Although the senate was trying to save the republic by killing Julius Caesar, they contributed to the downfall of the Roman Republic by murdering him. Despite the fact that Caesar was creating his own oligarchy, he was a man of the people and was viewed in a kind light by many Roman Citizens. Without Caesar’s Assassination there would never have been the crowning of Augustus and the end of the Roman Republic.
In the Roman Republic a dictator was a rare position only given in military crisis, and the power would be removed after the crisis ended. Dictators were allowed to do anything in their term without receiving punishments afterwards. The Senate had strong feelings about Julius Caesar which led to their decision. They looked at him as a cruel man who was solely driven by personal ambition to get more self-power.
Despite the senate’s opinion of Caesar, the public had a completely different view on him. He was liked by many poor people. He was respected for his military skill and how he constructed the economy. After Caesar’s Assassination the people wanted to kill who was responsible, when the senators found out they fled for their lives. Their homes were vandalized and some of them were even killed. The riots led to chaos and mass-hysteria, and people cried for days and mourned his death which showed how much he was loved by the public.
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Although the public had such a negative reaction, the senate had good intentions with their plan. The Senate discovered that Caesar had found a way to take the power from some magistrates but not have the title. In doing this Caesar would be able to control the government and have his own oligarchy. The Senate did not want to lose their power and be looking from the outside in to Caesars oligarchy. However, the turning point was when Caesar announced a military campaign that would target Parthia. On the Ides of March Caesar was assassinated by several dozen senators who called themselves “The Liberators”.
The Roman Republic is one of the best historical examples of a thriving society that developed and adapted. The Republic had many forward thinking strengths and ideas, they understood the importance of citizenship. Although at the time the Republic had somewhat equal rights, many people believed that not everyone should have the same rights. An important weakness of the Republic was that if there were public protests that went violent, then the Senate was almost fully stripped of power and authority. Also in the republic the government was led by a powerful few who had a monopoly on everyone else.
Although the Republic ended with a dictator that possessed all of the power, it began with a very practical set of laws to prevent a buildup power for certain people. These laws were set in place in 509 BC after the Romans had overthrown their cruel Etruscan rulers. The foundation of these laws were that every year instead of having a KIng the Romans would elect two consuls that served for a year and both of them had to agree on ideas, instead of one holding power over another. The Romans main goal was to prevent one person from having too much power.
However, despite the good intent of the Consuls and the Senate, they all came from the Patrician group. They were almost always the most wealthy and owned the most land. The Plebeians were the poorer farmers, merchants, and craftsman that were excluded from running for Consulship or the Senate. This divide led to an event called The Struggle of the Orders which was when the patricians declared war, but the Plebeians refused to fight and withdrew from the city until they could elect their own leaders.
An agreement was eventually met and the Plebeians were able to elect their own tribunes to represent them in meetings and veto unfair laws. Over time the Plebeians had very little differences from the patricians, and the Plebeians were able to have nobles in the Senate. Despite the fact that the Plebeians had the ability to hold these positions, the patricians always held more power. The gap of power between the Plebeians and the Patricians continued through to the empire. Without a Dictator in the republic the gap between the rich and poor expanded.
When Caesar was in power he equalized power between other groups because he possessed a majority of the power. Despite the power going to his head at the end of his reign, he was able to understand the opinions of the public and did things to win them over. In 69 BC Caesar held a funeral for his 27 year old wife and his aunt. his aunt was married to Marius whose name had been illegal to say, at his aunt’s funeral she had slaves carrying pictures of Marius. this helped him win over the people because Marius was worshipped by Common People Who considered him one of their own. after the funeral Caesar said he was proud of his family’s history. in 62 BC Caesar was elected praetor and was almost able to become consul, Cesar paid large bribes to become Rome’s high priest.
