Quick questions on Julius Caesar: the Ides of March and its aftermath - HSC Ancient History

2short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.

What is the Ides of March?

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The Senate was due to meet on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC, days before Caesar planned to leave Rome for a major campaign against Parthia. Because the regular senate house was being rebuilt, the meeting was held in the Curia of Pompey, a hall attached to the Theatre of Pompey in the Campus Martius. Ancient tradition surrounds the day with omens: the seer Spurinna's warning to beware the Ides, and the disturbed dreams of Caesar's wife Calpurnia. Decimus Brutus is said to have talked Caesar out of staying home.

What are the failure of the Liberators?

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The Liberators failed for reasons that were political, not military. They had struck down Caesar but left his power base untouched, and three decisions proved fatal. First, Brutus vetoed the killing of Antony, wanting the deed to read as a principled tyrannicide rather than a factional massacre; this left Caesar's ablest lieutenant alive, in office, and in control of Caesar's papers and the state treasury. Second, they made no plan to seize the machinery of the state, waiting for a Republic to restore itself spontaneously.

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