Fact From Fiction: What Really Happened on the Ides of March?

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In this video:
In William Shakespeare’s play “Julius Caesar,” Caesar mocks the soothsayer’s earlier prediction to “Beware the Ides of March.” Later, Caesar says, “The Ides of March have come” to point out the supposed dreaded day did not bring disaster. The soothsayer responds with a prophetic point, “Ay, Caesar; but not gone.” Shortly thereafter, Caesar is stabbed many times over by conspirators in the Senate, including by his good friend Marcus Brutus. As he lies dying, Caesar mumbles those infamous last words, “Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar!”
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www.bartleby.co...
www.sparknotes....
www.opensources...
www.history.com...
www.history.com...
www.historyextr...
www.vox.com/201...
www.history.com...
www.ancient.eu/...
www.etymonline....
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[@MsBELLE7]

Hearing that Lincoln's son was alive in 1922 really puts into perspective how close we truly are still to that time.....history class always made it seem like so long ago.

[@samright4661]

Lincoln was no Cesar...

[@MsBELLE7]

@@samright4661 that has nothing to do with my comment?.....

[@samright4661]

@@MsBELLE7 Lincoln was a blood thirsty tyrant

[@MsBELLE7]

@@samright4661 again. Has absolutely ZERO to do with what I said.

[@samright4661]

@@MsBELLE7 You Brought up Lincoln...

[@randomobserver8168]

"The Ides of March are come." "Aye, Caesar, but not gone." The soothsayer's reply to Caesar's cocky remark on the morning of his last day. My fave bit of dialogue in all Shakespeare.

[@_Abjuranax_]

If you look at the fates of the Roman Emperors, assassination of some form was the norm and not the exception. Very few of them died peacefully in their beds from natural causes. One was even tore apart by the mobs.

[@tylernilson7021]

the praetorian guard has got your back!

[@marrqi7wini54]

@@tylernilson7021 And sometimes they stab it too.

[@felixblakat7718]

Maybe the secret to having a long lasting empire is just to rend your ruler to pieces every so often

[@WildWombats]

What if the assassination of Julius Caesar set a precedent and caused a domino effect where that would become the norm. Brutus wanted to make a public display of killing Caesar as symbolism to ending the monarchy that Caesar had appeared to set up. So people perhaps hoped for the return of the republic even if they knew it was dead. Perhaps had Caesar never been assassinated and lived on, maybe things would've played out the same, but maybe there would have been better situations and circumstances, who knows if Augustus necessarily would have continued to be the heir, after all, if Caesar could have produced his own child that could possibly shake things up in history quite a bit. The fact Caesar hadn't died would've shook things up a lot. We don't know the kind of reforms he would pass, we can only guess especially the further down you go in time. We don't know much beyond Persia aspirations. Butterfly effect naturally comes into play where the future plays out entirely different than today. Even if Augustus remained heir to Caesar's natural death, the history could be vastly changed in more ways than we can imagine.

[@jasonremy1627]

John Green: "Mispronouncing names is my thing" Simon Whistler: "Hold my beer..."

[@shelbybrown8312]

Yeah i think now he just does it for the comments

[@itarry4]

I've noticed he's stopped saying that he's looked up the difficult ones online to find out the correct way to pronounce them. The fact that despite looking them up, some still say he's got them wrong, combined with the fact he also get words that are common knowledge and of virtually everyday usage wrong, that really has probably made him realise that looking some up is a waste of time. I mean it's the Internet you'll never please everyone or manage to say every word in the way every viewer thinks it should be said. To do that you'd have to say every word 4 or 5 times at least just to cover each "correct" pronunciation. Let's face it, when you have such a blind spot for something like Simon has about pronouncing words you're best off making a trate of it, almost like a catch phrase and rolling with the criticism. It's become the Simon Whistler thing he uses it to his advantage almost, clever.

[@ankyfire]

Everyone mispronounces foreign names. Even when they’re trying their hardest. Sure, look stuff up, but in the end if you’re not a speaker of a certain language, you might never get it right.

[@Mirro18]

@@ankyfire Even less so stuff like Latin which has not be actually spoken by people as a first language for hundreds of years. Heck, we have no idea how Latin sounded like. We got good approximations at best and bad habits carried through by the catholic church at worst.

[@Mirro18]

@John Wack The Italian thing is true. Same for the V like W (not sure if I would call it the opposite of German but yeah :P). The thing with the punctuation is, that we know at least a few things from stuff we have seen with some sort of spacing. Given that many words are super similar to italian/spanish counterparts, that we know of the many linguistic shifts happening at some point, we got at least most words correctly. BUt again, a lot of things are uncertain. We just know stuff like Caesar definitely sounded a lot more like the German Kaiser than what we say today, but not everything about it.

[@auldrick]

16:05 "Isntagram quidditch vis est!" What the heck is that, some kind of Easter egg? Simon, somebody is playing you for a fool!

[@devinm9245]

got a rise out of me

[@kelbenblack1190]

lol

[@shanek6582]

Et tu brute, (bru-tay) or “you too Brutus?” Heart broken he can’t believe even his friend Brutus is in on it.

[@Perririri]

E.T. Phoneus Homeus :P

[@brotherbear1162]

@@Perririri I'm stealing that 🤣

[@rnedlo9909]

Today we might say: "KZbin Brute?"