Before meeting Cleopatra Caesar Meets Ptolemy XII who gives him a basket with pompey’s head in it. despite the teenage pharaohs good intentions Caesar cried when he saw pompey’s head because Caesar had always respected Pompeii. Caesar told them to tell their King that he counted more of an insult to him than Pompeii, Caesar was so insulted by this act that he led 4000 legionnaires into Alexandria and stormed the palace and took Ptolemy hostage. Caesar and his men were trapped and the two sides settled for a stalemate. one night a servant brought Cleopatra and Caesar fell in love with her and made her Queen of Egypt.
The Romans faced off against the egyptians. In 45 BC Caesar ordered the Senate to make him dictator for life. At the time Caesar was the perfect person for Dictator because crimes had gone to the point where people were worried to walk on the streets. He was able to create order, and began to reduce congestion of people and had many Romans move into homes in new provinces. Caesar went as far to restructure the calendar, which is very similar to the one we use today. Caesar’s policies, and his philanthropy with granting citizenship, these actions were made to help win over the Roman public.
Caesar even gave his enemies citizenship to help win them over. Many people saw past these actions and were concerned the he was going to make himself king. Caesar was able to get the Senate to grant him Dictator for life and became the King in every aspect but name. By being dictator Caesar had complete control over the Army and the treasury, he handpicked consuls and started making democracy fade. He even said” the Republic is nothing just a name without substance or form”. This was the peak of his madness he even gave himself a Golden Throne, put his face on coins, and put statues of him among gods.”
Caesar was respected as a leader, but he was most known for hi military expertise. Caesar conquering Gaul not only gained respect from soldiers but he was able to team up with Crassus and Pompey, who were to important figures in Rome. Conquering Gaul made him a popular military hero, and he was responsible or Rome’s long-term safety and a huge addition to its territory. Caesar had confidence in himself, at the time Pompey was now Caesar’s enemy, and the Senate was telling Caesar to step down and not cross the Rubicon.
Caesar crossed the Rubicon being followed by his army and said “let the die be cast” as he crossed the Rubicon River as he passed the point of no return. This led to a four-year civil war across Roman territory that led to Pompey being dead and Caesar undisputed leader of Rome. The Crossing of the Rubicon was the final straw, and the beginning of the end for Caesar. The group of men that went by “The Liberators” started planning to end Caesar’s reign. They would only meet in each other’s homes. There were several renditions of the plan, the first idea was to kill him while he was in his favorite walking route, another idea was to push him off of a bridge, they also considered killing him at a gladiator duel so suspicion wouldn’t be drawn to weapons.
However, the most popular plan was to kill him in the Senate because knives could be hidden under togas, and people that weren’t a part of the Senate were not allowed in the building. On the day of the Assassination Caesar received many warnings from his friends because of what priests had said, and even was warned by a fortune teller. When Caesar went to the Senate that day he was rushed by the senators who all quickly unsheathed their knives and killed Caesar. It is said that his body fell to the foot of Pompey’s statue and succumbed to his 35 stab wounds.
The greatest change after Caesar’s death was where his nephew Augustus picked up. After Augustus dealt with Mark Antony and Cleopatra, he was the only leader of Rome and it’s land. Augustus’ goal was to do what Caesar did without the public realizing it, he had complete control without the people knowing it. After 2 years in power Augustus became Rome’s first emperor. Although Rome originally was against the idea of a sole leader, Augustus becoming emperor put an end to nearly half a century of corruption and discord.augustus ruled for 56 years and after his death he was elevated to the status of god by the Roman people and the Senate.
When the Senate killed Caesar they doomed Rome to experience the Empire and the descendents of Augustus. If the Senate had waited out the life of Caesar than the People would not have to have experienced the bloodthirsty group of leaders that followed Augustus. Claudius and Nero were the tip of the iceberg whose power-hunger drained the treasury and led to the suicide. If the Senate had either prevented Caesar’s rise to power or tried to outlast his reign than Rome as a whole would have benefited for the greater. Maybe the Republic would have lasted longer, but the murder of Caesar was a mistake.
