Adeeb Noorani
Comp. Civ.
Nov. 27
The death of Julius Caesar done by the
Senate was a precaution they had to make. Caesar was getting too powerful and
the well being of the Republic was at stake so like with a mother with her
child the Senate decided to eliminate the threat. His death and the way it
happened surely wasn’t the most moral way it could have been done but it was
something they had to do.
Gaius Julius Caesar was a very good
military strategist and tactician but the qualities he had such as his arrogance
and thirst for power were too overwhelming.
In 60 B.C. when he joined the First
Triumvirate with Crassus and Pompey he gained control of Cisalpine Gaul and
southern Gaul. This was when the Senate started to feel worried about the power
he possessed. In 53 B.C. Crassus was killed so this left just Pompey and Caesar
as the two rulers of Rome, of course they each wanted it for themselves. The
Senate wanted Caesar to return to Rome as a private citizen but with his fear
of losing power he would not, he then did what was illegal, that is crossing
the Rubicon. Caesar started a civil war, he fought and defeated Pompey, and
this aggressive act he did is what gave the Senate even more reason to collude
a plan together. By him taking Rome by force he destroyed the system in which
he wanted to flourish in.
In 46 B.C. Caesar appointed himself
dictator for life, this was unheard of he was slowly gaining more and more
power. And later on he became Pontifex Maximus, resulting in him essentially
being in charge of all the decision making, at this point it was thought that
he was more of a king than conservator of the republic and Rome still held
hatred for its old kings. Not only was he gaining control in the government but
with the people as well. Caesar was wining control of the entire Rome world and
didn’t seem to be stopping his expansion of power, this gave panic to the
Senate as they thought he would come for their power next.
The Senate was beginning think that the
power would get to his head and he would soon forget about Rome. Even thought
he was a great leader he was becoming too powerful, almost god-like. So by then
conspiring together and killing him they utterly saved Rome while there was
time left. If they had just sat back and watched him grow it would be the same
as if they destroyed Rome itself and they could not live with that.
Caesar was a great and powerful leader and
even though he was killed it does not mean that he didn’t do good things for
the empire. He led Rome to become a very powerful city, but his obsession with
his own importance is what led him to his death. The conspirators including
Brutus did an honorable thing, they sacrificed a great leader for the sake of
the Roman empire.