[@nubworthycigars6682]

Most of the time I let it slide, but he’s English.. referencing Shakespeare lol...

[@shanek6582]

@@nubworthycigars6682 yeah, after watching him for some time now, he mispronounces everything lol but he’s so busy making new content on his 300 different channels, I’m sure he doesn’t care and I don’t either.

[@eval_is_evil]

Lisa : Beware the Ides of March Homer : No

[@hannahlarocco7467]

Beware the ides of March homer

[@josephteller9715]

Regarding Caesar's Symptoms: Epilepsy later in life can be caused by a head injury, it is not specifically a childhood manifesting condition. I have known two people who developed it, one thru a soccer injury and one from a car accident. Also heard of a relative who developed it after being thrown from a horse without protective headgear. The wider Symptoms that were mentioned could also be the result of a far more common problem in Roman times that is often ignored by modern historians when interpreting materials : Malaria.

[@grilledleeks6514]

You know 3 people who developed late life epilepsy? ...I dont believe you

[@empathyisonlyhuman7816]

Of note here, Simon clearly states that Caesar's symptoms as recorded were more consistent with TSA's than with epilepsy. Given the fact that such knowledge would not become manifest within mankind's lexicon of medical understanding until nearly two millennia later. I think we can forgive the romans and indeed Caesar himself for any misinterpretation of his medical malady.

[@empathyisonlyhuman7816]

@High priest of the church of tea , I see no reason to call into doubt your assertions about having been closely associated with 3 cases of late life manifestation of epilepsy. Or that you have been relayed information about a relatively close person of interest whom was also allegedly so afflicted. In fact the only aspect here that calls into doubt the circumstances you've described, is the relative rarity of this condition. Rarity does not disprove outlyer cases. However it does bring up the possibility of unknown factors being in play in your case. For instance, you mention that the condition may be manifested via head trauma of sufficient severity and presumably the relative location on the patients cranium where such trauma occurred. Perhaps all these individuals participated in activities where such injuries have a far higher chance of occurance. Such as being teammates on a rugby or football team. Contagions to the local water supply or perhaps even airborne factors might be the culprit only affecting those whom happen to be particularly susceptible to this particular complication. To your detractors I would point out that while a healthy scepticism is scientifically vital. It is also socially awkward and potentially abusive to direct such private doubts as overt statements accusing your interlocular of being disingenuous, or of deliberate prevarication. Ciao for now. And I hope your day treats you well.

[@empathyisonlyhuman7816]

@High priest of the church of tea , Well certainly any form of chemical antagonist can result in unanticipated complications, even ones as rare as what we are discussing here. However in the scenario you've just described we do have a far wider sample size to draw upon. If the conditions you are describing are to be considered suspect. Then we would necessarily also see a relatively high number of such cases in the subset of the world population who both partake of illicit drugs and frequent the nightclub scene. I don't actually have access to that data set in order to extrapolate any reliable conclusions. And yes it is possible that this connection has simply been overlooked in studies on this malady. However, given the commonality of the behaviours you've described coupled with the rarity of the condition I would tend to doubt that any correlation could be drawn here. Of greater probability however. Is the fact, I assume, that the patients in question were living for an extended period of time within a relatively short radius away from one another. This brings up the likelihood of the patients having a point of commonality such as going out as a group together to partake of said activities. If this is true, then we have a much higher likelihood that at some point all four were exposed to some form of toxin. Either at a location they were all present, or within drugs they were sharing. Presuming of course that they didn't each have divergent sources for such substances. I hope that helps to clear things up, and didn't just make matters more confusing. Edit: The key here is to find the single point of commonality. That can be very complex if they all had prolonged personal history with one another. Unfortunately in most cases like this, especially where there isn't any appreciable likelihood that it was causally linked to any known communicable pathogen. It usually goes unanswered due to a lack of resources and reliable data sources. Indeed it is only when highly virulent, high mortality, microbes such as the Ebola Virus are suspected or confirmed that national and international resources are brought into utilization due to the extreme threat such diseases pose to the population at large.

[@empathyisonlyhuman7816]

@High priest of the church of tea You are absolutely correct. I've no idea who he was. I only know to put it in the past tense due to having just done a quick search on KZbin.

[@michaeltobias3110]

My sister was born on the ides of March. RIP Big Sis. I love & miss you

[@jeanlannes8710]

Also, many of the things the Senate claimed Cæsar which was illegal was also done by Pompey but with Senate approval. Pompey holding any positions actually was illegal since he never formally went through the Cursus Honorum.

[@dx1450]

Their Senate must have been full of Republicans...

[@johnmiller8975]

@@dx1450 Cato, it had Cato in it -- one of the most dire of all Senators. And yes Cato & the GOP would recognize each other as colleagues instantly

[@Trapster99]

You missed something. One Roman historian of the time wrote that Ceasar's last words were, "You too Brutus, my SON". Julius Caesar had a love affair with Brutis's mother. Either biological or by regard, Caesar saw Brutus as part of his family. All of the figures you mention in this historical time, Ceasar, Pompeii, Marcus Anthony, Octavian, etc., were FAMILY either by birth or marriage.

[@volkerkamin]

Changing "Ista quidem vis est!" to "Isntagram quidditch vis est!" (16:00) made my day :D

[@Xhumed]

One of my favourite jokes in a history textbook was "Tarquin Superbus was driven out of Rome." 🤣

[@tanyawade5197]

That is fantastic😂😂👏🏽👏🏽. I was thinking it was a superb name😂.

