The Assassination of Julius Caesar

Everyone knows that Julius Caesar was assassinated. It is an unforgettable fact from history, one of those moments that perhaps changed the course of the world.

But what was the reaction from the Roman people upon hearing the news of Caesar’s assassination? What happened in the immediate aftermath?

There have been many views of Caesar himself throughout history, but it is undisputed that he was consolidating power. And his assassins believed they were saving Rome from a would-be tyrant. They viewed themselves as heroes whose names would be celebrated like their ancestors of old who had overthrown the corrupt Roman kings and established the monarchy. But when they announced their heroic deed, they were not met with festivals in the streets.

In one of my favorite lectures from the “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic,” Professor Carl Young explains that,

What the sources from the time tell us is that the senators, the co-conspirators, quietly marched out of the assembly. They went out into the streets and they proclaimed that they had killed the tyrant and liberated Rome. What they did not expect and what they did not anticipate was the reaction from the people outside. They were not met with applause. They were met simply with stunned silence. The assassins all went home. They locked their doors, shut themselves inside. And they slowly came to realize that their actions were going to have terrible and violent consequences. Nearly all the co-conspirators fled Rome after the assassination, fearing retribution from the people. And the Civil War that followed ultimately destroyed what was left of the Roman Republic.

We have created a short video—available below—of Professor Young explaining briefly how Julius Caesar was assassinated, where it happened, who was involved, and what the people’s reaction was.