Are The Similarities Between Julius Caesar And Abraham Lincoln

Assassination of Julius Caesar vs Abraham Lincoln

When world leaders are assassinated, it shocks a nation, or even the world. Some assassinations impacts last hundreds, or even thousands of years. The assassination of Julius Caesar stands out to be the end of the Roman Republic and the start of the Roman Empire. Another leader who helped unite a divided nation is credited to most as one of our greatest presidents, but not so much to others. The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln shook the nation only 5 days after the American Civil War came to a close. The assassination of both Julius Caesar and Abraham Lincoln are similar in locations, motives, and aftermath.

In March of 44 BC, Julius Caesar was gaining power over the people and

senate of Rome, and threatening the republic based government that had been around since 509 BC (Britannica the website) Conspiracies arose against Caesar and his gaining of power and on March 15, 44 BC Caesar was assassinated. More than 1900 years later on the other side of the world, The Confederate States of America surrendered to the Union, ending the American Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln had succeeded in reuniting the split nation. However, this was not a joyous time for everyone. Conspirators were not happy with the rejoining of the nation and on April 16, 1865 President Lincoln was shot in the back of the head. Though these assassinations are almost 2000 years apart, they are strikingly similar.

Julius Caesar was a general who was becoming a dictator over Rome, which was going against Rome’s Republic system of government set nearly 400 years before. Some people were scared of what this could do to Rome, so a conspiracy was formed. Lead by Gaius Cassius and Marcus Brutus, a group of conspirators decided to take Caesar’s life for the good of their country.(source) Nicolaus of Damascus, who gathered information about the assassination a few years afterwards, said, “The conspirators never met openly, but they assembled a few at a time in each others' homes.” After months of planning the assassins stabbed Caesar in front of the senators, making a very public statement.

Abraham Lincoln died in a surprisingly similar way.

On April 11, 1865, a man by the name of John Wilkes Booth attended a speech being delivered by the president on how the now reunited United States was going to reconstruct itself. During the speech Booth leaned to a man attending with him and said, “Now, by God, I'll put him through. That is the last speech he will ever make." (Booth) Booth was part of a conspiracy, along with David Herold, George Azterodt, Lewis Powell, and Mary Surrat. After a failed attempt to kidnap the president two weeks earlier, Booth decided to take matters into his own hands. On April 15, 1865 President Lincoln attended a play called, My American Cousin. Booth snuck into the presidential box where the president and his wife, and Major Henry Rathbone and his wife were seated and shot the president in the back of the head (History.com the website) Major Rathbone accounted the experience saying, “I heard the discharge of a pistol behind me, and, looking round, saw through the smoke a man between the door and the President.” and after Booth stabbed him in the arm and jumped out of the box Rathbone recalled, “I heard the man shout some word, which I thought was 'Freedom!” (Rathbone) This assassination was also a very public

statement.

After Julius Caesar was assassinated, the conspirators fled out of Rome to avoid being killed by the enraged citizens that Mark Antony had rolled up against them. They built up an army to go against Antony and Octavius, whose sides were against the conspirators and were Pro-Caesar. They relelize their defeat and have people kill them. (Julius Caesar) Fast forward about 1900 years and President Lincoln is shot in the back of the head by John Wilkes Booth. Booth makes an escape out of Washington D.C., launching one of the biggest manhunts in American History. Two weeks later, Booth is cornered in a barn by Union Soldiers and shot (US History the website)

So what are the similarities? For starters, both were in very public places. Caesar was in Pompey’s Theater, which the senate had gathered in when the conspirators of Caesar brutally stabbed him. Lincoln was in Ford’s theater, where a lot of people had gathered to watch a play. Both Lincoln and Caesar were assassinated in public places, but why? Public assassinations give out distinct messages. The assassins want the people to know that they killed their leader for a specific reason. In Caesar’s case it was that Rome was rid of tyranny and the government was going back to the people. Brutus was close to Caesar, but chose to murder his friend because of the good of the country (Julius Caesar) It's the same in Booth’s case. He believed in the way the Confederates worked, and believed Lincoln was pretty much denying rights. He assassinated Lincoln in the belief that the nation would be better without his presidency. (History.com the website) Both also had conspiritors that died in the end.

In conclusion, the assassinations of Julius Caesar and Abraham Lincoln are actually quite similar. To start, they were both assassinated with similar motives. The conspirators to Caesar assassinated him for what they called “The good of Rome” (Julius Caesar). In President Lincoln’s case, Booth along with other conspirators were angry with Lincoln and assassinated him for what they believed was the best for the southern states. They are also similar in the locations where the assassinations were carried out. Both were carried out in public places so the message could get into the people’s heads. Finally, both of the assassinated figures’ conspirators met a similar fate. In both cases the conspirators were eventually killed off. Thus the assassinations of Julius Caesar and Abraham Lincoln are similar in location, motives, and aftermath.