All language subtitles for Julius Caesar The Making of a Dictator.s01e03.Ides of March

For three years, Julius Caesar
has been fighting a bloody civil war

for control of the Roman Republic,

against his former ally
Pompey the Great.

But now, Pompey is dead.

And Caesar gives thanks to the
gods for his victory.

He will soon return to Rome.

At stake is how Rome is going
to be governed from now on.

It's one thing to win,

but what's he going to do
with his victory?

Caesar has grand plans.

He wants to rule Rome's vast empire

and restore the city of
his birth to greatness.

But, in less than two years,

Caesar will be dead...

..and the Roman Republic
will lie in ruins.

At the heart of the most powerful
empire in the ancient world

stands Rome.

For 500 years, it was ruled
by elected government.

But, in a little over a decade,

this republic was overthrown
by the ambitions of one man.

The story of Caesar is
an incredibly enduring one.

The resonance of it is so powerful.

It remains the most thrilling,
the most extraordinary

political story in Western history.

Now, historians and experts
who understand the nature

of political power
will chart his rise...

He's so smart, he just knows how
to use his opportunities.

..and ask how an individual
can push a centuries-old

political system to breaking point.

Julius Caesar is the most
dangerous kind of demagogue.

This is the story of how ambition
turns to tyranny...

He's a disgrace in every single way.

He's immoral, he's irreligious,

and he's a potential tyrant.

..and how a dictator is born.

The awful lesson is that,
in the end,

a populist can corrupt
an entire state.

For every other political system
that values stability and justice,

and liberty, that should be,
at the very least, a wake-up call.

Democracy has to be
constantly fought for.

If we take it for granted,

a new Caesar will come.

Caesar is planning
his victorious return to Rome.

To demonstrate his greatness,

he makes his defeated enemies
an offer.

As the man who is in the process
of winning the civil war,

he could have murdered his enemies,

he could have launched a bloodbath.

But he doesn't.

He tries to win his defeated
enemies over to him

by showing them mercy.

But mercy is something that
a superior shows to an inferior,

a master can show a slave.

It broadcasts Caesar's magnanimity.

It also broadcasts
Caesar's greatness.

Caesar also knows he needs his
erstwhile enemies on side.

Rome has been devastated
by civil war.

To revive it, he'll need
the support of republican senators

who have survived the war.

If he can persuade his opponents
to rally to his cause,

and to work for the good -
both of Caesar and of the republic -

Caesar would be unchallenged
as the ruler of Rome.

The problem is that Caesar's
enemies think that what

Caesar stands for is tyranny.

Total takeover of
the system by one man,

backed by military strength.

Caesar doesn't see it
that way at all.

Caesar says, "Of course you can
be friends with me.

"I forgive you. Come on.

"We all have, at heart,
the same cause,

"which is the Roman Republic,
the good of Rome."

But for Caesar,

one man matters above all others.

From the beginning of his career,

Cato has defended the republic

and obstructed Caesar's ambitions.

Cato has seen, in Caesar,

corruption, the pride, the envy.

He was predicting from the
very beginning that,

unless people moved against Caesar,

Caesar would try to turn himself
into some kind of mini-emperor.

Cato is fighting for
the domination of the Senate,

the old constitution.

He is fighting to preserve
the dream of Rome.

Caesar's army has defeated
republican legions

led by Cato in North Africa.

And now, he has Cato cornered.

If Caesar can get Cato
to accept his mercy,

it will give him authority
as the master of Rome,

the master of Rome's empire.

Cato understands that Caesar
will want to pardon him,

and he'll want to bring him
in behind Caesar.

And that's necessary for Caesar,

because Cato is a very
powerful politician.

Cato has to now make a decision.

And he probably could
convince himself,

as many people convince themselves,

"Maybe I can do more good on the
inside than the outside."

But for Cato,
any compromise with a tyrant...

..is the destruction of
the Roman Republic.

The idea of compromising with
Caesar feels emotionally to him

as it might do for somebody in
the 1930s being asked

to compromise with Hitler.

And, alone, he does
something extraordinary.

He takes his sword...

