As readers of William Shakespeare know, a dying Caesar turned to one of the assassins and condemned him with his last breath. Except, Caesar never said these words. And Brutus was neither his closest friend nor his biggest betrayer, not by a long shot. The worst traitor was another man: Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus.
Decimus was a distant cousin of Marcus Brutus. Because Shakespeare all but leaves him out of the story, Decimus is the forgotten assassin. In fact, he was essential. Shakespeare mentions Decimus but misspells his name as Decius and downplays his role. But often-overlooked ancient sources make clear that Decimus was a leader of the conspiracy.
Brutus and other conspirators after killing Julius Caesar. Decimus was closer to Caesar than either Brutus or Cassius was. In fact, they opposed Caesar during his bloody rise to power in a civil war. Only when he started winning the war did they defect to his cause. Decimus was different. Decimus belonged to the Roman nobility, the narrow elite that ruled both Rome and an empire of tens of millions of people. Decimus was a soldier at heart, educated but rough and ambitious, as his surviving correspondence shows.
Decimus warmed to Caesar, a great commander and a war hero to boot. Later, his enemies in the Roman senate tried to strip Caesar of power but he fought back. It was civil war and Decimus chose Caesar.
He also planned new imperial expansions in central Europe and to the east. In the midst of these vast designs, he was assassinated on March 15, 44 B. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! On March 15, , Cincinnati attorney Aaron Champion hires former cricket player Harry Wright to organize, manage and play for the Cincinnati Red Stockings, who become the first professional baseball team.
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What do you say, Caesar? Will someone of your stature pay attention to the dreams of a woman and the omens of foolish men? Yet Caesar was fond of Decimus, a longtime comrade-in-arms and a trusted lieutenant, and so he let him speak.
Yet Caesar had decided not to attend — allegedly because of bad health but, in fact, the real cause was a series of ill omens that had terrified his wife, Calpurnia. Caesar decided to go to the Senate meeting after all, if only to announce a postponement in person. Despite this, most historians have traditionally cast Brutus and Cassius as the brains behind the conspiracy.
Yet Decimus was key. His motives are less opaque than most think and his behaviour shows just how well organised the conspirators were. A populist political star and great writer, he excelled in the military realm as well, pulling off a lightning conquest of Gaul — roughly, France and Belgium — as well as invading Britain and Germany 58—50 BC. When his enemies, the old guard in the Senate, removed him from command, Caesar invaded Italy.
He went on to total victory in a civil war 49—45 BC that ranged across the Mediterranean. His challenge now was to reconcile his surviving enemies and to convince staunch republicans to accept his power as dictator. It was a daunting task. A later abridgment of this work survives and it focuses on the assassination. Until recently, scholars have tended to dismiss Nicolaus because he worked for Augustus and so had a motive to attack the conspirators.
But recent work suggests that Nicolaus was a brilliant student of human nature who deserves more attention. A series of letters between Decimus and Cicero, all written after the assassination, also shed light on the plot, but they too have been neglected. By contrast, Decimus backed Caesar from start to finish.
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