The Death of Caesar
44 BC
-44 -44
12.29E41.55n
MISC

ROME, ITALY
	On the Ides of March (March 15) of 44 BC Julius Caesar lay dying in the Roman Senate from stab wounds inflicted by Gaius Cassius and Marcus Brutus, a man he thought was his friend.
	"Et tu, Brute!" (You too, Brutus!) he exclaimed.
	That cry, immortalized in Shakespeare's play, "Julius Caesar," marked both the death of Caesar and the death of the Roman Republic.
	Caesar was an aspiring politician who rose to join two others, Pompey and Crassus, in controlling the Roman Empire.  He added to his power by his conquests of Spain, Gaul (France) and Britain.
	When Crassus died, Pompey persuaded the Senate to order Caesar's army to lay down its arms.  Instead, Caesar attacked and defeated Pompey, then returned to rule Rome.
	Then, because they feared the loss of the republic, or because they had their own ambitions, Cassius and Brutus assassinated him.
	But Caesar's nephew, Octavianus (later Augustus Caesar), raised an army and defeated Brutus and Cassius.  Though he returned some power to the Senate, his power and that of his successors grew until it was absolute.