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Documentary, 8 Days That Made Rome S01E03 - Crossing the Rubicon
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00:00Ancient Rome, one of the greatest superpowers in history, whose far-reaching legacy continues to shape our lives.
00:09For close on a thousand years, the Romans dominated the known world.
00:16Theirs was an extraordinary empire that heralded an age of unprecedented prosperity and stability,
00:23but that also ruled through violence and oppression.
00:27Rome's rise to greatness wasn't inevitable.
00:32Its epic history was often decided by single critical moments.
00:39In this series, I'm exploring eight key days that I believe help to explain Rome's remarkable success.
00:49To understand the full significance of these eight days, I'm travelling across the Roman world.
00:55I am incredibly lucky to get access to this archaeological site.
01:01Examining remarkable finds.
01:03The Germans are described by Caesar as a kind of terrorists.
01:07And investigating the complexities of what it was to be Roman.
01:13This is the day, in 49 BC, when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River at the head of his all-conquering army.
01:28It was the start of a bloody revolution.
01:31Cicero!
01:31Join the liberators!
01:35That would lead to the destruction of Rome's 500-year-old republic.
01:41Gaius Julius Caesar was born just a few hundred yards from here, in 100 BC, at a time when Rome still referred to herself as a republic.
01:59Now, the Romans were very proud of their ideal of liberty, and that, as a republic, her citizens had both a voice and a vote.
02:10Rule was, in theory at least, for the people.
02:15Assemblies and elections were open to ordinary citizens.
02:18But the powerful Senate was dominated by a few elite families.
02:25As a republic, Rome had gone from strength to strength.
02:30By the first century BC, Rome was the most powerful state in the ancient world.
02:37Her empire now stretched from what is now Greece and Turkey in the east, across North Africa, to Spain in the west.
02:43She defeated her great rival Carthage, and overcome a slave revolt led by Spartacus.
02:56But Rome's victories came at a price.
03:00Her lust for land led to the rise of army generals who could deliver foreign conquests.
03:06Enriched by plunder, these men accumulated dangerous amounts of power.
03:13And one stood head and shoulders above the rest.
03:17As a general and statesman, Julius Caesar was in a class of his own.
03:22A man said to have razor-sharp intellect and a clinical, steely ambition to succeed.
03:32Caesar's rise would challenge the very existence of the republic itself.
03:36At this crucial moment in Rome's history, the city had a stark choice.
03:43To stay true to its principles of rule by the many, or to stand by and watch as power was subverted for the benefit of the few.
03:54These growing tensions would reach a crisis point on what would prove to be a momentous day.
04:03When Caesar crossed the Rubicon River, declaring war on the republic itself.
04:10I want to explore the events around that day.
04:13A moment that would herald the transformation of the republic into an empire ruled by a single man.
04:21Caesar first made his name and his fortune when he led the pitiless invasion of Gaul.
04:31A bloody military campaign that reached a terrible climax in today's Netherlands.
04:36When Germanic tribes crossed into Caesar's newly conquered territory.
04:41What followed was one of the most vicious mass killings in Roman history.
04:47In Caesar's account of the Gallic Wars, he writes that the Germanic tribes begged him for a truce.
04:58Instead, he ordered that they be wiped out.
05:03A task his soldiers carried out with ruthless savagery.
05:08At Caesar's side, his loyal officer, Mark Antony.
05:22His representatives of the people have come to talk peace.
05:25We'll have to disappoint them then, won't we?
05:27Run! Run into the forest!
05:39Let's go.
06:09The tribes annihilated the tribes, killing around 150,000 men, women and children.
06:26Up until now, historians have had to rely on Caesar's written account as the only proof for this horrifying episode.
06:33Remarkably, archaeologists working here in the Netherlands believe they may have identified direct evidence of the events that day and some of the key finds are being held here in the National Museum in Leiden.
06:46This newly discovered, chilling evidence was dredged from the nearby Mars River and analysed by archaeologist Nico Roymans.
06:58What kind of evidence have you been working with to piece together this story?
07:03Here you have a few examples.
07:05You have here a skull of an adult person about 60 years old where the face here was cut off by one sword blow.
07:14So that's really a mortal injury, I can tell you.
07:18Yeah, that's horrific, isn't it?
