Factors that Lead to the Assassination of Julius Caesar

The name Julius Caesar evokes imagery of an extraordinary leader, acquiring excellent political knowledge and military skills, as well as being responsible for bringing great height to the Roman Empire.

The assassination of Julius Caesar, which occurred on March 15, 44 B.C, was a turning point in the history of Rome, in which the Roman Republic became the Roman Empire led by an individual, Augustus Caesar. As well as this, it sparked a second civil war between liberators Brutus and Cassius. Hence, it is important to understand and outline an order of significance for the short-term and long-term causes which ultimately led to the assassination. The most significant long-term cause was Julius Caesar’s acceptance of honours which were bestowed upon him. Caesar accepting honours is significant in identifying causes for his assassination as the honours he accepted were usually reserved for gods and too great for a regular Roman senator.

Throughout his ruling as dictator, Caesar became increasingly powerful and accepted many honours, many of which included: a statue among those of kings, a temple to honour his clemency, a golden throne and his head appearing on Roman coins. From his book, The Lives of the Twelve Caesar’s, Suetonius provides a detailed account of honours accepted by Caesar:

“He abused his power and was justly slain. For not only did he accept excessive honours… he also allowed honours to be bestowed on him which were too great for mortal man… statues beside those of the gods… In fact, there were no honours which he did not receive or confer at pleasure”.

From this account, it is evident the honours Caesar accepted were too great for a mortal man. This surely would have been disagreeable amongst many Roman senators and citizens, who would have sensed his ambition for higher power.

Moreover, the honours Caesar accepted ultimately set himself apart as these kinds of honours were reserved for the gods, not men. An image of Julius Caesar’s portrait on a coin minted by P Sepullius Macer in 44B.C shows this:

This particular coin was minted only a few days before Julius Caesar was assassinated. Caesar was the first living Roman to have himself portrayed on a coin. With this honour, he broke a religious taboo that had already prevented the Greeks to perpetuate the images of mortals on coins. Therefore, Caesar’s acceptance of honours built up the appearance of over ambition. These honours, which he accepted with pleasure, set him aside to be characterised as a god-like figure and it became obvious to senators of his lust for power, leading to his assassination.

Another important long-term cause of Julius Caesar’s assassination was the suspicion of his ambition to try to become king. The Romans did not like kings ever since the final one, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was overthrown in 509BCE as he had been considered a despot. The Roman constitution ensured no single person would ever rule over Rome again. To be accused of king was one of the worst insults possible and Caesar was unable to overcome these kinds of anti-monarchical sentiments. Roman citizens and senators were convinced and feared that Caesar was too ambitious to become king, hence leading to his assassination.

In 69BC, Caesar’s aunt Julia died and he delivered funeral orations not only to mark his personal grief, but to convey his royal and divine descent. Suetonius reports this extract from his speech:

'The family of my aunt Julia is descended by her mother from the kings, and on her father's side is akin to the immortal Gods … the family of which ours is a branch, to Venus. Our stock therefore has at once the sanctity of kings, whose power is supreme among mortal men, and the claim to reverence which attaches to the Gods”.

These were particularly strange words to use in republican Rome, where ineradicable odium was attached to the name of the king. Julius Caesar was not merely claiming royal descent, but proposing by divine right, kings should reign supreme among mortals. This may have been representative of Caesar’s ambitious to become king.

On the contrary, it is questionable whether Julius Caesar truly desired to be king. Caesar did not need the power of kingship as he had all the power concentrated in his hands with his dictatorship for life. Dio Cassius reinforces this idea and states that:

“Antony… saluted him as king and binding a diadem upon his head, said: 'The people offer this to you through me”. Caesar answered: 'Jupiter alone is king of the Romans,'… he [Caesar] had refused to accept the kingship when offered to him”.

There is an insufficient amount of evidence to establish a definitive conclusion of whether Caesar truly desired to be king or not. However, it is certain that Caesar would not give up the authority he had already obtained as dictator and the conspirators believed the only way to remove him from power was death.

While Caesar’s perceived ambition to become king could be considered an important cause of his assassination, it wasn’t as significant as his acceptance of honours, as this created the belief that Caesar desired an authoritarian rule.

Furthermore, the most significant short-term cause of Julius Caesar’s assassination was his minor violations regarding the Roman republic and senate. Caesar had consistently ignored the senators and treated them without proper respect ever since he came into power.

What made the Romans bitterly hate Caesar was when the entire Senate, armed with an imposing list of honours that they had just voted him, came to where he sat in front of the Temple of Mother Venus and Caesar did not rise to greet them. Roman historian, Titus Livius accounts this particular moment:

“Several grudges rose against him because he did not rise from his throne in front of the temple of Venus Genetrix when the senators arrived to present him with these honors… for these reasons, a conspiracy was formed against him”.

There is no evidence to whether Caesar’s intension was to offend the senators. As a dictator, he was considered more superior than senators and therefore, had the right not to stand when they entered the room. Regardless of Caesar’s intent, whether to create public discontent or to display his power, his minor violations appear to be an underlying justification of his assassination.

Another significant short-term cause of Julius Caesar’s assassination was his plan for a war against Parthia in 44B.C. In the final months before his assassination, Caesar was reportedly planning for an invasion of the Parthian Empire, as seen in Plutarch’s account:

“For he planned and prepared to make an expedition against the Parthians… marching around the Euxine.. the Caspian sea, and the Caucasus, to invade Scythia… Germany itself, to come to complete this circuit of his empire”.

It is assumed that the invasion was planned in order to expand the reach of the Roman Empire and Caesar’s own power. The war, if successful, would mean Caesar would rule Rome from the East through men he hand-picked for positions of power. Therefore, men who believed it was their right to govern as consuls would have been made powerless and the senatorial class’s positions would be threatened.

The invasion was set to begin in 44B.C, however, due to his assassination in that same year, the invasion never took place. It can thus be inferred that the assassination took place in order to prevent the invasion of the Parthian Empire, and therefore illustrates that Caesar’s plan for the invasion was a significant short-term cause of his death.

Whilst the invasion of Parthia is an important short-term cause, the minor violations can be considered more significant as Caesar treated the senators without respect on multiple occasions and the plan for the invasion was just a couple of months before his assassination.

In conclusion, a key theme is apparent in all long- and short-term causes of Julius Caesar’s assassination; Caesar’s all powerful position threatened the Republic where the Senate, magistrates and Assemblies were supposed to govern Rome.

The threats to the senate’s power, from: Caesar’s acceptance of honours, perceived ambition to become king, minor violations against the senate and the planned Parthian invasion, ultimately led to his assassination when the senators took it upon themselves to prevent this. It can also be concluded that the long-term causes were more significant than the short-term causes as the long-term causes led to the autocratic and ambitious behaviour of the short-term causes.