The Aftermath of Julius Caesar’s Assassination, Term Paper Example

Gaius Julius Caesar was assassinated in the year 44BC by the Roman members of the Senate who conspired against him. The reason behind this assassination was to remove the dictator ‘Julius Caesar’, as he had grown in power at extraordinary levels. In order to revive the government of ‘Republic’, the Senate conspired against Julius Caesar and murdered him. Through the entire Roman Empire, the power span of Caesar extended from modern day Syria, Africa, France, Spain and all of Italy. Julius Caesar had the favor of majority of the Roman Government, military and the people (Braund, 2013). The assassination of Caesar did eliminate his ever-growing power but the transformation of the Roman Government to the Republic was not anticipated as the Senate has planned. Instead, the demise of Julius Caesar gave rise to another more robust and powerful dictator whose achievements and fame grow beyond than that of Julius Caesar (Scullard, 2013).

Before the rise to power of Caesar, the Empire of Rome was rule by Senate which was determined with the choice of the people through a voting system. However, due to the vast expansion of the Roman Empire, the Senate couldn’t govern Rome properly as they reside in Rome. For this reason, the Roman Empire was split into provinces which was governed by appointed member of the Senate and changed yearly (Braund, 2013). The government of Rome at that time did not have a proper check and balance system and the performance of the governor was solely based on the morality of his character. The lack of moral attitude and a good character, there was social unrest in the Roman Empire through the majority of provinces. The reason to assassinate Julius Caesar was very clear. He was becoming famous and powerful. Because of this Cassias and Brutus knew that if this dictator grew more in power then the Roman Republic will be destroyed (Scullard, 2013). Caesar already knew that his growth of power results in the jealousy of the Senate and rise in his enemies, so he elected the Sanctity of the Tribunes. This enabled the dictator to be saved from any harm whatever the consequences. After the assassination of Caesar, Rome was divided (Braund, 2013).  There were fights on who would control the power. Eventually, Augustus Caser also known as ‘Octavius’ became the only emperor of the Roman Empire. During his rule, the mighty Roman Empire began to crumble and declined in power (Scullard, 2013). Julius Caesar was wounded by Marcus Brutus and died.

In the aftermath of the death of Caesar, the legacy of Caesar was continued by Marc Anthony. However, Octavian who was the adopted son of Caesar was the one to be selected as ruler in case of demise of Caesar. Brutus and Cassias celebrated the assassination of Caesar by issuing coins which was known as the Ides of March. As the adopted son of Caesar and close to him, Octavian sought revenge against these assassins. So, he rallied an army and defeated the forces of Cassias and Brutus at the Greek Battle of Philippa. The defeat of the battle was so shameful that Brutus and Cassias committed suicide. The remaining enemy for Octavian was Anthony who hooked up with Cleopatra (Old paramour of Caesar) in the East. There Octavian and Anthony fought for many years until the victory was of Octavian. Anthony also committed suicide in the year 30 B.C. So, that is how Octavian, the adopted son of Julius Caesar came into power and then became known as ‘Augustus Caesar’ (Scullard, 2013). He ruled for many years but after his rule the Roman Empire decline and crumbled.

References

Braund, D. (2013). Ruling Roman Britain: kings, queens, governors and emperors from Julius Caesar to Agricola. Routledge.

Scullard, H. H. (2013). From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome 133 BC to AD 68. Routledge.