Julius Caesar was killed during a Senate meeting at the Curia of Pompey in Rome on 15 March 44 BC by a conspiracy of senators who cast the attack as a defense of the Roman Republic against a ruler they feared was moving toward monarchy. The plot took shape after Caesar became dictator in perpetuity and amid tensions over royal symbolism and his conduct toward the Senate. Led in part by figures including Brutus, Cassius, and Decimus Brutus Albinus, the conspirators stabbed Caesar about 23 times in a public political killing. Rather than save the Republic, his death helped ignite further civil war and hastened Rome’s transformation into an empire under Augustus.

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain

Photo: Wikipedia · Public domain