..plunges it into his chest.

His son comes running in,

tries to beg him, get doctors.

And he must be in the most extreme
and astonishing agony.

But Cato, looking into
the eyes of his son,

reaches his hands into his bowels,
into his guts,

and rips out his own entrails

and dies.

Cato's suicide is a very
deliberate and planned action,

with heavy symbolism and

absolute lack of compromise.

Cato had always had a perhaps unique
ability to get under Caesar's skin.

And, even with Cato dead,
his ghost continues to haunt Caesar.

As a spirit in the underworld,
Cato remains undefeated.

Cato's death is
the ultimate statement.

No real Roman should ever
compromise with a man like Caesar.

No real Roman should ever accept
the way this state is going.

And the message that he sends is,

"Shame. Shame on you."

Cato is able to establish
himself as a martyr,

and Caesar as a tyrant.

Caesar finally returns to Rome,

where Cato's martyrdom threatens to
reinvigorate republican opposition.

Caesar faces a battle to persuade
everyone he's not a tyrant,

but the saviour Rome needs.

The civil war has caused
food shortages.

People are very hungry, and there
is violence on the streets.

Rome is in a state of crisis,

it does need significant
intervention,

and it does need people to
take action immediately.

When Caesar comes back, there are
two great questions facing him.

One is, what can he do, as a man
who is now wielding greater power

than any man has ever had before,

to solve the manifold crises
that are facing Rome?

And the other, can the Republic
be put back together again?

If it can't,
then what should replace it?

Since the start of the civil war,

the Senate has been
barely functioning.

For centuries, it's been
the heart of republican government,

founded on the principle that
the people elect officials

who use their seat in
the Senate to propose laws

that are put back to the Roman
citizens for their vote.

Caesar must decide whether
to revive the system or abandon it.

Caesar wants to find a way of
making the Roman state work.

He has no choice but
to get the Senate back up,

and he knows as well that the key
to this is to get conservatives

who have opposed him on his side.

Caesar needs his opponents
to trust him.

To help persuade them,

he courts a young man held in
high regard by republicans.

Marcus Junius Brutus.

Brutus is the descendent of the
founder of the Republic,

the man who expelled Rome's final
king 500 years before.

And he led the people to swear

an oath that they would never
again suffer one-man rule.

So, Brutus is the poster boy
of the Roman Republic,

and those who are
more conservative-minded

look up to Brutus.

But what's really fascinating is
that he's also connected to Caesar.

Caesar's long-term lover and great
friend is Brutus's mother.

And so, Caesar looks out
for Brutus throughout his life.

There's even a rumour that, er,
Brutus may actually be

Caesar's love child.

With Brutus on his side,
Caesar could win the legitimacy

he needs to get the Senate
working for him.

He offers Brutus
a powerful position -

the governorship of one of
Rome's territories.

Brutus isn't going to
turn that down.

He still has reservations about
what Caesar's up to,

but, like many of his generation,
he wants to get to the top,

he wants great political
prestige and power.

As soon as Brutus jumps onto
Caesar's bandwagon,

he's got the authority
and the cachet,

and he convinces other senators
to accept Caesar's pardon

and to join him.

Amongst the old guard
that Brutus needs to persuade

are senior republican statesmen.

Marcus Tullius Cicero is an
orator, he's a lawyer,

he's the consummate politician.

He is political to his core,

and he stands for the Republic,

he stands for the senatorial system,

and he believes that this is the way
in which Rome will thrive.

Although Cicero has high political
principles, he's a realist.

He can see that the Senate has
not given the leadership

that Rome needs, and he hopes
that he can lead Caesar towards

being somebody who rebuilds
the Republic.

Caesar has power, and maybe that
power can be used for good.

By the Autumn of 46 BC,
Brutus has helped bring old

opponents like Cicero over
to Caesar's side.

The Senate is reconvened...

..but Caesar has no intention of
restoring its full authority.

Caesar is the man who has been in
the saddle for years and years.

His instincts are those of
a military commander -

he gives orders, they're obeyed.