07:21Here an adult woman with a hole here above one of the eyes caused by a Roman spearhead.
07:28I mean, it's interesting that you're finding women here because we hear from the accounts that women and children were also slaughtered.
07:36That's exactly what Caesar describes, that he tried to slaughter the complete population.
07:41Historically, this is very exciting because it's very rare that we get archaeological evidence like this absolutely buttressing in a very precise way the written record.
07:52But emotionally, it's very hard to look at some of this because you get a sense of the ferocity of Caesar and his campaign.
08:01What he did here in this northern fringe area of Gaul, there was clear cases of massacres and even genocide.
08:11Finds like these should make us redraw our mental picture of Caesar.
08:15As well as being an ambitious and brilliant general, he was a brutal and callous warlord.
08:23Today, he'd be called a war criminal.
08:27He destroyed hundreds of towns and settlements, enslaved and killed hundreds of thousands, possibly even millions of Gauls.
08:35What Caesar wanted was personal power and glory, setting him on a direct collision course with the ideals of the Roman Republic.
08:45Rome's overseas conquests had produced a new breed of general, men whose enormous personal influence threatened to destabilise the entire system of Roman government.
09:03Three in particular were hungry for power, and the foremost amongst them was the conqueror of Gaul, Julius Caesar.
09:11A state whose politics were supposed to be played out in the public spaces and buildings of the Forum, was about to have its future threatened by a sleazy backroom deal.
09:23One hundred and seventy miles north of the capital, Rome's three most powerful citizens met to launch a conspiracy to divide up control of the vast Roman Empire.
09:42One hundred and seventy miles, calling the shots, Caesar himself.
09:49Before him, Crassus, commander who defeated Spartacus and the richest man in Rome.
09:56Pompey the Great, a brilliant general, conqueror of the East, and husband to Caesar's daughter, Julia.
10:02Spain for you, Pompey.
10:16Syria for you, Crassus.
10:23Syria.
10:24More triumphs, more trophies, more gold, Crassus.
10:35He doesn't need more gold.
10:38You don't need any more triumphs.
10:43And for you, Caesar?
10:45The extension of my governorship of Gaul.
10:52Five more years.
10:54Supported by fresh finance from the Senate.
10:59The stubborn old dogs in the Senate will fight it.
11:03The stubborn old dogs of the Senate will be no match for the three of us.
11:16This was a power grab.
11:19A plan to seize control of the Republic.
11:22Three of the richest men in Rome, each at the head of a battle-hardened army,
11:26working together to further their own interests.
11:30Truly the stuff of nightmares for the old order in the Senate.
11:37Now, there's a rather brilliant thing about the situation here,
11:40because we have an eyewitness right at the heart of the Roman political system.
11:46His name was Marcus Tullius Cicero,
11:49and he wasn't just any old observer,
11:52but an incredibly astute and prolific commentator.
11:56Thanks to his speeches and his hundreds of letters,
12:00we know what was going on at the actual time that it was happening.
12:06Cicero came from obscure beginnings.
12:09Here in Arpino, some 60 miles south of Rome.
12:13Despite the way he's been portrayed in this statue,
12:17Cicero wasn't a conquering hero.
12:19He was a lawyer and a politician,
12:22although he was widely regarded as the very best orator in the whole of Rome.
12:27But his political instincts were very conservative.
12:32The values of the Republic meant everything to him.
12:35He was also astute enough to know that politics was a dangerous game.
12:43Violence was a constant threat from mobs loyal to Caesar and his allies.
12:49Oppose Caesar, Pompey or Crassus,
12:51and you risked intimidation or sometimes even assassination.
12:55It was something that Cicero had experienced firsthand
12:59when his beloved home in Rome was ransacked by a hostile mob.
13:09So Cicero felt forced to pledge his loyalty to the three generals.
13:14But what is fascinating is that if you read his private letters,
13:20then these reveal his real heartfelt fears for the future.
13:25He writes in the summer of 56 BC to his friend Atticus,
13:30You will not believe the treachery of these leaders as they would have themselves.
13:38Farewell to straight, true, honest politics.
13:44But the Gang of Three's power-sharing plot was short-lived.
13:53The great Crassus might have beaten Spartacus,
13:56but out on campaign against the Parthian Empire,
14:00he was defeated in battle.