[@WhompingWalrus]

If you guys like this sort of topic. I'll totally recommend Historia Civilis. Simon has a little bit of content on ancient Rome, but HC is the king of making all of that stuff supremely entertaining & informative, & he has a lot of it.

[@tanyawade5197]

Ok. I’ll check it. Thx👍🏽. I looked him up & watched Historia Civilis’ vid on this topic. He did go into more detail, which I liked, but his narration wasn’t as engrossing as Simon’s for me. And, it seems he used a lot of Shakespeare’s version to inform his presentation. It was entertaining, tho.

[@johncavanaugh2874]

Okay, I am dying here - the Roman general is Pompey (like "pompy") not Pompeii which was the city destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE.

[@itarry4]

Yhep. Got on my nerves as well. It's not hard to find out it's Pom-pee not Pom-pay which is actually the pronunciation for the town destroyed by Vesuvius as you've said. I felt like he was telling me a town from the Bay of Naples had a grudge on Caesar and was leading an army against him before having its head cut off by an Egyptian. Very odd.

[@friendlyone2706]

I had not previously known they were pronounced differently---none of my teachers did.

[@itarry4]

@@friendlyone2706 in my opinion they seem to be some lazy teachers, if they couldn't be bothered to find out the correct way to pronounce some of the names they were teaching class's about. Personally I always assume that any 2 words spelt differently will also be pronounced differently, regardless of what language they're in. if I was then teaching a class something that used those 2 words I'd at least try to find out and get them right. I mean it's not like they're 2 obscure, unknown words or names. Both Pompeii and Pompey were and are very famous and so have very well known names so discovering how to say them is as easy as watching a documentary. You could even get the pronunciation of Pompey the great by watching the very short Scene 1, act 1 o the f Shakespeare play Julius Caesar.

[@friendlyone2706]

@@itarry4 Back in the dark ages when I was a student, such sound tracks were not easily come by, and once a firm sound association is made, it is difficult to unmake it. But I'm trying. Side note: One of my history books in high school illustrating how J. Caesar's name became associated with power, mentioned "even in Germany, where it was corrupted as Kaisar." I had learned in Latin class C was always a K sound; ae, long i; s, z; which meant the English way of saying Caesar was the corruption, and the German the more accurate. It is a bigger sin when text book writers get something wrong so easily checked.

[@patrickknight290]

@@friendlyone2706 I remember being taught the same thing, also the Russian word for Caesar is....Czar

[@WilliamRWarrenJr]

In this year, 2020, The Ides of March: *10 years, no nicotine!!*

[@hannahlarocco7467]

1. I love plays 2. My younger sisters sleepover party was on March 14th and 15th 3. Plays are funny

[@choosejesus1es]

Congrats!

[@claudemclain1032]

Congrats

[@karenjarrett8904]

Simon , this was most interesting. Thank you for all the work you put Tito creating this upload. Bravo!

[@jliller]

The bonus facts give me an idea for an alternate history novel: Robert Lincoln goes to the theater with his parents. He tries to stop Booth when the assassin enters. In the struggle, the single-shot pistol goes off and the bullet finds its mark...but in the head of Mary Lincoln instead of Abraham. President Lincoln now lives to deal with the difficulties of Reconstruction, without his wife who has died from a bullet meant for him fired by a Southern sympathizer. Robert Lincoln has to grapple with having saved his father only to inadvertently kill his mother in the process.

[@richardarriaga6271]

We don't know how Lincoln would have approached Reconstruction except that it would have enraged Southerners like Booth.

[@Paladin1873]

My favorite Roman ruler was Gluteus Maximus, though others claim he was a complete ass.

[@augurcybernaut4785]

Colonel K I’m guessing the words “go sit in the principals office” bring back many memories for you??

[@johnwillyard9857]

Have you heard about his brother biggus dickkus?

[@Paladin1873]

@@johnwillyard9857 Would that be the cousin of Testicleese?

[@Eric.Clarke]

👍👌🤣

[@dirty69impala]

And Rome fell due to wide spread use of rockus cocainus.

[@Caddowolf]

" Make me a salad!"-Julius Caesar.

[@hannahlarocco7467]

There was no salad 🥗 when ceasar lived

[@lordmegatron4789]

any salad is a caeser salad if you stab it enough times

[@gokulk2759]

18:01 that statue is still there today. 2020: *hold my beer*

[@WillowTDog]

Really? What happened?

[@markchip1]

Yes, I'm a pedant! The quote is in Latin, not French.... The pronunciation should be thus"ett too, Brut'ay"

[@julianshepherd2038]

Her her, wll said

[@Nilguiri]

Drove me nuts! Simon's attempts at pronunciation are often cringeworthy!

[@markchip1]

@@Nilguiri - Me too... and he's English as well! The rest of us are usually pretty good at foreign words, because we use so many in our regular vocabulary and because most of the other countries have been under British rule at some point in the last 500 years!!

[@Li.Siyuan]

Yeah. My ears bled when I heard that!

[@Travenspear8]

Simon's pronunciation is a living meme. Lol @ etu broot

[@JaelaOrdo]

“The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones.”

[@friendlyone2706]

A powerful speech, but the reality is more often the opposite. Most cultures have a "Don't speak ill of the dead." tradition.

