absence there is no-one left to oppose him. This is power of a kind that no Roman has enjoyed for four hundred years. He promises a new era of peace and stability. The battles are supposedly over ... The Senate votes him a new office ... Dictator. ibid.
He doesn’t need the Senate any more. ibid.
To make himself king would be to kill the Republic. ibid.
This is a city addicted to glory. ibid.
The group’s figurehead is Brutus. His relationship to Caesar is particularly complex. ibid.
He even moves through Rome without a bodyguard. ibid.
They gather in the meeting-house of Pompey’s theatre. ibid.
The last blow is struck by Brutus – Caesar’s one-time friend. ibid.
This was perhaps Octavian’s greatest tribute – completing the job that Caesar had begun. In 27 B.C. he was crowned Emperor. He was crowned Caesar Augustus. ibid.
The assassination of Julius Caesar was the fruit of a conspiracy like no other. It was headed by men who were his closest friends and allies. Men who owed him everything – their lives, their fortunes, their careers, their honours. Yet for months some of the best and brightest of Rome conspired to commit what became known as one of the most infamous assassinations in history. Valerio Manfredi, Caesar: A Roman Murder
He had made the city fit for a king. ibid.
Rome was split by warring factions, and Caesar left to join the army. ibid.
Crassus, Caesar and Pompey formed a political alliance ... That made Caesar’s election possible. ibid.
Corruption and kick-backs were already widespread evils in Rome. ibid.
Pompey’s support of Caesar had waned, and he now stood against his political enemy. ibid.
Caesar prepared to defy the Senate and cross the Rubicon. ibid.
According to Napoleon, abandoning Rome [Senate] was a terrible mistake. ibid.
Pompey was utterly defeated. ibid.
In 45 B.C. Caesar returned victorious to Rome. The Civil War had ended after five years. ibid.
Temples and statues sang his praises. His victories were made Public Holidays. ibid.
Cassius got his man. But Brutus too owed everything to Caesar. ibid.
Sixty men took part in the plot to assassinate Caesar. History has only recorded the more famous names in this extraordinary conspiracy. ibid.
Perhaps he thought that nobody would be man enough to kill him. ibid.
[The Senate] had created the very Monarchy they had tried to avoid. ibid.
Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius,
We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar,
And in the spirit of men there is no blood ...
Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds. William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar II i 166-168 & 173-174
At the heart of the most powerful empire of the ancient world stands Rome. For 500 years it has ruled by elected government. But in little over a decade this Republic was overthrown by the ambitions of one man. Julius Caesar: The Making of a Dictator, BBC 2023
The election of the new high priest of Rome is imminent. The surprise contender is 37-year-old Julius Caesar. ibid.
Rome is increasingly divided. Over 100 years of violent question it’s grown from a small city to a vast empire. ibid.
The conspirators are betrayed before they can act. Five senators, one a former consul, are arrested and await their fate. ibid.
‘Rising to his feet a man who will become his nemesis: Cato.’ ibid.