News from Italy
Vincenzo Camuccini, The Death of Ceasar
15 March, in 44BC, Julius Caesar was assassinated
15 March, in 44 BC, Julius Caesar was assassinated, marking the end of the Roman Republic & start of the Empire. Rome re-enacted the funeral procession of Julius Caesar, who was stabbed to death on this day in 44 BC.
Rome remembered in Largo Argentina steps where Julius Caesar was assassinated. La citta eternita marked the Ides of March and the assassination of Julius Caesar on Saturday, 15 March, with a historical re-enactment of that fateful day in 44 BC. The event was staged by the Gruppo Storico Romano in the archaeological area at Largo di Torre, Argentina,
Emperor Caesar was killed in 44 BC by a group of senators, including Marcus Junius Brutus, who was considered one of his closest friends. It is believed that the words attributed to Caesar, “You too, Brutus?” were said in response to this incident.There are four Roman temples in the square dating back to the 3rd century BC and a wall belonging to the Theater of Pompey, which housed the Roman Senate when Julius Caesar was killed. In the lower part of the city, Largo di Torre Argentina (the name of the square comes from the Latin name of Strasbourg, Argentoratum, because Rome was built a few meters above the square where Caesar was killed over time. It is assumed that the emperor was killed in Largo di Torre, Argentina, where four temples exist. The temples were unearthed in the late 1920s during the efforts of dictator Benito Mussolini, the founder of the fascist movement, to rebuild the city.
Traditionally marked by religious observances and festivals, the Ides of March was also used by Romans as a landmark deadline for settling debts. The annual event fell on the 74th day in the Roman calendar, determined by the full moon, and corresponded to 15 March. However, the date took on a whole new significance in 44 BC when the assassination of Julius Caesar made it a turning point in Roman history.
The Death of Julius Caesar
Immensely popular with the people in Rome, Caesar was a successful military leader who expanded the republic to include parts of what are now Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium. Caesar, who had seized power from the Roman Republic and declared himself a dictator for life, was killed by a group of 60 conspirators led by his senator friends, Brutus and Cassius. The assassination occurred during a meeting of the Senate in the Curia Pompeia, within the larger Pompey’s Theatre complex in the Torre Argentina archaeological site, which is also home to a cat sanctuary.
According to legend, a soothsayer had warned Caesar of his impending murder, immortalized by Shakespeare with the ominous phrase “Beware the Ides of March” from his play Julius Caesar. Caesar was said to have been stabbed 23 times, and he was cremated in the Roman Forum. The site is marked by the remains of the Temple of Divus Iulius, an altar located on the eastern side of the central Forum area. Caesar’s assassination would result in a long series of civil wars that ended in the demise of the Roman Republic and the birth of the Roman Empire. Eventually, it led to the rise of his grand-nephew. It adopted its heir, Octavian, later known as Augustus, who became the first emperor of Rome in 27 BC. It also saw the deification of Caesar 14 months after his murder. Today, people still commemorate Caesar’s death by leaving flowers inside the temple at the Roman Forum on 15 March each year.