[@steiny3353]

@@friendlyone2706 ...That's interesting, because that, "The good is oft interred with their bones" business has never made sense to me for the very reason you state. In all cases that I personally know of, everyone forgets that the deceased was an A-hole, and waffle on about some obscure GOOD thing that he did.

[@aprilrichards762]

@@friendlyone2706 I told my parents that if I predecease them in a way that makes the news, they are to tell everyone what a bitch I am. How glad they are in gone. Crap like because it annoys me how if someone dies and it's on the news, those people are talked about what saints they are.

[@izzojoseph2]

I believe this quote refers to the accomplishments. If they’ve done wrong it is usually difficult to undo the harm. If they’ve done well, it is usually corrupted.

[@iloveyourunclebob]

@@aprilrichards762 friend's step dad died a few years back. After his death, she did nothing but tell me about how mean he was, but posts on Facebook how much she misses and loves him. It's just so fake and disingenuous. I feel like some people really don't want to talk ill of the dead, but others just want to use the death of anyone to their advantage for sympathy.

[@Mad-Bassist]

Good video! It's interesting to see where the Ides of March were used in Shakespeare's writing as well as the bonus bits concerning the Booth brothers.

[@steiny3353]

I think your videos are extremely interesting, and well presented. Thank you.

[@diyeana]

Shouldn't this video been shared on March 15?

[@daisysoup158]

😉

[@roseychapman8214]

Better sooner than later.

[@Brandon-dy8us]

The Ides of March is the first song on Iron Maiden's 'Killers' album

[@thebrocialist8300]

Okay Boomer

[@Brandon-dy8us]

@@thebrocialist8300 big funny. Im one of those zoomers that actually likes good music unlike the rest of you talentless heathens.

[@jb888888888]

The Ides of March is a rock group from Chicago. Their biggest hit is Vehicle.

[@tolrem]

Never liked "Killers" personally.Love the later stuff with Bruce though.

[@Brandon-dy8us]

@@tolrem to each his own. I like killers because of the raw sound it has. The number of the beast sounds like they upgraded from garage band to professionals.

[@JorgeTorres-ek5qs]

Did anyone else notice it said "Isntagram quidditch vis est" at 16:02? It's supposed to be "Ista quidem vis est."

[@YazzPott]

Frijol25 Clearly a joke... they do them all the time on the images. Most people notice lol

[@JorgeTorres-ek5qs]

@@YazzPott Obviously a joke... It's not like I believed "Instagram" was an ancient word.

[@YazzPott]

Frijol25 So the point of your “correction” then? Just to point out a joke?

[@JorgeTorres-ek5qs]

@@YazzPott It was to help those with curious minds save the few moments of their time they would have spent looking for the Latin phrase. If they already knew: great! If not: now they know.

[@YazzPott]

@@JorgeTorres-ek5qs He says it in the video lol

[@michaelhawthorne8696]

Ceasar : Infamy ! Infamy ! They have all got it in for me ! Classic Carry on line...

[@gleggett3817]

"Friends...Romans..."

[@daemonartursson7159]

@@gleggett3817 country men . . . .I Know !!!

[@tanyawade5197]

I did find this video interesting, Simon! The first part about Caesar was engrossing! I don’t watch/listen to presentations about ancient Rome/Greece as much as I used to, but when I do trip over one narrated by as wonderful a presenter as you, I fall right back in love with the era. Idk why it captures my imagination so thoroughly over other subjects, but I I could’ve listened to your lesson for another couple of hours!💖 Ps. The bonus facts were great, as well.

[@CFG-eb3my]

Read

[@redreaper2752]

Because our leaders tend to be old, weak, selfish and self involved I always think it’s amazing that most leaders of the past fought in wars, lead their men themselves and lived near battle fields along side their soldiers instead of staying in the safety of their castles. No matter how hated and/or feared a ruler might be the soldiers would have no choice but to respect their bravery. And knowing that you’re king was on the same battlefield as you must have been not only inspiring, but extremely motivating. Maybe even evoking a stronger feeling of patriotism even if that king wasn’t capable of delivering a loud, movie worthy speech that’s miraculously heard by every soldier in the army as a way to pump them up for the imminent battle.

[@joshscott7401]

Simon! You ask and answer the best questions!

[@TheByteknight]

Depending on the month, the ides could be either on the 13th or the 15th. I read somewhere that some think he had a death wish, as he walked around in purple (like a king) and had a golden coloured chair in the senate (like a throne), which aggravated people. The republic was almost 500 years old at this time, so republican virtues ran deep. His successor, Octavian (Augustus), the first Emperor, did not do the same aggravating behaviour and kept up the pretense of republicanism.

[@star3catcherSEQUEL]

12:41 Ah yes, the ol', "Pffft-! Women, ammirite?" Works every time.

[@carltonleboss]

"I am the Senate"-Julius Caesar

[@generalhyde007]

"I am the state" - Louis XIV

[@t3hgladiator648]

"I am the senate" - Darth Sidious

[@blebcat]

@@t3hgladiator648 bro

[@eval_is_evil]

"I'm just here for teh lulz" -- Caligula

[@eval_is_evil]

@@thebrocialist8300 holy shit that was harsh

[@Battledongus]

Cesars seizures caused the ceaseure of his life.

[@jenniferlonnes7420]

Ceasure* But it's still funny.

