event
Ides of March (assassination of Caesar)
Ides of March
also: Idus Martiae, the Ides
15 March 44 BC, the day Julius Caesar was assassinated in the Senate by Marcus Brutus, Cassius, and the other Liberators. Celebrated by Cicero as the restoration of liberty; in Fam. 9.14 he says his love for Brutus surged on that day.
Reading notes
- Ad Atticum 14.6 §1 the Ides of March
The assassination of Caesar on 15 March 44 BC; throughout these letters the single political fact Cicero says still pleases him.
- Ad Atticum 14.12 §1 the Ides of March
15 March 44 BC, the assassination of Caesar; Cicero's fear here is that the deed brought emotional satisfaction but no real political restoration of the republic.
- Ad Atticum 14.14 §3 the Ides of March
The assassination of Caesar on 15 March 44 BC; Cicero's bitter point is that the deed opened heaven to its doers but failed to restore the Republic.
- Ad Atticum 14.18 §4 the Ides of March
The assassination of Caesar on 15 March 44 BC. Cicero's bleak verdict here — that the Ides "did not get us very far" — captures the Liberators' failure to follow the killing with any political settlement.
- Ad Atticum 14.22 §2 the Ides of March do not console me as much as they did before. For they contain a great flaw
The assassination of Caesar on 15 March 44 BC; Cicero's recurring lament is that the deed killed the tyrant but spared the tyranny (the "great flaw"), leaving the Liberators exposed.
- Ad Atticum 15.4 §2 the consolation of the Ides of March is now a foolish one
The assassination of Caesar on 15 March 44 BC; Cicero's bitter verdict is that the deed was brave but half-finished ('the tree was cut down, not torn up by the roots'), since Antony and Caesarism survived.
- Ad Familiares 9.14 §5 on the Ides of March so much was added to my love
The Ides (15th) of March 44 BC, the day Caesar was assassinated by Brutus, Cassius, and the other Liberators. Cicero, an enthusiast for the deed, says his already great affection for Brutus surged on that day, and now likewise for Dolabella's anti-Caesarian violence in the Forum.
- Ad Familiares 9.14 §8 those men through whom liberty's beginning was made
A pointed allusion to the Liberators (the assassins of Caesar): Cicero urges Dolabella not merely to protect but actively to honour Brutus, Cassius, and their fellows as the authors of restored freedom, aligning the consul firmly with the republican cause.
- Eighth Philippic §33 the next Ides of March
Cicero's motion offers amnesty to deserters from Antony who come over before 15 March 43 BC. The date pointedly recalls the anniversary of Caesar's assassination.