250 The Republic. R O 
encounter, Pompey was defeated with the loss of30,000 men. 
Having thus acquired, by the force of his arms, the whole 
Roman empire, Caesar returned to Rome the master of the 
world. He pardoned all who had carried arms against him; 
he allowed the people to nominate the consuls; he enlarged 
the number of the senators; and, with his usual liberality, 
he again set up the statues of Pompey. Besides these acts of 
moderation and political wisdom, he ornamented Rome 
with the most magnificent buildings; he rebuilt Carthage 
and Corinth ; and he conceived many noble projects both 
of a pacific and a military character, which he was not 
destined to realise. 
The senate, with an adulation which marked the degene¬ 
racy of the times, continued to load Caesar with fresh 
honours, and he continued with equal vanity to receive 
them. They called one of the months of the year 
after his name; they stamped money with his image; 
they ordered his statue to be set up in all the cities of the 
empire; they instituted public sacrifices on his birth-day ; 
and talked, even in his life-time, of enrolling him in the 
number of their gods. Antony, at one of their public fes¬ 
tivals, foolishly ventured to offer him a diadem ; but he put 
it back again, refusing it several times, and receiving at 
every refusal loud acclamations from the people. One day, 
when the senate ordered him some particular honours, he 
neglected to rise from his seat; and from that moment is 
said to have been marked for destruction. It began to be 
rumoured that he intended to make himself king; for 
though in fact he already was so, the people, who had an 
utter aversion to the name, could not bear his assuming the 
title. Whether he really designed to assume that empty 
honour must now for ever remain a secret; but certain it is, 
that the unsuspecting openness of his conduct marked some¬ 
thing like a confidence in the innocence of his intentions. 
When informed by those about him of the jealousies of 
many persons who envied his power, he was heard to say, 
that he had rather die once by treason, than to live conti¬ 
nually in the apprehension of it: and to convince the world 
Jhow little he had to apprehend from his enemies, he dis¬ 
banded his company of Spanish guards, which facilitated the 
enterprise against his life. 
But though these usurpations of Caesar had been successful 
beyond his most sanguine hopes, and though the baseness 
and servility of the senate and people exceeded any thing that 
could be ascribed either to fear or blindness—the spirit of 
republicanism was not quite dead in Rome. The memora¬ 
ble names ot Brutus, Cassius, and many others, were associ¬ 
ated with an act of assassination which has since served as a 
precedent for the execution of many traitorous sovereigns, 
and winch, horrid as such an act is in itself, stands out 
in the fairest colours from the mass of malignant butcherings 
which deform^the annals of most despotic governments. The 
motives of many of Caesar’s assassins were, doubtless, envy 
and jealousy ; but there was in all an alloy of patriotism, 
and in Brutus, especially, if history can be trusted, we 
have a memorable example of a man who sacrificed his 
private interest and affections, and stifled the movements 
of his kind and benevolent nature for the sake of the general 
good—for the upholding of liberty. 
The conspirators fixed the execution of their design for 
the ides of March, the day on which it was reported that 
Caesar was to be offered the crown. The augurs had foretold 
that this day would be fatal to him; and the night preceding, 
he heard his wife Calphurnia lamenting in her sleep, and 
being awakened, she confessed to him that she dreamt of 
his being assassinated in her arms. These omens, in some 
measure, began to change his intentions of going to the 
senate, as he had resolved, that day; but one of the con¬ 
spirators coming in, prevailed upon him to keep his resolu¬ 
tion, telling him of the reproach which would attend his 
staying at home till his wife had lucky dreams, and of the 
preparations that were made for his appearance. As the wen 
along to the senate, a slave, who hastened to him with infor¬ 
mation of the conspiracy, attempted to come near him, but 
M E. The Republic. 
could not for the crowd. Artemidorus, a Greek philosopher, 
who had discovered the whole plot, delivered to him a 
memorial, containing the heads of his information; but 
Caesar gave it, with other papers, to one of his secretaries 
without reading it, as was usual in things of this nature. As 
soon as he had taken his place in the senate, the conspirators 
came near him, under a pretence of saluting him; and 
Cimber, who was one of them, approached in a suppliant 
posture, pretending to sue for his brother’s pardon, who 
was banished by his order. All the conspirators seconded 
him with great earnestness; and Cimber, seeming to sue 
with still greater submission, took hold of the bottom of hrs 
robe, holding him so as to prevent his rising. This was the 
signal agreed on. Casca, who was behind, stabbed him, 
though slightly, in tire shoulder. Caesar instantly turned 
round, and with the style of his tablet wounded him in the 
arm. However, all the conspirators were now alarmed; 
and inclosing him round, he received a second stab from an 
unknown hand in the breast, while Cassius wounded him in 
the face. He still defended himself with great vigour, rushing 
among them, and throwing down such as opposed him, till 
he saw Brutus among the conspirators, who, coming up, 
struck his dagger in his thigh. From that moment, Caesar 
thought no more of defending himself, but looking upon 
this conspirator, cried out, “ et tu Brute!” Then cover¬ 
ing his head, and spreading his robe before him in 
order to fall with greater decency, he sunk down at the base 
of Pompey’s statue, after receiving three and twenty wounds, 
in the fifty-sixth year of his age. 
As soon as the conspirators had dispatched Caesar; they 
began to address themselves to the senate, in order to vindi¬ 
cate the motives of their enterprise, and to excite them to 
join in procuring their country’s freedom ; but all the sena¬ 
tors who were not accomplices fled with such precipitation, 
that the lives of some of them were endangered in the throng. 
The people also being now alarmed, left their usual occupa¬ 
tions, and ran tumultuously through the city; some actuated 
by their fears, and still more by a desire of plunder. In 
this state of confusion, the conspirators all retired to the 
capitol, and guarded its accesses by a body of gladiators 
which Brutus had in pay. It was in vain they alleged they 
only struck for freedom, and that they killed a tyrant who 
usurped the rights of mankind: the people, accustomed to 
luxury and ease, little regarded their professions, dreading 
more the dangers of poverty than of subjection. 
The friends of the late dictator now began to find that 
this was the time for coming into greater power than before, 
and for satisfying their ambition under the veil of promoting 
justice. Of this number was Antony, whom we have 
already seen acting as a lieutenant under Caesar. He was a 
man of moderate abilities and excessive vices ; ambitious of 
power, but skilled in war, to which he had been trained 
from his youth. He was consul for this year; and resolved, 
with Lepidus, who was fond of commotions like himself, to 
seize this opportunity of assuming the sovereign power. 
Lepidus, therefore, took possession of the forum with a band 
of soldiers at Iris devotion ; and Antony, being consul, 
was permitted to command them. Their first step was to 
possess themselves of all Caesar’s papers and money; and 
the next to convene the senate, in order to determine whether 
Caesar had been a legal magistrate or a tyrannical usurper, 
and whether those who killed him merited rewards or punish¬ 
ments. There were many of these who had received their 
promotions from Caesar, and had acquired large fortunes in 
consequence of his appointments: to vote him an usurper, 
therefore, would be to endanger their property; and yet to 
vote him innocent, might endanger the state. In this dilemma, 
they seemed willing to reconcile extremes; wherefore they 
approved all the acts of Caesar, and yet granted a general 
pardon to all the conspirators. 
This decree was very far from giving Antony satisfaction, 
as it granted security to a number of men who were the 
avowed enemies of tyranny, and who would be foremost 
in opposing his schemes of restoring absolute power. As 
■ therefore 