[@jonathanberumen9573]

Really enjoyed your video! I didn't even mind the butchery that is your pronunciation of the many Latin names, lol! The truth is that no one will know or care if they have no interest in the people and events that you are talking about, so thank you for getting people interested in ancient Rome at the end of the Republic. Well researched and high quality video with that is also entertaining even to the non-history nerd demographic! Keep up the good work!

[@vanaals]

I always find news about the ides interesting. Likely because my sister (3/17) and myself (3/12) came into this world as bookends to the ides.

[@jerry321999]

Many years ago, i saw a movie from the 50s starring Richard Burton as Edwin Boith. The movie focused on his actibg career, and the loss thereof after Lincoln's assassination.

[@Marco_Onyxheart]

You're supposed to pronounce the e on Brute. It's a vocative form of Brutus. According to some, his last words were "kai su, Brutus?", but it's unlikely that he'd be feeling eloquent enough to speak on Greek while he lay dying.

[@nickames3808]

You TELL EM, Bro! I also enjoy the videos on how Latin was actually pronounced. Cool to know actually. I saw one of an An Actual Roman looking man doing Kaiser's eulogy that way! Charlton Hestons version from the '71 movie IS The Penultimate!

[@MDMoore6]

Marco Meijer Another source has it he said “Kai us, teknon;” “And you, my son.”

[@Caddowolf]

@@nickames3808 penultimate [pəˈnəltəmət] ADJECTIVE last but one in a series of things; second last. "the penultimate chapter of the book" I think you mean ultimate.

[@rafanifischer3152]

Well to assume that an ancient people, including Roman Senators, spoke strictly pure linguistic Latin as we know it today, is assuming too much. Caesar was murdered with daggers so nicety of language is probably not on the minds of the killers or the killee. A most probable utterance from Julius would be, "Holdonski! No need for the cutlery!"

[@HeWhoIsRem]

The Romans of the Senatorial class would have regularly spoke in ancient Greek; a skill learned in childhood from their family's enslaved Greek tutors. Cicero would himself complain about men choosing not to write in Latin because they felt Latin wasn't as beautiful as Greek. It wouldn't have been surprising if he stammered out a that really hammers home his feelings of betrayal towards a man he thought of as a son. Caesar had a good relationship with Brutus' mother and through his actions and support helped raise Brutus through the Cursus Honorum and forgived him for siding Pompey.

[@johnstevenson9956]

I knew Edwin had opposing views to his brother's, but I never knew about him saving Robert's life!

[@hannahlarocco7467]

Treason!!!!!!!!!

[@RobertCardwell]

They killed Julius Caesar and got... Augustus. Caesar. Augustus Caesar. Caesar Augustus. By killing the one, the ensured the latter.

[@EnginAtik]

Robert Cardwell “Le roi est mort, vive le roi!” The king is dead, long live the king!

[@Friendship1nmillion]

I thought Mark Antony replaced Julius Caesar after the assassination, Although there was too a 100year civil war because of Julius Caesar's murder. 😯🏛👎 🗡️👤

[@Li.Siyuan]

Hugely informative, interesting and entertaining - as always.

[@sharpshotmarty8209]

This was really REALLY cool. I don't know why this video hasnt gained as much traction as the others.

[@gangsterpenguin8709]

How many seizures could Caesar seize if Caesar could seize seizures

[@shaggybaggums]

" Infamy! " " Infamy! " " They've all got it in fer me! " Sorry, it was the first thing that popped into my head.

[@roxyshow123]

Shaggy Baggums - I guess that's latin for: Wow I'm screwed!

[@andymouse]

Milligan ?

[@roxyshow123]

@@andymouse ????

[@andymouse]

@@roxyshow123 I think Spike Milligan made that joke.

[@roxyshow123]

@@andymouse Okay, I googled "Milligan" and didn't get results.

[@adamfrazer5150]

Looks like I'll have to 'suffer' another ROME marathon.....cheers Simon. (Seriously, thanks man, bloody love that show and it's snowing like a bastard outside !)

[@nickames3808]

FANTASTIC SHOW! WHAT is John Milius doing now? Great.Writer

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

@@nickames3808 He's recovering from a stroke, last I heard. He was going to finish the Conan trilogy, with Arnold set to come back, but Milius got hit with a stroke during preproduction.

[@adamfrazer5150]

@@nickames3808 that's a really really good question ! So good in fact, that I started typing this before googling an answer.....haha Or reading any further responses - making this entire comment mostly pointless, save embarrassing myself ;)

[@darthrisus]

Pompeii and Pompey are not pronounced the same way. It is POM-pee, not POM-pAe. Like this grated on me so hard

[@aragos32727]

I got a good one. Why do the British say leftenant and the Americans say lieutenant?

[@mrwarr]

Brute in Latin is the familiar version of Brutus (like someone calling me Jay or Jay-Jay…don’t call me that). In English it’s pronounced broot, but in Latin it’s broo-TAY. This is Shakespeare’s way to emphasize how close Caesar was to Brutus.

[@capmango]

Brute is the vocative case declension of Brutus, it's just grammatically how you have to say the name if it is the person you are addressing. But, yeah, the é is pronounced.

[@mta4562]

ceasar was boinking mama brutus. he might even have been brutus' father.

