Cicero - Anthony Everitt [155]
The precise decision as to where to conduct the assassination was made on short notice, when a meeting of the Senate was convened for the unlucky date of March 15 at Pompey’s theater. This would be a controlled environment and, when the deed was done, the conspirators would be able to explain themselves at once to their peers.
AS the chosen date was a holiday, a gladiatorial display was due to take place later in the day in the theater. Brutus, as Praetor, was in charge of the gladiators, who could be useful in the aftermath of the assassination if anything went wrong. A strong detachment of gladiators was assembled, which could be brought into the theater precincts on the pretext of a rehearsal or a training exercise. There was good reason for this precaution. Just outside the city limits on a small island on the Tiber, an army loyal to Caesar under the command of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, who as Master of the Horse was the Dictator’s official deputy, was encamped. A stone bridge connected the island to the city and, although soldiers were forbidden to enter Rome, it was perfectly possible that Lepidus would march in to put down any trouble.
By March 15 information about the conspiracy was leaking out. Almost as soon as Caesar left the State House in the morning a member of his household who had heard something of what was going on came running into the building to report what he had gleaned. AS he did not know the date and time of the attempt, he simply told Caesar’s third wife, Calpurnia, that he needed to see him on urgent business. He sat down to await his return.
While Brutus and Cassius were standing around with the other Senators waiting for Caesar’s arrival, a certain Popillius Laenas came up to them. “I join you in praying for the accomplishment of what you have in mind,” he said. “I urge you not to delay, for people are talking about it.” At the last moment, a philosophy teacher, Artemidorus, pushed his way forward as Caesar was making his way into the meeting hall. A former tutor of Brutus and still one of his friends, he knew all the details of the conspiracy. He had written down a short summary of the plan to kill the Dictator and was determined to reveal what was afoot. Artemidorus was only one among a crowd of petitioners and he noticed that while Caesar accepted every paper that was thrust into his hands, he immediately handed it over to one of his aides. According to Plutarch, Artemidorus pleaded: “Read this one, Caesar, and read it quickly and by yourself. I promise you it’s important and concerns you personally.”
Caesar took the document and several times appeared to be on the point of looking through it, but was prevented from doing so by all the people who came up to talk with him. It was the only paper he was holding when he finally walked through the doorway to join the Senate. The success of the assassination was a close-run thing.
There was an understanding that, as a sign of their commitment and solidarity, all the conspirators should try to stab their victim. AS a result, many wounded each other accidentally in the scrum and few had a good chance to strike home. An autopsy later showed that only one wound had been fatal—the second, which Publius Servilius Casca’s brother had delivered to the flank.
Having witnessed the flurried, bloodied melee, none of the audience of Senators was in a mood to linger. Although one Senator remained long enough to say, “There has been enough