14:0230,000 of his soldiers were lost,
14:05and the general himself was taken prisoner.
14:1430,000 duplexes were lost.
14:39Legends about the use of molten gold
14:44to murder the infamously wealthy Crassus
14:46were recorded by the Roman historian Cassius Dio.
14:50With Crassus gone, the Gang of Three's deal was dead in the water.
14:57Caesar acted swiftly to shore up his power,
15:00putting himself forward for the highest political office in Rome,
15:04the consulship.
15:06But there was a problem.
15:09In order to run for office,
15:11Roman law stated that a general must give up command of his armies.
15:16The agreement that had been thrashed out down there
15:18in the heart of Rome by the citizens of the Republic
15:21was that a candidate had to be a civilian.
15:25The thing was, Caesar had absolutely no intention
15:29of giving up the source of his power,
15:32his position as general in command of a loyal army.
15:36Seeking to build support for his candidacy,
15:41Caesar needed the endorsement of a senior senator.
15:44Cicero!
15:46My dear...
15:46So, he summoned Rome's greatest orator
15:50to his military headquarters in Ravenna,
15:52then part of southern Gaul.
15:54Don't go upsetting him, you old dog.
15:59Or you'll have me to answer, too.
16:07You wish to be elected consul
16:10in the upcoming elections?
16:11Yes.
16:14My governorship of Gaul is coming to an end.
16:17But you want to keep your armies.
16:20I don't think that would be acceptable to the Senate.
16:24The Senate seems determined to punish and humiliate me
16:27for bringing glory to Rome.
16:30The law would have to be rewritten.
16:33Rewrite it, then.
16:38Why not?
16:40They follow you like she.
16:44Your opponents rise to their feet every day
16:48to declare you an enemy of the Senate
16:50and of Rome itself.
16:54They are trying their best to turn Pompey round
16:58to their side.
16:59Pompey and I had an agreement!
17:05I cannot be left defenseless!
17:11I simply ask to be treated with the respect
17:13due to my rank and experience.
17:17I will see what I can do.
17:20I can find it the safest and most honourable path.
17:40Despite Cicero's pledge of support,
17:43Caesar's enemies in the Senate
17:44denied his request to keep his armies,
17:46arguing instead that he be stripped of his command in Gaul.
17:53The story goes that when Caesar heard
17:55that the Senate planned to cancel his command,
17:57he clapped his hand to the hilt of his sword
18:00and declared,
18:01this will give it to me.
18:04Big talk was edging closer
18:06to the possibility of outright war
18:09between Caesar and the Senate.
18:11So, where did Pompey,
18:16the other surviving member of the Gang of Three,
18:18stand on all of this?
18:20He had tried to remain on good terms
18:22with both Caesar and the Senate.
18:25Now, with the Republican crisis,
18:28he'd have to pick a side.
18:29Cicero was following all of this closely
18:35from one of his villas outside Rome.
18:37His letters give us a unique insight
18:40into history as it happened,
18:42and as events escalated towards chaos,
18:45they grow ever more despairing.
18:48In the winter of 50 BC,
18:49he was writing almost daily to his friend Atticus.
18:52Just listen to this from early December.
18:54These men are fighting for personal power
18:58at society's risk.
19:01Caesar's become so strong
19:02that all hope of resistance
19:04rests with a single citizen,
19:07meaning Pompey.
19:08And soon after that, on December the 18th,
19:11he is crystal clear about Rome's fate.
19:15The political situation
19:17gives me greater terror every day.
19:21All we want is peace,
19:23but a victory may produce a tyrant.
19:29Cicero was desolate,
19:31with a front-row seat
19:33as Rome geared up for civil war,
19:35a war that would destroy the Republic
19:39that he so loved.
19:42Just a few days after that letter,
19:45matters came to a head.
19:47The Senate asked Pompey
19:48to defend the Republic with arms,
19:51if necessary.
19:51Forced to make a decision,
19:54he accepted,
19:55and a state of emergency was declared.
19:58Caesar was then ordered
19:59to relinquish his military command
20:02and to return to the city
20:03without his army.
20:06Caesar was now faced
20:07with a critical dilemma.
20:10To remain in Gaul
20:11meant forfeiting his political power
20:13to his enemies.
20:15Returning to Rome without an army
20:17would verge on the suicidal.