[@Michaelkaydee]

Nice point Jay-Jay 😁

[@nurgle11]

@@Michaelkaydee Well done Kay-Kay

[@aidanhschofield]

Surely the best mispronunciation in this video is Superbus as "Super-bus"

[@mwhawley]

Aidan Schofield I liked at :47 ish when he says “consideral” instead of “considerable”. I love Simon, and this channel, but holy smokes the pronunciation was all over the place in this video.

[@panpancernik8998]

I feel oddly compelled to produce a Simon as Leeloo Multipass - superbus meme

[@mafiousbj]

And this comes shortly after Historia Civilis did his video on the Ides of March....and nowhere near March....coincidence? I think not!

[@andywomack3414]

4:42 "Thanks to Caesar's reputation for cruelty towards those who oppose him on the battlefield." I hope Simon clears that up, because, at was pointed out in this presentation, some of his assassins were those battlefield opponents to whom he had shown mercy. 14:00 The late Colleen McCullough speculated in her novel about Caesar that he may have been hypoglycemic. According to her narrative, eating was not among Caesar's priorities, triggering episodes of hypoglycemia.

[@atashgallagher5139]

hypoglycemia leads to shakes, twitches, giddiness in some, lightheadedness, fainting, and weakness, so definitely could line up.

[@stilltraceable6753]

I got this from Google because I read a historical fiction series about Julius ceaser. In that book it is told that Julius ceasers father adopted Brutus after his father was betrayed. In reference to this, I believe that Brutus was ceasers age and they were fast friends who had a falling out leading to Brutus's only betrayal that ceaser could forgive Brutus was the son of Marcus Junius Brutus (who was treacherously killed by Pompey the Great in 77) and Servilia (who later became Caesar's lover). After his adoption by an uncle, Quintus Servilius Caepio, he was commonly called Quintus Caepio Brutus.

[@marialiyubman]

Fun fact: March the 15th is also when we started the first lockdown... Dates really do matter.

[@josephsorce2543]

"Isn't Pompey's name actually pronounced 'Pomp-ee? ... Pompey (Pronounced 'Pomp-aa'), was (is) a Volcanic Mountain which Exploded, and Buried the Roman Town, Below it, (named, after the Mountain), in 79 A.D."

[@ronaldfinkelstein6335]

Isn't the mountain Vesuvius?

[@KainedbutAble123]

His name was Pompeius but is pronounced “Pompey” or Pomp-ee for clarity. Pompeii was a Roman town destroyed by the volcano Vesuvius.

[@LadyWhinesalot]

@EmperorJuliusCaesar 🤭 but you spelled your friends name wrong...it's Gnaeus Pompey Magnus

[@LadyWhinesalot]

depends on whether you use the English/American, English/British/Canadian or Italian pronunciation

[@LadyWhinesalot]

@@ronaldfinkelstein6335 yes, and it destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

[@rogerevans9666]

For what it is worth: "Et tu Brute" appears in Shakespeare's "Henry VI, part 3". I think it is spoken by Richard who eventually becomes Richard III, and I think this play predates Shakespeare's "Tragedy of Julius Caesar". Secondly, and again "for what it is worth": Cleopatra was in Rome when Julius Caesar was assassinated. [As soon as I mentioned this to someone, he immediately concluded: "Then she must have been in on it!" We never run out of conspiracy theorists.] Thirdly, according to Plutarch's "Life of Caesar" and according to the coroner who examined Caesar's body, there was only one mortal wound. Shakespeare gives the impression Caesar was ripped to shreds. Fourthly, there were two battles at Philippi weeks apart. Brutus died in the second one. Cassius died in the first one. Shakespeare conflated the two battles into one for staging purposes. Fifthly, there is a little known movie starring Richard Burton called "Prince of Players". He plays John Wilkes Booth's older brother. The movie is about his struggle to maintain his career as an actor after his brother shot Lincoln.

[@anye76]

I love it when Simon talks history ❤😘 fascinating.

[@jdredd8152]

I love history and I love this channel. ❤

[@onelove7831]

+

[@MadTheDJ]

Despite being his political enemy and chasing him halfway around the Mediterranean, Caesar was not happy that Ptolemy had killed Pompey in Egypt. Caesar had wanted him alive, captured and defeated when he returned to Rome victorious. At that point, Ptolemy's days were numbered because that's when Caesar met Cleopatra, Ptolemy's older sister and wife.

[@pamelamays4186]

Cesar's seizures. Try saying that five times fast!

[@andrewdarlington238]

Impossible... as soon as I try my brain turns to mush and picks one at random to repeat over and over. Lol :)

[@KTSTHofficial]

Sir Cesaer's sure leisure seizure.

[@paulheap1982]

@@KTSTHofficial leisure only works in that if you're American.

[@hannahlarocco7467]

I have seizures.

