olved around horses. Caesar had dedicated a herd of these beasts to the Rubicon, and upon damming the river, allowed the horses to roam freely. It was reported that shortly before March 15th that these horses lost their taste for the lush valley, and began to shed “bucketfuls of tears.”The soothsayer Spurinnia gave Caesar the famous warning “Beware the ides of March”, to which Caesar paid no mind. Calpurnia, his wife, was stricken with dreadful nightmares the night of March 14th, and cried aloud in her sleep, “Help, ho! They murder Caesar!” (II: iii) Still Caesar, after some careful thought and prodding by Decimus Brutus, went to the Assembly Room. He set forth at 10 o’clock. On his way to the House, he was handed a note that outlined the plot against him. Caesar did not read it, but placed it in a bundle of documents that he intended to read later. He saw the prophet Spurinnia, and said, “The Ides of March have come,” to which the augur replied “Yes, they have come, but they have not yet gone.” (Suet. Pg. 50)“As soon as Caesar took his seat the conspirators crowded around him as if to pay their respects. Tillius Cimber, who had taken the lead, came up close, pretending to ask a question. Caesar made a gesture of postponement, but Cimber caught hold of his shoulders. ‘This is violence!’ Caesar cried, and at that moment, as he turned away, one of the Casca brothers with a sweep of his dagger stabbed him just below the throat. Caesar grasped Casca’s arm and ran it through with his stylus; he was leaping away when another dagger blow stopped him. Confronted by a ring of drawn daggers, he drew the top of his gown down over his face, and at the same time ungirded the lower part, letting it fall to his feet so that he would die with both legs decently covered. Twenty-three dagger thrusts went home as he stood there. Caesar did not utter a single sound af...
