44 BC | The Ides of March

Caesar attends a meeting of the Senate that will change the course of history.

[@SavingHistory]

If you like our content, please consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/SavingHistory as your donations help us to continue exploring the often left out details surrounding the end of Rome’s Republic and the rise of her Empire. We hope you enjoy this episode. Thank you for watching!!!

[@lukang72]

Great eulogy, tying Caesar's legacy to what started with the Gracci and Marius. Looking forward to Octavius next!

[@andywomack3414]

I will never tire of hearing this story,

[@j0nnyism]

Yep this story has a lot of good points

[@atticus6572]

Love the new narrator. It's a worthy successor to the already good precious narrator.

[@cristobalvalladares973]

How is it that you can hear a story for lifetime and still draw something new in each hearing? Thanks again. Great detail. Loved the way you paced the story. I knew the end, and was still on edge. I see that you agree with Colleen McCullough. No e tu Brutus. A man stabbed that many times would not have said much. These noble men thought so much of dignity, and standing that even in the process of dying, they put dignitas first. He and Pompey covered their faces prior to dying. Succeeding generations would not meet death so elegantly. Thanks again.

[@SavingHistory]

Exactly!! It’s very difficult to imagine someone being gang-butchered with daggers waxing poetic.

[@jameshiler7830]

"If you had a time machine, where would you go?"- Her "Ides of march, 44BC with an AR15 with a drum magazine firing indiscriminately into the Senate lunatics for betraying the savior of Rome."-Me "Well, this is our first date so..." -Her

[@geordiejones5618]

Its so creepy but also fitting just how much forewarning was surrounding Caesar in the days leading up to his murder. Its almost as if he accepted his fate no matter what, having achieved all he wanted and walking a precarious edge in between his rabid supporters and his remaining opposition. I think part of him was aware that no matter what he did, without a purge, he was gonna end up pissing off a group he didn't want to by trying to leverage the middle ground. He wanted his status, he wanted the crown, but he also secretly hedged his bets by adopting Octavian. I think he figured if he died, he laid out a pretty clear path to take over Rome if Octavian or someone else ambitious wanted. Unlike both Marius and Sulla his position was gonna be solidified in death.

[@user-ic1lo9wh5f]

Do you guys think Caesar himself had absolutely no idea or fear this would happen on this day? So many omens. So many risks. So much political altitude. He was a clever guy, he should have expected something (or maybe he did and didn't act on it). Sometimes makes me thinks a lot of or even all of the omens are storytelling after the fact.

[@SavingHistory]

Personally…. yes and no. This is just opinion, but I can’t imagine Caesar knew something would happen on that exact day. It takes a lot of humility to willingly go to death in such ignoble fashion, and Caesar wasn’t exactly a humble guy. But I do believe he knew something was “in the air,” and it may have fueled his desires to leave Rome on campaign. No matter what was destined to happen on campaign, he would be out of the city and away from political enemies, while simultaneously at the head of the legions, on whose strength he could maintain his lifelong Dictatorship.

[@SKILLIUSCAESAR]

I just read Barry Strauss’ amazing book about the assassination… he offers fascinating analysis about Caesar’s addiction to risk-taking, and that perhaps, even on a subconscious level, walking into that Senate meeting was an extension of that. Also that he presented himself as a “man of fate” who shouldn’t have to live in fear of such things, bc he was clearly favored by the gods. Anyways, a lot of delicious elements that would never have occured to me 😊

[@baggelis_aikaterinis]

"O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!"

[@SavingHistory]

Thou art the ruins of the noblest man that ever lived in the tide of times! Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!

[@ngc-ho1xd]

Even though I knew what was coming, it still feels like a gut punch.

[@Arthur_Revan]

It's Treason Then! He WAS the SENATE! Great content, found your channel 3 weeks ago, and bench-watched it all. Kings and Generals, HistoryMarche, end the rest are great for battles, but this series is the "big picture" of politics, and it's in chronological order, which makes it easy to understand. Please don't stop, and if possible go to the fall of Rome, both of them.

