The Ides Of March -Lessons from the Stabbing of Caesar!!

The ides of March is referred to 15^th of March .It is a day on which the great Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was stabbed to death among by many and  Brutus who was considered his best  friend . Brutus had  allowed  himself to be cajoled into joining a group of conspiring senators because of a growing suspicion—implanted by Caius Cassius—that Caesar intended  to turn republican Rome into a monarchy under his own rule and thus weaken the power of the Senate .

 The growing tide of public support soon turned  Brutus, against Caesar (this public support was actually faked; Cassius wrote letters to Brutus in different handwritings over the next month in order to get Brutus to join the conspiracy). A soothsayer(a “jyotish”) had  warned Caesar to "beware the “Ides of March"(15th of March), which he ignored and scoffed at .Caesars  wife Calpurnia,also  had a premonition about his death and had pleaded and  begged him not to go to the senate because she had dreamt something which spelt doom.She pleaded  with Caesar thus,

“ I have  never stood on ceremonies,
but now they frighten me.

There are things that we have heard and seen,

which recount the the most horrid sights!!
A lioness had whelped in the streets
And graves have yawned and yielded up their dead ,

Fiery and fierce warriors in ranks and squadrons have fought upon the clouds 

In a form of war which drizzled blood upon the Capitol

Your statue sprouted blood in which lusty Romans danced and sang,
The noise of battle hurtled in the air ,

Horses neighed ,and dying men groaned 

And ghosts shrieked and squealed about in the streets 

O Caesar !these things are beyond ordinary ,

And i do fear them”

But Caesar remained  adamant and haughty.And this was his response

“When beggars die, there are no comets seen;
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.”.

And  with a touch of the supreme and beyond the mortal world he says

“Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard.
It seems to me most strange that men should fear death ,

Which is  a necessary evil
.And will come when it has to come."

  With those words he strides into the senate .The soothsayer(who had warned him of the Ides of March) is also in the crowd watching the procession of Caser move towards the Capitol . Caesar looks at the seer and joked,

"The ides of March have come", meaning to say that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied

 "Aye, Caesar; but not gone."This  meeting is also famously dramatised in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, .

Caesar was completely oblivious to the plot that had been so meticulously crafted by Cassius and the others .Mettalus Cimber was to petition Caesar with a request to cancel the banishment of his brother from Rome .Predictably ,Caesar would refuse ,and when he would do so ,he would be stabbed to death .Mettalus Cimber began

 “Most high ,most mighty ,and most puissant Caesar,

Mettalus Cimber throws before thy seat ,

A humble heart …”

  Caesar, predictably, rejects the petition.His arrogance and power is on full display in his response to Cimber’s petition

“I could well be moved ,if I were as you,

If I could pray to move ,then prayers would move me

But I am constant as the northern star ,

Of whose true fixed and resting quality ,

There is no fellow in the firmanment ,

The skies are painted with unnumbered sparks ,

They are all fire and every one doth shine ,

But theres but one in all doth hold his place :

So in the world ; -tis furnished well with men ,

And men are flesh and blood and apprehensive ,

Yet in the number I do know but one that is constant -Me  !!

 Both Plutarch and Suetonius say that Caesar waved him away, but Cimber grabbed Caesar's shoulders and pulled down Caesar's tunic. Caesar then cried to Cimber, "Why, this is violence!" At the same time, Casca   produced his dagger and with a cry of “Speak hands for me” made a glancing thrust at Caesars neck. Caesar turned around quickly and caught Casca by the arm. According to Plutarch, he said in Latin, "Casca, you villain, what are you doing?" Casca, frightened, shouted "Help, brother!" in Greek. Within moments, the entire group, including Brutus, was striking out at Caesar. Caesar attempted to get away, but, blinded by blood, he tripped and fell; the men continued stabbing him as he lay defenseless on the lower steps of the portico. According to Eutropius, around 60 or more men participated in the assassination. Caesar was stabbed 23 times.

The dictator's last words are a contested subject among scholars and historians and people alike. Suetonius reports that others have said Caesar's last words were: "You too, child?". However, Suetonius himself says Caesar said nothing. Plutarch also reports that Caesar said nothing, pulling his toga over his head when he saw Brutus among the conspirators. The version best known in the English-speaking world is the Latin phrase "Et tu, Brute?" ("You too, Brutus?"); this derives from Shakespeare'sJulius Caesar (1599), where it actually forms the first half of a macaronic line: "Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar." It has no basis in historical fact, and Shakespeare's use of Latin here is not from any assumption that Caesar would have been using the language, but because the phrase was already popular at the time the play was written.

The above narration is from the play “Julius Caesar”,which was a part of my English syllabus while I was in school .Mr Rathke my teacher made us learn it by heart and the result –I can still rattle of all the verses by heart even now .The lines above have been modified with the use of modern words (the “thee”, “thy”,”hath” etc have been done away with ).The incident is based on the historical writings of Plutarch and Suetonius and of course the play by Shakespeare.

There are a few lessons to be learnt from the incident

1.Power has to be exercised with great finesse and restraint .It has to exercised with just the right kind of force –like you apply when you play billiards to pocket a ball .If you hit it slowly –it wont pocket .If you hit it too hard ,itt will rebound .But just the right amount will produce the desired result .

2.Dont ignore the soothsayers .And even if you don’t believe in them –don’t scoff at them .We live in a world about which we have just a grain of knowledge .Maybe there are people who can see the future ?Everything is possible .

3.Beware of people who surround you .Especially people who pretend to be your friends and advisors .When you get close to power –you want to have it yourself .One must protect oneself from people who say and portray themselves as your well wishers .

4 .Lastly (and most importantly),listen to a womans instincts .They must never be ignored .Both Calpurnia(Caesars wife ),and Portia (Brutus’s wife ),knew that something terrible was going to happen .I think it is a gift that God has heaped on a woman –she can instinctively smell something wrong .Pay heed to it .

According to historians ,Calpurnia never remarried after the death of Caesar .Brutus committed suicide .And Rome was plunged into civil war .But that is another story .