20:19The only other option
20:22was one that would have
20:24devastating consequences.
20:27From his base in Ravenna,
20:30Caesar planned to travel
20:31through the night
20:32to meet his army
20:34at the Rubicon River,
20:36the frontier
20:37with the Roman homeland.
20:40According to the law,
20:41any general leading troops
20:43across this border
20:44would be declared
20:45a public enemy.
20:47Crossing the Rubicon
20:48would be,
20:49quite simply,
20:50a declaration of war
20:52against the Republic of Rome.
20:57Secrecy was paramount.
20:59The choice that Caesar would make
21:13on the banks of the Rubicon River
21:15the following morning
21:16changed the course of history.
21:19Caesar's conflict with the Senate
21:30had reached crisis point.
21:32He rode through the night
21:33to meet up with his army
21:35at the Rubicon,
21:36the border with the Roman homeland.
21:38If Caesar crossed the Rubicon
21:55at the head of his army,
21:56it would be an act of treason,
21:58an open violation of Roman law.
22:00This would trigger
22:04a devastating civil war
22:06between Caesar
22:07and the Republic.
22:13If he turned back,
22:15he'd lose his command
22:16and be tried as a traitor.
22:30Hold on.
22:47See...
22:49See...
22:54Do not go back.
23:24Did I, uh...
23:33You passed out.
23:34I had to haul you out to the river like a fish.
23:39I saw a figure.
23:42A woman.
23:45Rising out of the water.
23:50She told me to go no further.
23:52A dream.
23:59We're here.
24:04Say no more of this.
24:13The author Lucan's story of this ghostly vision,
24:17as Caesar stood on the threshold of all-out rebellion,
24:20speaks of the troubled state of his mind.
24:24The decision that Caesar would make on that day
24:27would transform the fate of the Roman Empire.
24:31Soldiers of the Thirteenth, loyal friends.
24:42I have been your commander for nine years.
24:45We meet here today
24:48on the banks of the Rubicon
24:50because the Senate
24:52and Pompey
24:54have decreed
24:57that unless I relinquish my command,
25:01I shall be branded an enemy of Rome.
25:04Gaius, Julius, Caesar, an enemy of Rome.
25:11How dare they?
25:17Now we have a choice.
25:20We turn back
25:21or we cross this river
25:26and we fight
25:29against
25:30my enemies
25:32to prove
25:33my honor
25:34and
25:35my station.
25:37What is it to be, men?
25:39On the 10th of January,
25:5249 BC,
25:54Julius Caesar
25:55urged his horse
25:56into the icy waters
25:58of the Rubicon River.
26:00This apparently simple act
26:02would set off a chain of events
26:04that would come
26:06to define
26:06the Roman Empire.
26:08Even now,
26:15crossing a Rubicon
26:16means reaching a point
26:18of no return,
26:19an act
26:20with permanent consequences.
26:23Caesar had started
26:25a civil war
26:26and that decision
26:27would shape
26:28the course
26:29of Roman civilization,
26:31which means
26:31that its fallout
26:32still impacts
26:34on all of us today.
26:38For Cicero,
26:45whatever he intended,
26:47and whoever won
26:48these battles,
26:49the real loser
26:51could only be
26:52the 500-year-old republic.
26:56We should have resisted
26:57Caesar when he was weak.
26:59That would have been easy.
27:00Now we face
27:0111 legions,
27:03cavalry at his command,
27:04the city rabble,
27:06corrupt youth.
27:08A leader of such
27:09authority and daring,
27:10against this
27:11we must either fight
27:12or admit
27:14his candidature
27:14in the law.
27:16And then he comes up
27:17with something
27:18really interesting.
27:20Better fight
27:21than be a slave,
27:22you say.
27:23For what?
27:25A death sentence
27:26if you're beaten.
27:27And if you win,
27:29slavery all the same.
27:32What Cicero is saying
27:34is that because
27:35this is a civil war,
27:37everything is already lost.
27:40Legitimate political power
27:41cannot be won
27:43by the sword.
27:44And if Pompey triumphed,
27:46there was nothing to say
27:47that he wouldn't end up
27:49being a tyrant.
27:50death
27:52or moral slavery
27:54would be the only outcome.
27:58An epic showdown loomed.
28:02Caesar marched south
28:03from the Rubicon to Rome.