And so, it's unsurprising that
he should find the requirements of

a republican system
of government frustrating,

and I suspect also
a little beneath him.

Caesar promises
he's restoring the Republic,

whilst also seeking a way
to legitimately take

full command of the Senate.

Caesar, by Roman standards -

and the Romans are an inherently
conservative people -

is incredibly radical.

And yet, he looks back to the past,
which is what Romans had

always done whenever
they were faced with a crisis.

And in this lumber box of
Rome's constitutional past,

there's an office called
the dictatorship.

The position of dictator had
a very established place within

the Roman system of government,
as an extraordinary power

in a period where Rome was
in particular crisis.

The Roman Republic is founded on
the idea of power being shared.

Only in extreme crisis can
the office of dictator give one man

temporary control of Rome.

In an emergency, you should
only be a dictator for

a maximum of six months.

You take Rome out of that emergency,
and then hand power back.

Now Caesar pushes the limits of
constitutional propriety

even further - he demands
that he be made dictator,

not for six months...

..not for a year...

..but ten years.

The Senate reluctantly agree,

but on the condition they will
review his position every year.

Men like Brutus are willing
to give Caesar these powers because

they think they're temporary.

But it's a huge gamble -
it's expecting Caesar

not to be corrupted by power.

Cicero is open to the idea that
maybe Caesar is a necessary evil.

When a society is going through
really great strains,

when the political system doesn't
seem to be delivering for people,

then having a strong leader can be
a very seductive idea.

The Republic is in a state of ruin.

The predominant feeling in Rome
is a kind of exhausted hope

that perhaps Caesar will be able
to use these exceptional powers

to bring Rome back to life.

So, Caesar is made a dictator.

And they give him the permission
to sit between the consuls,

ie, superior to both of the consuls,

give him a special seat to sit on,

give him a throne.

Using his newly-sanctioned
authority,

Caesar expands the powers
a dictator can hold.

He creates a new title for himself -
the Prefect of Morals.

Praefectus Morum -
the man in charge of morals.

That's a really, really scary title.

But what's really important
is that gives him a power

to get people in and out
of the Senate.

Caesar increases
the size of the Senate

from 600 to 900 men.

Caesar loyalists now outnumber
conservative opponents.

For centuries, the Republican
system has given people

the right to vote for magistrates -

men who hold powerful roles
in the Senate.

Now, Caesar decides he will appoint
all of the magistrates himself.

Caesar's new power -
to choose the magistrates -

is a very serious abandonment
of Republican tradition,

because it's precisely the power
of the Roman people to choose,

each year, who are going to be
its magistrates that gives

the Roman people its voice.

And Caesar, the Popularis,

Caesar, the man who believes in
the power of the Roman people,

is now, paradoxically,

removing one of the central powers
of the Roman people.

In just a few months,
Caesar centralises five centuries

of Republican powers in the
office of dictator.

He takes control of Rome's laws,
finances, armies,

and elected officials.

As long as he is dictator,

Caesar alone controls Rome.

Caesar is taking power as
his own personal possession

and handing it out as he wishes.

And that is a huge challenge to
the whole concept of the Republic.

You're talking about the suspension
of all the normal rules of

how Roman political life works.

For senators of a conservative
inclination, Caesar's reforms

seem wanton vandalism.

But this is not how Caesar sees it.

Caesar is bringing in policies that
are designed to heal Rome.

Caesar uses his power to put
other radical policies into action.

Caesar has got a hell of a lot
to do to deal with

all the problems that have
been bubbling away,

and try to get Rome back
on an even kilter.

Er, it's astonishing how much
he could do so quickly.

A lot of things aren't working,

and a lot of things need repair -

roads, infrastructure, aqueducts.

There are food shortages.

But he's in a position now to
ensure that the mass of

the Roman people will be fed.

He feels that he alone has
the ability and the vision to solve

problems that his contemporaries had
manifestly been unable to solve.

He sponsors the rebuilding and
beautification of the Senate house.

He draws up plans to build
the largest temple of the world

on the Campus Martius.

He even has an astonishing scheme
to divert the very course of

the Tiber, as though he is a man
so divine that, with his finger,

he can, you know, reorder
the course of rivers.

