8 Famous Political Assassinations That Shook The World
5. Julius Caesar (Roman Empire)
You too, Brutus? will forever be connected with Julius Caesars death - although the words derived from William Shakespeares play have no historical basis at all. Yet the assassination itself remains one of historys most brutal removals of a leader. Being a dictator is certainly not an easy job - there is always the constant fear that someone will try to oust you - and Julius Caesar fell victim to such a plot in 44 BC. A conspiracy led by 40 Roman senators - including Gaius Cassius Longinus and most-infamously Marcus Junius Brutus - saw Caesar stabbed next to the Theatre of Pompey on the Ides of March. Incredibly, 23 stab wounds were found on Caesars body - as a result of him falling to the ground when blinded by blood during an attempt to escape - but only one, to his chest, had actually been lethal. Brutus and Longinus revolt was supposedly motivated by Caesars recent dictator perpetuo declaration, which made many senators fear that the Emperor wanted to remove the Senate and continue a tyrannical rule. Despite the senators so-called intention to restore the Roman Republic following Caesars removal, this did not occur and instead a Liberators civil war broke out throughout the Roman Empire.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
You too, Brutus? will forever be connected with Julius Caesars death - although the words derived from William Shakespeares play have no historical basis at all. Yet the assassination itself remains one of historys most brutal removals of a leader. Being a dictator is certainly not an easy job - there is always the constant fear that someone will try to oust you - and Julius Caesar fell victim to such a plot in 44 BC. A conspiracy led by 40 Roman senators - including Gaius Cassius Longinus and most-infamously Marcus Junius Brutus - saw Caesar stabbed next to the Theatre of Pompey on the Ides of March. Incredibly, 23 stab wounds were found on Caesars body - as a result of him falling to the ground when blinded by blood during an attempt to escape - but only one, to his chest, had actually been lethal. Brutus and Longinus revolt was supposedly motivated by Caesars recent dictator perpetuo declaration, which made many senators fear that the Emperor wanted to remove the Senate and continue a tyrannical rule. Despite the senators so-called intention to restore the Roman Republic following Caesars removal, this did not occur and instead a Liberators civil war broke out throughout the Roman Empire.