28:05But Pompey and his supporters
28:07abandoned the city,
28:09fleeing to Greece
28:09where they raised
28:10a huge army.
28:13Caesar sailed east
28:14to meet them
28:14and the two sides
28:16finally confronted
28:17one another
28:17at the decisive battle
28:19of Pharsalus.
28:24Facing Pompey's forces
28:26on the plains
28:27of central Greece,
28:28Caesar found himself
28:29in a perilous position.
28:32Isolated,
28:33short of provisions
28:34and seriously outnumbered.
28:38But then Caesar's men,
28:40battle-hardened veterans,
28:42employed superior strategy
28:43and fighting skills
28:45and defied military logic
28:47to win Caesar
28:48his greatest victory.
28:52After this crushing defeat,
28:54Pompey went on the run,
28:56fleeing to Egypt.
29:01Caesar pursued him there,
29:05hoping to persuade
29:06the Egyptian king,
29:07Ptolemy,
29:08to hand over
29:09his great adversary.
29:10Conqueror of the world
29:13and mightiest
29:14of the Romans.
29:18You are made safe
29:19by this gift.
29:21How is this a gift?
29:38It is
29:39your enemy's ring
29:41and his head.
29:45This is the head
29:46of a great general,
29:48a consul of Rome.
29:50and
29:52my son-in-law.
29:58Tell your king.
30:00I demand
30:01that the assassins
30:03of this great man
30:04be executed
30:06without delay!
30:09Caesar's reaction
30:10to Pompey's death
30:11might seem strange,
30:13but it could be put down
30:15to his anger
30:16at a missed opportunity.
30:17Rather than have
30:19his enemies killed,
30:21he preferred
30:21to offer them
30:22mercy or clemency,
30:24proving the reach
30:25of his power
30:26and persuading people
30:28to his side.
30:30Whether Caesar's mercy
30:31was sincere
30:32or just for show,
30:34with Pompey dead,
30:35there was no doubt
30:36he had absolute power.
30:39Cicero was one of the many
30:41who publicly praised him
30:42for his willingness
30:43to forgive.
30:43But in truth,
30:46he held out
30:47little hope
30:47for Rome
30:48under Caesar's rule.
30:50In the security
30:50of his private correspondence,
30:52Cicero wrote,
30:54liberty
30:55has been lost.
30:59In 46 BC,
31:01when Caesar
31:02finally returned
31:03to Rome,
31:04the Senate
31:05granted him
31:05a triumph,
31:07a glorious procession
31:08into the city.
31:10The Romans
31:10always loved
31:11a military parade
31:12and it's no different today.
31:14Caesar's victory
31:15appeared to be complete.
31:19The newly tamed Senate
31:20awarded Caesar
31:21with powers
31:22and honours
31:23unheard of
31:24in the history
31:24of the Republic.
31:26Titles like
31:26Prefect of the Morals
31:28and Father
31:29of the Fatherland.
31:31They even gave him
31:32his own religious cult
31:34where he was worshipped
31:35as a kind of demigod.
31:36Then,
31:39in 44 BC,
31:41his birthday
31:42was declared
31:43a public holiday
31:43and the month
31:44of Quintilis
31:45was renamed
31:46Iulius,
31:48July
31:48after him.
31:51But Caesar
31:52was walking
31:53a dangerous path.
31:55To many observers,
31:56he seemed
31:57to be behaving
31:57like a king.
32:00And since
32:01the founding
32:01of the Republic,
32:03the Romans
32:03had a deep hatred
32:05of kings
32:06and tyrants.
32:09Underground opposition
32:11to Caesar's
32:12autocratic rule
32:13was growing.
32:23And ancient writers
32:25tell us that Caesar
32:26was plagued
32:27with a mystery illness
32:29that further threatened
32:30to undermine
32:31his authority.
32:35Plutarch
32:50describes Caesar
32:51as suffering
32:52from
32:53distemper
32:54in the head.
32:57Suetonius
32:58writes of
32:59sudden
32:59fainting fits
33:00and nightmares.
33:02Cesar,
33:06might we have
33:06a brief
33:07audience?
33:14Cicero,
33:16Brutus,
33:16what have you
33:19come to say?
33:23Caesar dictator,
33:25hear my petition.