Nothing is beyond the reach
of Caesar to correct,

to regulate, to improve -

even the dimension of time.

The Roman calendar,
by Caesar's lifetime,

is in a state of chaos.

It doesn't synchronise at all with
the rhythms of the seasons,

the patterns of the years.

And so, amid all the many other
things that Caesar is doing,

he orders a recalibration
of the calendar.

He gives us a calendar
which we have continued to use

for the next two millennia!

It probably seems like life is going
to get better under Caesar.

He offers the people
a little bit of stability,

an improvement to
their day-to-day lives.

Rome begins to prosper.

But Republican senators
remain anxious that Caesar won't

willingly relinquish his power
at the end of his term.

Their hands aren't completely tied.

Just as the Senate can grant him
the dictatorship,

if enough turn against him,

they could vote to take it away.

Caesar wants to make it clear
who holds the reigns.

He temporarily moves the base
of power to his own villa,

20km outside Rome.

What Caesar does,
by taking power outside of Rome,

is demonstrating that, instead of
power being where Rome is,

power is where Caesar is.

Caesar decides to fill all
influential positions in the Senate

with those loyal to him.

He summons Rome's elite to find out
if they have a place in his plan.

So, you have this
extraordinary spectacle -

the great and the good of Rome
effectively queueing

at Caesar's door.

To ensure conservatives stay loyal,

Caesar meets a man they all
look up to - Brutus.

He sees Brutus as if he's a son
who he's looked after,

cherished and promoted.

Now, Caesar promises
Brutus fantastic things.

He's going to get a
key appointment this year,

and this will all put him on
track for a consulship

in the future, as well.

It's a really bittersweet
moment for Brutus.

On the one hand, he is climbing
that ladder of offices.

The consulship is in reach.

But at the same time, he doesn't
like the fact that Caesar

is centralising all of
this power around himself.

But in the end, he's able
to shrug it off because,

at the moment, he's benefitting
from the system.

Another man Caesar wants at his side
is his most loyal general,

Mark Antony.

Antony has been Caesar's right-hand
man throughout the civil war.

Mark Antony is one of the

best-educated men of his time,

which is why he's a terrific orator,

as well as a talented,
valorous general.

But he's also inclined
to drink too much...

..had sex too often.

And these are vices that don't
necessarily sit well with a man

who's a distinguished Roman noble.

But one of the reasons Caesar
is able to succeed is that,

throughout his career,
he has a talent for drawing people

into intimate associations
with himself.

And so Caesar can exploit
the talents of ambitious men

who are centred around him.

Caesar promises Mark Antony
the consulship.

Caesar becomes the focus
of attention for many

ambitious young men who see
in Caesar an opportunity to become

either wealthy or powerful,
or influential ahead of their time.

Caesar is it. He is how you
participate in this new Republic.

Caesar is convinced the men
he's chosen will help him

maintain control of the Senate.

But there are many
he simply overlooks.

Seeing Caesar handing the power
to his own underlings,

Cicero is sitting outside waiting.

This is definitely not the way that
former consuls should be treated.

Caesar is not using his position
for the public good.

He is using it to belittle somebody
who had great respect in the Senate.

Caesar ignores some of Rome's
most senior statesmen...

..but he also offends some of
its most ambitious men.

Looking in on all of
this is Cassius.

Cassius is 41, in his prime.

He is a successful soldier
and a very skilled politician.

He comes from an elite Roman family

who've produced seven consuls
in the last 100 years.

And he does go to Caesar
asking for promotion.

He gets something, but not enough.

Cassius is not happy with
Caesar personally,

and certainly not politically.

Everything now is increasingly
going through Caesar himself.

TOM HOLLAND: There is, of course,
a problem for Caesar.

Whereas before, people who were
defeated in elections really

only had themselves to blame,

now it is possible for them
to blame Caesar.

And this, of course, is storing up
quite a reservoir of resentment.

Back in Rome, senators who want
a seat at Caesar's table

contrive ways to
ingratiate themselves.

