the reason for the assassination of Julius caesar

Reason’s for Caesar’s Assassination
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Power has often turned friends into foes and citizens against their fellow citizens. The Rwandan genocide is a sharp reminder of the impact of power greed in the society. The Romans assassinated Caesar to ensure power remained with the Oligarchs. Interestingly, the wealthy individuals had maintained control over the years over the Senate and the tribuneship. However, the rise of Caesar’s stature and power within Rome and the entire of Italy had caused jitters among the aristocrats over their continual loss of power. The consul appointed men to the Senate and rewarded friends with positions unlike in the past, where aristocrats shared seats and were passed on through inheritance to their children. The prominence of the consul in the nation forced the conspirators to hatch a plot to end Caesar’s reign. Shakespeare underlines the real reasons behind Caesars assignation through Brutus speech to the people after Caesar’s assassination:
“Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more. Had you preferred Caesar were living and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all freemen?…as he was valiant, I honor him: but, as he was ambitious, I slew him.”
Shakespeare intimates that the criteria met the threshold to overthrow Caesar since the Consul’s ambition, tyrannical government and grip of Roman empire scuttled the power circles already existent in the nation. The People’s Dictator eulogizes the fallen leader, but hugely explains the reasons for the assassination of the leader, terming it a necessity for the Oligarchs.

Similarly, Divius Julius elaborates how rumors played a pivotal role in the plot to kill Caesar, confusing the citizens on the reality of the leadership. Original manuscripts by Plutarch, Suetonius, and Dio explain the atrocities done by the leader against the state and the consequential conspiratorial master plan to kill the leader, to ensure that slaves were “free.”
Honours Bestowed on Caesar
The nation had enacted the use of a constitution to ensure dictatorship was never utilized in the country again. King Lucius Superbus was the last autocratic leader to lead the country. The constitution ensured the country used the rule of law through magistrates, primarily from aristocratic families. However, Caesar accepted honors and titles infuriating the aristocrats and citizens, who though the leader was attempting to subvert the rule of law and re-establish dictatorship. Suetonius explained in detail the honors bestowed on Caesar;
“For he not only obtained excessive honors…the consulship every year, the dictatorship for life…the censorship…the title of emperor…the surname of the father of his country…his statue amongst the kings, and a lofty couch in the theater. Caesar acknowledged imperious renown to be granted to the leader…gilded couch …a sanctified chariot, and his name should call banners in the Circensian procession, temples, altars, statues among the gods, a bed of state in the temples, a priest, and a college of priests dedicated to Caesar…one of the months. There were, indeed, no prestige that he did not either allow himself, or award to another person, at his discretion and comfort.”
The author alludes that Caesar instigated the citizens to entrust the leader with more honors, power, and titles for their “safety.” According to Cicero, the honors edify the description of the leader by questioning the real intention of the people in agreeing to install the leader like a priest in a highly secular government for a Christian nation. Few disagree on whether the leader was involved in seeking the Senate’s help to bestow Caesar with more power. Appian reiterates that the Senate’s actions were done to gratify the leader without referring to Caesar requests. Similarly, Dio intimates that the Senate honored the consul in Caesar’s absence, to demonstrate the Senate voluntary role unlike being coerced by the leader. Some contemporary authors believe it was important for the consul to establish the rules of dictatorship to ensure the nation was stable after the civil war. The conspirators plotted against Caesar by spreading propaganda that the consul was seeking royal autonomy, something loathed in Italy. Some senators had planned to install Caesar as king for the provinces outside of Italy, though the consul declined such an honor. Plutarch states;
“Caesar was coming down from Alba into the city they ventured to hail him as king. But the people were confounded, and Caesar disturbed in mind, said that his name was not king, but Caesar.”
The Albian incidents reinforced fears among the electorate, especially after Antony tried to put a diadem on the consul’s head. Few critics intimate the plan was hatched by the coconspirators, though others believe the king wanted to gauge the people’s thoughts on the matter. However, the conspirators were able to convince the people of the consul’s intention and agreed to join the accord.