[@mitchmanexe243]

The guy on the bottom right of the thumbnail was just like “Nope”

[@ps374249]

If you are using the Anglicised name for Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, convention is generally to pronounce the name as Pom-pee, so as to not create confusion with the city of Pompeii, which is pronounced Pom-pay. While in context one can eventually determine which you are talking about, it can be confusing at times. It also may cause someone to falsely associate the man with Pompeii, which he has no personal ties to, although his ancestors may have founded the city, giving rise to the gens name. The phrase 'et tu, Brute' should be pronounced 'et to Bru-tay' as Latin doesn't do silent letters. Shakespeare did come up with "Et tu, Brute' himself, though it certainly was based on the writings of earlier historians. Historians in the Roman era were notorious for writing the things someone would or should have said. Many historians would write entire speeches decades or even centuries after they were given. It isn't as though they had access to transcripts that have since been lost or that they consulted someone who was in attendance. No, it was just common practice to write a speech someone in the speaker's position would've given. Either using this same method, or quoting other lost works that likely did, Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus penned Caesar's 'last words' over 150 years after they were allegedly uttered and over 50 years after the last Julio-Claudian emperor. Historians knew that Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Julius Caesar were educated Roman men who had an mentor-mentee relationship. Well acquainted educated Roman men spoke to each other in greek, not latin. From this fact, and Brutus's actions, they decided that Caesar would have said something like 'και συ τεκνον' (pronouced kai sue teck-non). This translates something like 'you too, son?' or 'you too, kid?'. τεκνον could either be a term of endearment or an insult, or both. A translation of that into Latin comes out 'quoque tu, mi fili' (you too, my son?).

[@anthonyperrelet2341]

"Tu quoque, Brute, fili mi" is also quoted. Not that that implies Brutus was Caesar's son, simply a good lad treated like a son.

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

Gaius Julius Caesar. Now that's a little red square that I haven't seen in a long time.

[@HamzahHusain_the_sexy_beast]

historia civilis is the GOAT

[@Bell_Matt]

What are you referring to? It sounds interesting.

[@HamzahHusain_the_sexy_beast]

Bell Matthew it's a channel called historia civilis. He posts in depth videos about historical events though he has an entire series on the late Roman republic. Highly recommend

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

@@Bell_Matt As Hamzah Husain said, Historia Civilis is a great Roman history channel, where he goes into detail about the subjects, events, and cultural context of whatever he talks about. He just wrapped up the career of Julius Caesar, and it's a highly recommended watch. He uses little colored blocks to represent people, so that's what I was referring to in my original post.

[@Laudon1228]

The line in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is “Et tu Bruté.” With the é in the last syllable pronounced as it is in French, as in the English word “yay”. Due to scansion the the name is stressed on that last syllable as well.

[@sidibill]

Always love the content on all the channels but sometime the pronunciation is a little off. Simon kept saying "Pompeii led factions" pronounced pomp-aa. It was really Pompey,,, pronounced pomp-ee. Not a real problem but it was a little confusing at first until it was written on the screen. I couldn't figure out how a resort town on the Bay of Naples was making demands of Rome.

[@MissMeganBeckett]

Caesar as an alternative illness diagnosis might’ve had migraine headaches, since they also have the same symptoms of transient iscaemic strokes.

[@BaronessErsatz]

One of the toughest tongue-twisters ever: Caesar's seizures.

[@redram5150]

Spongepants scrubs pans

[@Knives79]

Not only is there inaccuracy in films but, text books from my childhood. Being home taught and having a broader range of source material. I noticed early on in the 80's that the truth is not what is taught. The concept of "reading between the lines" is a very old concept. Being objective and able to look beyond ones perspective were the rantings of what my father called hippies. Nothing has changed and nothing is new. It is just more, faster, bigger. The truth the lies. It was common knowledge in the 70's that Columbus was a lie. People used to complain about anyone that pointed things like this out; and told them that they were trouble "makers" or "hippies" or "communist". Ignorance and toxic authoritative figures that try to silence the truth are the enemies of knowledge and enlightenment.

[@benway23]

Thank you for your work.

[@paulluce2557]

Julius Caesar staggers downstairs first thing on March 15, sticks the kettle for a cup of coffee and rummages in the cutlery drawer...." Where Have All The F&%##g KNIVES GONE???!!!!"

[@rukeyazu8669]

Could you do a video on the development of Cockney Rhyming Slang? It sounds just daffadowndilly, what with its weird dicky birds meaning other dicky birds that they rhyme with...

[@haplessasshole9615]

Great idea! Maybe it could mention that many contemporary nicknames are derived from it. William = Will = Bill, Richard = Rick (derived from the Germanic pronunciation of the name) = Rick, and Margaret = Meg = Peg are three examples. It it weren't 5:00 am, I could probably think of more.

[@nlwilson4892]

@@haplessasshole9615 Those shortenings of names do not come from Cockney Rhyming Slang, they pre-date it and were prevalent across English speaking areas.

[@haplessasshole9615]

@@nlwilson4892 Yes they do -- the Will, Rick, and Meg parts. But not the Bill, Dick, and Peg parts. *That* transformation came via rhyming slang.

[@nlwilson4892]

@@haplessasshole9615 They might rhyme but they've been doing that with names across the English speaking world for hundreds of years. Cockney rhyming slang didn't start until the 1840's and didn't get to other parts of the country until TV spread it in the 70's

[@lilivonshtup3808]

Decimus, Decimus. Oh, so Caesar was Decimated.

[@mwatson4970]

Love this! Best vid in a while 😄

[@katem.3677]

Caesar was stabbed 23 times, but only one wound was fatal--the second stab to his chest pierced his aorta.

[@howardhouse8936]

Can you guys do a video about how boxing decided to have the red and blue corners?