Caesar's ability to choose
the magistrates changes

the nature of political life.

And now, you've got to earn
his favour.

So, the Senate dream up honour
after honour, after honour,

give him a special wreath in gold
leaf to put around his head.

But the more you honour Caesar,

the more invidious you
make his position.

While resentment
towards Caesar festers,

he grows increasingly impatient
with petty Roman politics.

And when a delegation approaches
him with more honours,

he doesn't do what's
expected of him.

A whole body of senators go
into Caesar's forum,

and there he is, enthroned,
looking as grand as could be.

And there's the Senate saying,

"Caesar, we would like
to honour you."

And Caesar doesn't stand up.

In Rome, equals stand
to greet each other.

It's as if he's saying,
in plain view,

that the entire Senate
is beneath him.

The problem that both Caesar
and the Senate face

is that Caesar's preponderance
has made the traditional function

of the Senate, the role of the
helmsmen guiding the ship of state,

essentially irrelevant.

Caesar is too impatient,

too unsubtle not to let his
fellow senators know

that he knows this.

For Cicero, if Caesar is willing
to disregard the basic rules of

the Senate, in terms of
how people treat each other,

then what does that mean for
any other rules that

the Senate may have?

This is a shocking moment.

And Cicero gives up his hope
in Caesar.

It's a massive shock and must
really irk men like Brutus.

He's still been holding out hope
that Caesar is going

to restore the Republic.

But is Caesar going
to restore authority to a Senate

that he doesn't seem to care
much for any more?

For some senators, Caesar's blatant
disregard for the unwritten rules

is a step too far.

As a constitutional lawyer in
Britain, I have spent many years

believing in the beauty of
unwritten constitutions.

But they have their weakness, too.

If that constitution is really just
a gentlemen's agreement,

what happens when one of them
decide that everything's going

to change in their favour?

Political process is dependent upon
integrity and mutual respect.

If those rules break down,

it's very difficult to see
the way forward for a democracy.

If you believe in a system of
government that is designed

to balance power,

you have a moral duty to defend it.

As Caesar shows increasing disregard
for republican conventions,

it's Cassius who dares to speak up.

Cassius really does try
to challenge Caesar openly,

in plain view.

Rather perceptively, he says,

"All these honours are getting us
into really dangerous territory.

"We are creating a monster here."

Cassius is an idealist, and he does
care about the Republican ideal.

But the more powerful
Caesar becomes,

the more dangerous speaking out is
for people like Cassius.

Cassius knows the tide is turning.

It's time to act but, of course,
Cassius can't act alone.

He must suspect that people
are feeling as he does,

but will they be as brave?

What's happening is that
the opposition to Caesar is

becoming more coherent.

It's crystallising -

crystallising around a number
of people, a number of ideas.

Whatever else he is,
Caesar is not an idiot.

Of course he understands the
resentments that are festering away

in the Senate.

He's a Roman - I mean, every Roman
is aware that the resentment

of your fellow senators is part
of the deal for greatness.

Is he afraid, though?
Is he anxious?

Is he alarmed by this?
I think not.

Caesar has better things to do
than indulge his detractors.

His ambitions reach beyond Rome.

Caesar plans to conquer
the one great foe Rome has

so far failed to subdue.

The Parthian Empire.

It was in Parthia nine years earlier

that Caesar's old ally, Crassus,
lost many Roman legions...

..and his own life.

Caesar believes he is the man
to bring Parthia to heel.

What Caesar has in mind is to
launch the most formidable

and massive invasion
the Romans have ever launched.

If Caesar is successful,
he will return to Rome

the greatest conqueror in history.

Caesar announces he'll leave for
Parthia in three months' time...

..shortly after
the middle of March -

known to the Romans as the Ides.

He's always happiest
at the head of an army

defeating visible foes.

The toughest foe of all is
the foe you can't see,

is your old friends and your old
enemies plotting together

and sinking a knife in your back.

Before he leaves for Parthia,

Caesar uses supporters in the Senate
to create him a role that will

consolidate his power indefinitely.

They offer to make him dictator,
not just for ten years

but perpetuous, forever.