[@SavingHistory]

Thank you!!! We love hearing that as our goal was to examine all the sources, and strip away the mythologies surrounding these people so that we can gaze at something which hopefully resembles realistic behavior. We’re so happy you spent your time on our channel!!

[@ericbaugher]

Great video. I already knew the story but I always enjoy its retelling as others have also commented. One of my favorite parts was how he died in front of Pompey's statue. I really enjoyed the graphics that went along with that part, showing your vision of the statue. I love how you show all the sculptures of the players. Great job!

[@SavingHistory]

Thank you very very much!!

[@basfinnis]

Excellent upload. Interesting stuff that fleshed out the story 👌

[@henkstersmacro-world]

👍👍👍

[@usurparemagnus]

That’s some epic intro

[@theletterw3875]

Might I suggest for next season's intro music, you might consider the works of Farya Faraji? They let Flash Point History their work

[@j0nnyism]

Gaius trebonius; the only senator in Ancient Rome with an iPhone

[@ericbaugher]

I just went back and watched the HBO Rome version of this event. I wanted to see if the statue of Pompey was depicted in the HBO version. I didn't see it, so it was not very prominent. I still love the HBO version but it is not very accurate. It has Octavian at Sivillia's house shen she gave him the news of the assination. I said already in an earlier comment that.I really like how Pompey's statue is prominently displayed in this version along with the other statues.

[@samlau96]

Look at what they did to my boy.

[@antonius_006]

I would like to see these videos put together in a paper back book format. It was not wise for Marcus Antonius to support Julious Ceasar so much. Julious "Ceasar" was a psychopath.

[@Null-fl4gu]

Always pay attention to your wife..

[@SavingHistory]

Truth!!

[@theroadhomefromwrestling1788]

NOOOOOOO!!!!!

[@theletterw3875]

Good video but Suetonius sucks! Edit: thanks for the sourcing too!

[@ollienilson1644]

Caesar never drinking. That his famous for. So do not lie.

[@SavingHistory]

I’m sorry, but this is not true. The lie is that Caesar never drank wine - that was propaganda created by later historians when alcohol-consumption became synonymous with moral character. Caesar drank wine. He drank very heavily while he was besieged in Alexandria, and his favorite wines were Greek - specifically Mamertine wine. It’s unusual for a person to have favorites of something he doesn’t even drink. However, he did not drink much wine while on military campaigns, which is probably the source of the complete abstinence idea about him, which later propagandists used to paint his whole life.

[@ollienilson1644]

@@SavingHistory No, no, no, all historians know that Caesar became drunk in his youth with some slave women and after this he never drank. Plus his diabetes made him unable to drink wine because then he got his seizures. Find out the facts before you write.

[@SavingHistory]

@@ollienilson1644 Interesting, as I’ve read all the historians. But, if you say so :-)

[@ollienilson1644]

@@SavingHistory I am 65 years ol an get 66 this year. And my favorit is just Caesar sens I was around 15 years. I read everything I can sens then . So I know a litle of Caears life.. And I love your canel and se every video you do .

[@SavingHistory]

@@ollienilson1644 thank you. We very much appreciate that, and if you would like to have a discussion about why that idea of Caesar exists, or where it originated, that would be awesome, as Roman history fans, we all want discussions where we can come away having learned something new. But to call us liars and tell us to check our facts merits a response. Plutarch’s Life of Caesar specifically states he partook of nightly drinking parties while besieged in Alexandria and Varro, as well as Cicero, who were Caesar’s actual contemporaries, make no mention of Caesar never drinking, but Varro tells us he drank Falernian, (and even which vintage) in celebration of his victories over the Lusitanians just prior to his 59 BC Consulship. It’s plausible Caesar never drank while on campaign, which absolutely is in line with his character. But, like you, I’m of the same age group and have been studying Roman history since before I could legally drink alcohol myself. Please trust we try and take the greatest care to present as much valid information as possible in the telling of this very complicated and intertwined story.