Originally posted by snowybeagle
Originally posted by Constantine XI
I know he definitely
relied most heavily on Suetonius and Cassius Dio for his information,
just as most history students do today. Both these sources are pretty
reliable and much of the play is correct apart from where it is
embellished to appeal to the crowds |
Thanks.
I got a few questions about certain parts of the play in relation to historical accuracy.
01. Did the assassination actually take place on the Ides of March?
02. Was it the first time that senators actually carried weapons (secretly) to kill someone in an official meeting?
If not, was it complacency that led to Caesar to be without bodyguards?
03. What actually happened after the assassination?
Was it historically accurate that the conspirators seized power and
Mark Antony fled, and only returned after being promised safety by
Brutus?
Was it historically accurate that it was Mark Antony's eulogy at Caesar's funeral that turned tables on the conspirators? |
Ok, to question 1 we must say yes, all our reliable sources confirm the murder occured on the Ides.
Second question, it was definitely not the first time Senators carried
weapons around with them. Caesar himself was meant to have been part of
a consipiracy when he was younger, according to Suetonius, and would
have been carrying a weapon for his own protection (and would have used
it to kill resisting Senators if necessary). As it turns out the
conspiracy was aborted. Why Caesar dismissed his Spanish bodyguard is
not so clear cut, I think it occured because he was increasingly
becoming egocentric (he could only see things from his own point of
view). He knew without him the Roman world would lapse into civil war,
without him the future was uncertain, but to a great many Senators he
was simply a viper poisoning the Constitution and had to be removed.
Perhaps he hoped his clemency and successful reforms would be enough to
sate political enemies, it clearly wasn't.
Third question, yes Antony fled and was allowed back by promises of
safety by Brutus, Cassius of course did want Antony dead. It has been
recorded that the image of Caesar's murdered body, not Antony's eulogy,
was what incensed the Roman mob. Caesar was one of the best things that
ever happened to the ordinary Romans, after Caesar's murder they would
have exploded into violence at the slightest pretext in any case. So it
was popular feeling which turned the tide on the conspirators, not
Antony's eulogy (though he did give one). The conspirators were really
only serving the interests of the Senatorial class with the murder, the
plebs had everything to lose and nothing to gain by it.