Which means that, if he accepts,

no-one will ever be able
to take his dictatorship away.

It's a quite extraordinary thing -
a really, really explicit

contravention of Roman
customary practice.

The entire idea of the
non-monarchical state is that

no-one has power in perpetuity.

There is a moment
when Caesar dooms himself.

It's when he accepts the office
of dictator in perpetuity,

dictator for life.

Because, up until that moment,

it had been possible for other
senators to envisage a time when

the normal rhythms of the Republic
would be restored to them.

Step by step, Caesar is being
corrupted by this power he's got.

The moment he accepts
the title "dictator for life",

the mask comes off.

He is not going to restore
the Republic.

The Roman Republic, as the Romans
have known it for so long,

is on the brink of collapse.

Cassius saw this coming.

He said, "I told you so when he
wanted to appoint the magistrates.

"I told you so when he wanted
to be a dictator for six months,

"let alone ten years,

"and now, in perpetuity -
I saw this coming."

A month before Caesar's
planned departure for Parthia,

a festival called Lupercalia
gives him a chance to gauge

the people's appetite for
the rule of one man.

Caesar presides over sacred rituals

that celebrate
the King who founded Rome.

The Lupercalia begins with
a sacrifice performed by

the priests for this festival.

They sacrifice goats,
and they sacrifice puppies.

And the chief priest is Mark Antony.

He has to smear blood on his body

and exhibit his sweaty
masculinity to the people.

The main spectacle takes place
in front of a large crowd

in the public forum.

Antony comes to Caesar,
and he presents Caesar

with this diadem.

Which is the symbol of kingship.

This is the kind of public drama
that has been choreographed

by Caesar and Antony together.

It's an incredibly bold manoeuvre.

Some of our sources say
this was a test.

That Caesar was trying to decide
whether or not monarchy was going

to be a route that he could
take going forward

in his political regime.

However, as Antony offers
Caesar the diadem,

the crowd show their
extreme displeasure.

And the response shows him,
in no uncertain terms,

that the people do not want a king.

And so, he very ostentatiously
removes the diadem.

He tells Antony, "Take it away!
Give it to Jupiter.

"For in Rome, there can be
only the one king -

"Jupiter, King of the Gods."

The Lupercalia is really the
tipping point for Brutus.

His family history has been geared
towards saving the Republic,

and not allowing any man
to become the king.

Yet here is Antony offering
Caesar a crown,

and Brutus is powerless to stop it.

He now realises that Caesar is
the tyrant that Cato predicted

he'd become, and now, he's got
to be stopped, whatever the cost.

Later that same day,
Caesar attends a ritual sacrifice

where the omens will reveal
the mood of the gods.

A part of the Lupercalia is
a sacrifice to Jupiter,

which was overseen by a man
named Spurinna,

the priest in charge of
reading the entrails.

He's one of the people in Rome
who performed a really important

function in reading the signs to
determine whether the omens

were approved by the gods.

Spurinna must be alert to whispers,
to rumours of conspiracy.

He will have picked up the threat,

the danger that was closing in
on Caesar.

Spurinna can't say out loud to
Caesar that he might be

causing political unrest,

but he does find a way to show him.

Spurinna is consulting the entrails,

reaching around inside the
slaughtered animal.

And he is looking for
the heart of the bull...

..and there is no heart.

It's hard to imagine a more
terrifying or ominous portent.

"Beware," Spurinna says,
"of the Ides of March."

Why does Caesar ignore
these warnings?

I mean, he absolutely could
have acted on them.

But I think Caesar is convinced by
a sense of his own destiny.

It is his authority, his rule
that is preserving peace in Rome.

He thinks that no-one could
possibly be so stupid as

to conspire against him.

In the wake of the Lupercalia,

there's this real hotbed
of discontent towards Caesar.

People are really now starting
to see what Cato had seen all along.

For the first time ever,

Cassius now sees ordinary people

expressing their revulsion
for Caesar's ego.

Cassius needs to organise
senatorial forces against Caesar.

He needs a figurehead.

He really needs Brutus.

