Julius Caesar: Benevolent Leader or Ruthless Tyrant?

Julius Caesar: Model Politician or Selfish Dictator?

Julius Cesar was a man of many accomplishments. He was either loathed or loved, with no middle ground. His death came by the hands of his Senate, including people he trusted. There are no direct records of his assassination but there are “firsthand” accounts that were written after the event occurred. How he came to his death is known and stays consistent through many records. What greatly differs is how he is depicted in the reading, he was either a model politician or he was a selfish dictator.

In “The Assassination of Julius Caesar, 44 BC ” Julius Caesar is perceived as a dictator. He pursues his political enemy, Pompey from Greece to Egypt and defeated the legions loyal to Pompey

in Spain. Cleopatra presented Julius Caesar with the severed head of his of Pompey sealing their friendship and establishing her as the surrogate ruler of Egypt. In 44 BC, Julius Cesar returns to Rome and declares himself dictator for life. This was the final act of tyranny the Senate would take from Julius Caesar and proceeded to plan his assassination. Julius Caesar’s friends came to him about rumors of his assassination but his friend Brutus convinced him to disregard all the rumors and to continue his plans to meet with the Senate. Julius Caesar even ignored the nightmares his wife, Calpurnia, was having about him and the bad omens from the victims the priests sacrificed for him. Tillius Cimber, who had a brother exiled by Julius Caesar, started the attack and held him down. Julius Ceasar dies from thirty five stabs wounds at the foot of Pompey’s statue.
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, a roman scholar and Julius Caesar’s biographer is claimed to have the most accurate and reliable account of his death.

In The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Tranquillus depicts Julius Caesar as an unsuspecting politician and claims that those who conspired to kill Julius Caesar met in small groups of two or three people to plan the assassination. The conspiracy against Julius Caesar was led by Gaius Cassius, Decimus and Marcus Junius Brutus. Julius Caesar ignored the hints to his death that was soon to come. It was said that a couple of months before his assassination, the tomb of Capys was discovered. With that discovery came a tablet that said a descendant of Capys would be killed at the hands of kindred. Cornelius Balbus was a dear friend of Julius Caesar who was involved in his assassination. Health reasons almost kept Julius Caesar from meeting with the Senate but Brutus convinced him otherwise. He was even handed a note that warned him of the planned assassination but he saved it in his left hand to read later. After meeting with the priest, Julius Caesar entered to meet with the Senate. Tillius Cimber initiated the attack on Julius Caesar and grabbed him by the toga. Julius Caesar was stabbed thirty two times but felt the ultimate betrayal when Marcus Brutus came his way by saying, “You too, my child?” Julius Caesar was carried out by the three slaves that found him. According to the physician Antistius, the fatal wound that Julius Caesar

received was one to his chest.
In “The Assassination of Julius Caesar, from Marcus Brutus (excerpts)” the main focus is a more in detail recording of what happened before, during and after the assassination of Julius Caesar.

This recording gave the impression that Julius Caesar ignored at the warming of his imminent death as he thought himself to be untouchable. As Julius Caesar entered the room where the Senate was located, Popilius Laenas approached him and spoke with him for a prolonged period of time. Julius appeared very interested and alert with what Popilius Laenas had to say and it worried the rest of the Senate that their plan might have been compromised. They puzzlingly looked at each other and agreed that they would kill themselves rather than be taken for treason. As some were reaching for their daggers, Brutus signals them that the conversation did not reveal their intentions to kill the dictator. Julius Caesar sat down after being greeted and all of the men crowded around him. Praying together, they grabbed Julius Caesar’s hand and kissing him. After the men would not stop he stood up angrily before beign pulled down by Tillius Cimber. Casca was the first to draw a dagger to Julius Caesar but only slightly wounded him. Julius Caesar then grabbed the dagger and shouted, “Villain Casca, what do you?” Then he found himself being attacked by many daggers so he covered his head with his robe. With the many daggers being used at once some of the assailants were wounded as well, Brutus being one

of them. Brutus encouraged the Senators to stay but they quickly ran off and vanished.
Julius Caesar was well known for many of his accomplishments. Some see these accomplishments of a ruler who is doing what he needs to while others see it as the acts of a tyrannical ruler. Even documents that were written shortly after the demise of Julius Caesar depict him differently. Some documents portray him as an unsuspecting ruler who has his people turn on him while others portray him as a dictator who was abusing his power and left no choice other than to kill him to end his tyrannical rule.

Works Cited
"The Assassination of Julius Caesar, 44 BC." Eyewitness to History. 2004. http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/caesar2.htm (accessed 22 November 2015).
Tranquillus, Gaius Suetonius. Lives of the 12 Caesars. Translated by Joseph Gavorse. Reproduced by Livius: Articles on Ancient History. http://www.livius.org/caa- can/caesar/caesar_t09.html (accessed 22 November 2015).
Plutarch. "The Assassination of Julius Caesar, from Marcus Brutus (excerpts)." Translated by John Dryden. Reproduced by Internet Ancient History Sourcebook. August 2000. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/plutarch-caesar.asp (accessed 22 November 2015).