33:26Will he not
33:33stand to speak
33:34to senators?
33:36Perhaps Caesar
33:37thinks we should
33:38all kneel
33:38before him
33:39like subjects.
33:42Unaware
33:43of Caesar's
33:44illness,
33:45the senators
33:45were greatly
33:46offended
33:46by his failure
33:47to stand.
33:49They saw it
33:49as an insult
33:50to their rank
33:51and evidence
33:52of his desire
33:53to rule
33:53as their king.
33:54Or do you
33:55have something
33:56to say?
34:03Tell you!
34:08According to
34:09Plutarch,
34:10Caesar later
34:10claimed his
34:11failure to rise
34:12was due
34:12to his sickness,
34:14causing his
34:15senses to be
34:16speedily shaken
34:17and whirled
34:18about.
34:21Caesar's
34:22curious behaviour
34:23was great
34:24ammunition
34:25for his
34:25opponents.
34:27Some ancient
34:28sources blamed
34:29his growing
34:30arrogance
34:30on his
34:31recurrent seizures
34:32and that idea
34:33has been dismissed
34:34as just a
34:35convenient excuse.
34:37But intriguing
34:39new research
34:39is now casting
34:40light on the
34:41relationship
34:41between Caesar's
34:43health and
34:44his behaviour.
34:44Dr.
34:46Hutan Ashrafian
34:47has applied
34:48modern medical
34:49knowledge to
34:50the symptoms
34:50of Caesar's
34:51illness.
34:52Symptoms that
34:53we know about
34:54entirely from
34:55descriptions in
34:56historical accounts.
34:59Clearly as a
34:59successful general,
35:00Julius Caesar was
35:01healthy for most
35:02of his life,
35:02but he started
35:03suffering from
35:04some symptoms
35:05of falling
35:05and headaches
35:07and this has
35:08been brought
35:08down to us
35:09over the years
35:10as having
35:10suffered from
35:11epilepsy.
35:11Why did you
35:12have a problem
35:13with epilepsy?
35:14Why did you
35:14think that was
35:14unlikely?
35:15Epilepsy is a
35:16disease that
35:17typically presents
35:18in childhood,
35:19but what we
35:19know from
35:20Julius Caesar was
35:21that he was
35:21healthy for most
35:22of his life and
35:23then suddenly in
35:23middle age he
35:24has these diseases
35:25and that's highly
35:26unusual and
35:27doesn't fit in
35:27with the story
35:28of epilepsy.
35:28It fits much
35:29better actually
35:30with the disease
35:31of the furring up
35:32of the arteries
35:32going to the
35:33brain or
35:34cerebrovascular
35:34disease.
35:35And what
35:36would be the
35:36symptoms of
35:37that?
35:37So typically
35:38the symptoms
35:38of cerebrovascular
35:39disease are
35:39weakness in
35:40the limb,
35:41blindness
35:42temporarily,
35:43it could be
35:44difficulty in
35:44hearing,
35:45it could be
35:45a difficulty
35:46of balance
35:46and very rarely
35:48it could be
35:48even having
35:49visions.
35:50And that's
35:51very interesting.
35:52Do you think
35:52that is actually
35:53affecting Caesar
35:54then that kind
35:55of history is
35:55being played
35:56out because
35:56he's got
35:56this particular
35:57medical condition?
35:58I think so
35:58because in
35:59Julius Caesar's
36:00case he
36:01became quite
36:02emotionally unstable
36:03towards the end
36:04of his life
36:04and this was
36:05described in
36:06several sources.
36:06If Caesar really
36:09did think he
36:10was dying or
36:11was spurred on
36:12by a kind of
36:13enhanced sense
36:14of recklessness
36:15then he could
36:16well have wanted
36:17to try to
36:18secure his
36:18legacy and it
36:20seems as though
36:21that was exactly
36:22what he was
36:23trying to do.
36:24He kicked off a
36:25massive building
36:27programme,
36:28rebranding the
36:29city of Rome.
36:30He ordered up a
36:32whole new Senate
36:32house, the
36:33Curia, Iulia and
36:35even a new
36:37forum, the
36:38forum Iulium and
36:40right at its
36:41centre he built
36:41this massive
36:42temple to Venus
36:44Genetrix, Venus
36:45the mother,
36:47declaring to the
36:48Roman world that
36:49this was the
36:50goddess who was
36:51the ancestor of
36:52his family.