People, senators, are calling
on Brutus to do something, to act.

We see graffiti plastered over Rome,

and it says things like,
"Brutus, are you asleep?"

"Brutus, live up to your name."

He has to get himself into gear,

to free Rome from this new
threat of a monarchy.

Brutus will know that the tide
is turning on Caesar.

This is the right moment.

Cassius will be able to persuade
Brutus that his better interests

lie with the plotters.

And they finally meet.

There's a big question in
our sources about

who instigated the plot,

but the meeting of these
two minds is crucial.

They can now test the waters.

What are they going to do about
the problem of Caesar?

As Caesar prepares to leave
for Parthia,

Cassius and Brutus invite some of
Rome's most influential men

to a dinner party.

They can't ask questions like,

"What do you think we should do
with Caesar?"

They use philosophical discourse.

Abstract, hypothetical,
even amusing discussions.

To discuss what one should do
in the case of a tyranny

over one's country.

So, this is a conspiracy
of conversations.

Cassius and Brutus manage
to bring together some

long-standing enemies
and sceptics of Caesar -

but also, it's possible to turn
even friends and associates

of Caesar now.

His power grab is just
so shameless and out of control.

One of the things that they agree on
quite quickly is that there aren't

really many options left.

Caesar has the entire Roman army
at his beck and call,

and it seems the only option
is to kill the tyrant.

Brutus and Cassius succeed in
recruiting more than

20 like-minded senators,

who agree to play their part
in the tyrannicide.

To succeed, they really have
to convince everyone that

they're not just trying to take
power for themselves,

but they're liberating Rome
from tyrannical rule.

And, for this message to work,
they can't just stab Caesar in

some street or some shady setting.

He has to be killed in the Senate.

But Caesar is only due at
the Senate once more

before he departs for Parthia.

That will be in
the middle of the month -

the Ides of March.

Either the conspirators act then,

or it will be too late.

The Ides of March, 44 BC,

is probably the day for which
we have more information

than any other day in
the whole of ancient history.

Caesar is woken that morning by
his wife, Calpurnia,

in a state of dread.

Not only has Spurinna warned him
about the Ides of March,

but also, his wife had a dream
in which Caesar is assassinated.

Leaving his house that morning,

it's his responsibility
to preside over a sacrifice.

Spurinna is there officiating.

And Caesar smiles and says
to Spurinna,

"Well, the Ides of March
have arrived."

To which Spurinna responds,
"They have arrived, Caesar,

"but they have not yet gone."

So, these two things combined do
have an effect on Caesar.

He is asked by his wife,
"Just stay for the Ides of March.

"Don't go to the Senate house."

And he is persuaded by this,
and he decides he won't go.

Word reaches Brutus and Cassius

that Caesar is not coming to
the Senate after all.

The stakes are really high.

They've gambled everything on
this being successful.

The urgent necessity is to
make Caesar come to

the meeting of the Senate.

The conspirators send one
of their number -

the one they thought
he would trust most -

Decimus, one of his loyal generals.

Decimus has been with Caesar
from the start.

He had served under Caesar as
a military general,

and he'd been a lifelong supporter.

Yet, like Brutus and Cassius,

he was now feeling disenchanted
by Caesar's regime.

Decimus says to Caesar, "This is
behaviour unbecoming of you.

"What am I supposed to go
and tell the Senate?

"That you're scared of shadows?

"That you're obedient to a
woman's importunities?

"This is not behaviour
appropriate to Caesar."

Caesar's whole career
had been built on courage,

on a readiness to confront risk.

And so, the idea that he,
of all men, would start at shadows,

I think it's unthinkable.

And so Caesar is shamed,
and he goes to the Senate.

When Caesar finally leaves
his house,

the plan kicks into action.

The conspirators have planned
everything in detail,

and they know that they have to
isolate Caesar from his supporters.

They need to stop anyone from
springing to his defence,

and they need to make it clear that
it's only Caesar's tyranny

that they are targeting.

That this isn't going to turn into a
bloodbath of all of his supporters.

The one man that they need
to prevent from being

at Caesar's side is Mark Antony.