[@venicec3310]

Rainmaker Enterprises good question

[@janewright315]

The actual location of the temporary senate building where he was murdered is near the ruins at Largo di Torre Argentina in Rome, which houses a cat sanctuary, which makes me smile. It is always a good place for a stop, pet, and donation. Also great restaurant nearby too

[@janewright315]

@EmperorJuliusCaesar indeed, but it is not a structure which is there anymore in the way that buildings have remained in the forum and other parts of rome. You can do a small tour of the excavations when you visit crypta balbi though- but this is very limited as it is mostly gone.

[@janewright315]

@EmperorJuliusCaesar That's always good to hear. So frequently tourists just hit up the easiest places and fail to look for interesting nooks and crannies.

[@janewright315]

@EmperorJuliusCaesar me too, it's really unfortunate. The closest is the wee tour of the excavations. But there are a few cool places, including his place of cremation (as long as it was accurately located of course), tunnels under the palaces where caligula was murdered, and there is a new site which just opened up last summer on Palatine hill- domus transitoria. And the Borgia stairs, where the last king of rome was assassinated (and the brother of cesare Borgia, but different era and after the stair area was built up...same site though). Tons of cool stuff in Rome. Have you been to tiberius' villa on capri? We only had a short time and I had a 9 year old, so we didnt make it that far on the island :(

[@olehlytviak8552]

Caesar probably said something like this “ouch, does that ever hurt” !

[@mfaizsyahmi]

Not seeing Caesar as an animated red square for once feels kinda odd. Anywar RIP Caesar Rest In Pompey's statue's footsteps

[@aguy2162]

Yeah, but don't knock the red square. It was bouncing all around the walls of Alesia and it sure showed that green square Gaul what's what

[@WillowTDog]

I don't know the reference, which channel are you talking about?

[@joearnold6881]

Broo-tay. Not “broot”

[@WolverinStudio]

She has Broo-tay! I am Broot!

[@xzonia1]

@@WolverinStudio Lol

[@jliller]

Shake shake shake Shake shake shake Shake your Brootay!

[@hannahlarocco7467]

Very funny

[@kevinmartin7760]

"That's Bru-TAY!"

[@JMajik24]

Best summary of what happened on the Ides of March: "Why should Caesar get to stomp around like a giant while the rest of us try not to get smushed under his big feet?! What's so great about Caesar? Hm? Brutus is just as cute as Caesar. Brutus is just as smart as Caesar. People totally like Brutus just as much as they like Caesar. And when did it become ok for one person to be the boss of everybody, huh? Cause that's not what Rome is about! WE SHOULD TOTALLY JUST STAB CAESAR!"

[@vespelian5769]

Tarquinius Super Bus eh? Must have been a Routemaster.

[@cornnell01]

The actual story would make for a great movie!

[@MadTheDJ]

It's basically Season 1 of HBO's "Rome," a great series cancelled too soon. So yeah, if you want a cinematic-calibre re-telling that's more historically accurate, give that a watch.

[@hannahlarocco7467]

I agree cornnell01

[@redreaper2752]

I absolutely love Ancient Roman history but I had no idea that the 15th didn’t side with Cesar. That makes me wonder how many of his own men would have fought against him for democracy if given a choice in the matter.

[@vonriel1822]

I now have an image of Caesar John Wicking some bastard senator with that stylus.

[@MarkKurowski]

When pronouncing the Roman/Latin name Brute, the "e" is not silent. Names were declined as regular nouns, and the although the nominative ending is "us", as in Brutus, the vocative ending is "e", as in Brute.

[@texarcana2002]

It's "Et tu, Bruté?", pronounced "Bru-TAY". Don't argue with me: I took 3 years of Latin in high school--a Cistercian college-prepatory school at that.

[@TheCoal27]

Another potential reason that Caesar spared Brutus (among others) was that he was trying to get favors from Roman aristocrats. Roman Culture at the time was that if someone did something for you, you owed them a debt equal to what they did to you. You generally would rather others be in debt to you than you in debt to them. Thus, a way to potentially make the Senate and people of Rome support him would be to spare any Senators he captured thus putting them in his debt.

[@crusherbmx]

"Don't go". I said, I told him "Julie, don't go!"

[@PenitentHollow]

Today I found out, Roman politics were extremely confusing...

[@esotericjay8701]

I thought it was pronounced like "et tu brew-tay"

[@brandonhey7797]

It is.

[@chrisherman7531]

He tends to mis -pronounce many words....

[@hughb65]

Simon Whistler - sexiest man alive. Y'all post all you want about facts and facts and facts. I want this bearded egghead on my sofa sharing a bottle of chardonnay as he waxes philosophically about Audible books and biographies. Can't get enough of my Simon Whistler.

[@Tweekitus]

Okay, I didn't know that bit about Caesar having headaches and mini-strokes. It gives a lot more context to why Caesar in Fallout New Vegas suffers from a tumor.

[@murderbunnies]

I can say with 100% certainty that Caesars last words were "AUUUGGHH! FOR CHRISTS SAKE STOP STABBING ME! THAT REALLY STINGS!" Needless to say, Caesar was far ahead of his time.

[@tommunyon2874]

In the midst of all this verbiage was a misspeak: "Come to his end." which should be "Come to his aid."

[@legion1a]

"What really happened on the Ides of March?" I was born, it is my birthday!

[@christelheadington1136]

When the bonus facts are more interesting than the original topic.....

[@stilltraceable6753]

I have read that Brutus even sent ceaser a letter telling him of the betrayal plot. But ceaser has so much mail that the letter got lost in the mess