Positions against the Republic
Caesar’s conspirators reviewed the leader’s action with scorn, especially regarding appointment to important positions. The death of Qunitus Maximus, the consul, led to Caesar’s appointment of Canninius Rebilus, a commoner, unlike other previous envoys. Cicero mocked Caesar’s designation of Canninius as consul, reiterating that Caesar failed to respect the traditions even though the leader had followed the law. However, it is believed that the leader’s inaction would have led to further scrutiny from the public. The people preferred consuls as administrators and allowed Caesar to appoint consuls after the death of an envoy, and the nominee would have been termed to mean Caesar’s attitude towards the position. However, the conspirators used the event to ensure the people rose against their leader. Similarly, Caesar’s refusal to stand during the Venus Genetrix attended by the senators was an unfathomable action by Caesar. Previously, Kings were the only ones allowed to sit while the other leaders entered the church. Caesar was later incensed by Pontius Aquila’s refusal to stand as Caesar entered the room. The conspirators used the incidents to implore the residents to rise against their leader, even though as a dictator, Caesar was never required to stand while senators and judges entered. The conspirators were convinced that the citizens would join their plot against the leader since the evidence demonstrated the leaders’ attitudes against the Republic.
Abuse of Power
The conspirators viewed the dictatorial powers of Caesar as subversion to the rule of law. Most of the senators and magistrates were from oligarchs and provinces in Italy. However, a person needed considerable resources to rise to the positions. The wealthy subverted the increase of commoners for positions of power, by ensuring the seats were hereditary. Aristocrats used their resources to ensure the commoners were unable to mount any serious revolution, while also protecting their wealth. Caesar used dictatorial powers to appoint friends and cronies to the Senate and Consulship, against the spirit of the law. The leader’s appointment of semi-barbarians and non-Romans to the Senate angered the residents, especially since the positions of power wielded a lot of influence in the nation. However, some authors believe that since the appointees were rich, Caesar thought the people would out rightly be accepted by the oligarchs. The actions turned the Senators against the leader, fearing the increase in senators would lead to their loss of power in the nation. Moreover, the adulteration of the aristocratic power in the society was very unpopular with the affluent patriarchs. Caesar had previously used clemency as a popular way to reinforce the nation’s tattered leadership after the war. However, immediately after taking reigns in the country, the leader used the Senate to silence Epidius and Flavus. Caesar stated:
“became inordinately irate and drew them in the Senate-house discussion which he sued them and without prompting the members to vote on their conduct. He never sought for the murder of the tribunes …but detached the two from the tribuneship…and expunged their names from the Senate.”
The leader went further and mocked the fabric of the republic, terming it as just a name and branding the law dependent on Caesar. The leader had become increasingly frustrated by the slowness of the political processes in implementing the leader’s growth plans. The conspirators plotted to kill the leader and regain power from the oppressors. The conspirators used propaganda to charm the residents and seek their support though secretly ensuring none of the leader’s confidants were aware of the plot. Abuse of power was unpopular in the nation due to the atrocities committed against the people by previous rulers. Conclusively, the real reasons behind the assassination of Caesar were the ruler’s subvert approach to the political system, the leader’s attitudes against the Republic and the leader’s approval of titles and honors of power in the state. Consequently, the leader’s failings led to Caesar’s downfall.
Bibliography
Canfora, Luciano. Julius Caesar: the life and times of the people’s dictator. Univ of California
Press, 2007.
Cassius, Earnest Cary, and Herbert B. Foster. Dio’s Roman history. Cambridge, Mass. London: Harvard University Press W. Heinemann, 1970.
Cicero, M. T. Orations, The fourteen orations against Marcus Antonius (Philippics), Translated by Yonge, C. D. London: George Bell & Sons, 1903.
Plutarch. Caesar – Plutarch’s Lives Translated by Perrin, B. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1919.
Shakespeare, William. “Julius Caesar-ACT I-SCENE II.”
Stefan, Weinstock, Divus Julius, Oxford New York: Clarendon Press, 1971.
Suetonius, and Tamsyn Barton. Lives of the twelve Caesars. Ware, Herfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 1997.