Antony is a big, strong,
powerful man

who's devoted to Julius Caesar.

Antony is kept out of
the Senate by way of conversation,

by way of dialogue.

Caesar goes in as the
most important person in Rome.

All kind of senators come up
and start asking him for favours,

asking him questions.

Cassius watches this.

He watches Caesar
heading for his, well,

what is effectively his throne,

and sees before him the vindication
of why this is necessary.

As the first conspirator
approaches Caesar,

Brutus must be in turmoil.

This is a man he's known his
entire life, he has supported him.

In many respects,
he's treated him like a son.

And yet, he also poses
the greatest threat to the Republic

in its entire 500-year history.

Caesar is approached by a
particularly importunate senator

with a petition.

He pays attention to it...

..and suddenly, he's feeling a
searing pain on his neck.

And he looks round,
and he sees a man with a dagger.

It's dripping with blood -
his blood - and he cries out,

"This is violence!
What are you doing?"

There is an authentic tone
of shock, of surprise.

It's deeply shocking
to see knives drawn in the Senate.

It's one of the most extraordinary
historical moments.

The blows continue to rain
down on Caesar

because it has been agreed by
the assassins that all of them must

dip their fingers in Caesar's blood,

all of them must inflict a wound.

The moment when Caesar
irrevocably accepts his fate

and surrenders to it...

..is when he sees the face of
the man who perhaps

he had most loved, most trusted.

Caesar says to Brutus,

"And you, my boy?"

As Brutus looks upon
the bloody corpse of Caesar,

he's hoping the Senate are going
to rush to his side to

show that this was a tyrannicide,
justly executed.

But actually, it's a pandemonium.

There's panic and everyone flees.

As the liberators come out of
the Senate house,

they're covered in blood -
and understandably,

the people are quite confused
about what's happened.

Brutus and Cassius think that
they'll be paraded through

the streets as the liberators.

But the people are scared.

It throws Rome into a state
of violence once again.

Brutus and Cassius thought
they were saving the Republic.

But all they really achieved was
the creation of more chaos.

The very chaos which Caesar had
been trying desperately

to bring under control

is unleashed again.

And Caesar's body is left there
on the marble floor,

surrounded by his own blood.

I think the tragedy of the
Roman Republic is that

its greatest man -
the man who, in so many ways,

exemplified all its qualities to
an absolute pitch of achievement -

those achievements brought the Roman
Republic crashing down into rubble.

Caesar had greatness in many ways.

He was a brilliant military leader,
he was a great politician.

But ultimately, the power that
he had taken unto himself

corrupted him.

When Julius Caesar commenced
his political career,

he could never have imagined
that the Roman Republic

would come to an end.

And he certainly couldn't
have imagined that he would be

the agent that brought that about.

And yet, that's what happened
in a very short time.

What are the lessons for
modern representational systems

that aren't nearly so old?

Could modern democracy collapse?

Perhaps we simply take
our political norms for granted.

There was a moment where the
Roman Republic seemed the most

perfect political state on Earth.

Then it had got itself into trouble.

And this reminds us
a bit of our own period.

From about 1989,
democracy was on the rise.

The number of democracies
in the world doubled.

And then, a period of deep,
deep uncertainty began,

including the rise of populism.

And it's in that environment
authoritarianisms rise,

that strong men come forward
to challenge democracy.

I think the Caesar story
really is a wake-up call.

Democracy has to be
constantly fought for.

If we take it for granted,
a new Caesar will come.

After 500 years,

the Roman Republic dies
with Julius Caesar,

and Rome is plunged once more
into civil war.

In the decades that follow,

it will be fought over by
Brutus, Cassius,

Mark Anthony, and a boy -

named in Caesar's will as his heir,

Octavian.

Ultimately, Caesar's death marks
the beginning of an era of emperors

that will endure for the
next 500 years.

We know that Romans were keen
to imagine that people might talk

about them long into the future.

But, of course, 2,000 years on,

we're definitely still
talking about Caesar.

And I'm sure that Caesar would be
absolutely delighted to know

that his glory, his fame,
endures into the present day.