36:55Then in 44 BC,
36:58just a few days
36:59after he'd failed
36:59to stand for the
37:00senators, Caesar
37:02made himself
37:02dictator for
37:04life, a king
37:06in all but
37:07name.
37:11Rome's republic
37:12had been replaced
37:13by a military
37:14dictatorship.
37:16The Senate had
37:17been systematically
37:18stripped of its
37:19powers, its ranks
37:20swelled with
37:21Caesar's loyal
37:22supporters.
37:25Five years after
37:27Caesar crossed the
37:28Rubicon, a small
37:29group of senators
37:30now decided that
37:31he'd gone too far
37:33and what they did
37:34next would
37:36reverberate through
37:37history.
37:42In 44 BC, five
37:45years after he
37:46crossed the Rubicon,
37:47Caesar was
37:48established as
37:49dictator for life.
37:52For some,
37:53yearning for the
37:53liberties of the
37:54republic, Caesar had
37:56proved himself a
37:57power-mad tyrant.
37:58a small group of
38:00senators now decided
38:01they had to act.
38:04I hope this won't
38:05be another waste of
38:06time.
38:06On the Ides of
38:07March, Cicero
38:08attended a meeting
38:09of the Senate,
38:10unaware that
38:11inside, Caesar's
38:13fate had been
38:14sealed.
38:14Get out!
38:21What's happening?
38:22What's going on?
38:23Cicero, liberty has
38:31been recovered.
38:32We are free!
38:34Join the
38:34liberators.
38:35When Caesar had
38:50entered the
38:50chamber, he was
38:51surrounded by around
38:5220 conspirators who
38:54stabbed him to death.
39:00In the autopsy
39:01afterwards, doctors
39:02counted 23 wounds on
39:04his body.
39:30The murder of
39:30Gaius Julius Caesar took
39:33place here, right at
39:34the heart of Pompey's
39:35massive theatre
39:36complex.
39:37It was a messy
39:39business, with the
39:40conspirators slashing
39:42one another in the
39:42confusion.
39:44Those who physically
39:45had Caesar's blood on
39:46their hands were
39:47closely connected to
39:49the dictator.
39:50Casca, who struck
39:51first, was an old
39:53friend.
39:54Marcus Brutus was the
39:55son of a long-standing
39:56mistress, and Decimus
39:58Brutus was a cousin,
40:00as well as others who'd
40:01been personally forgiven
40:02by Caesar for their
40:03allegiance to Pompey.
40:06But all these personal
40:07histories were put aside
40:09in a frantic bid to
40:11murder their master and
40:12to restore the republic
40:14and its values.
40:18For Caesar's enemies, he'd
40:20come to represent
40:21everything that they'd
40:22been brought up to fear
40:23and to despise.
40:25He was a tyrant, an
40:27all-powerful dictator, an
40:30enemy of the republic, an
40:33enemy of the idea that
40:35was Rome.
40:39Cicero had spent most of
40:40Caesar's tyranny either
40:42praising the dictator or
40:44sulking in semi-retirement.
40:45But with Caesar's murder, he
40:48sprang back into life.
40:51He didn't actually go and
40:52join the murderers when
40:53they regrouped on
40:54Capitoline Hill, but he
40:56did write this to one of
40:57them.
40:59Congratulations.
41:01I rejoice.
41:03I love you and have your
41:05interests at heart.
41:06And then he later added,
41:08how I wish that you'd
41:09invited me to that splendid
41:11feast on the Ides of March.
41:13There would have been no
41:14leftovers, by which he
41:16meant that he'd have made
41:18sure that Mark Antony and
41:19Caesar's other supporters
41:20had also been killed.
41:23Later, he wrote justifying
41:25the murder, describing
41:27tyranny as a crime
41:29punishable by death, a
41:31crime against humanity.
41:35Through history, Caesar's
41:37name would be taken by
41:38despots and imperial leaders
41:40across the world, from
41:41Roman Caesars to Russian
41:44Tsars and German
41:45Caesars.
41:47And the story of his
41:48rise and fall reflects a
41:50battle that still rages
41:51today, wherever democracy,
41:54with all its flaws, is
41:56pitted against tyranny.
41:59In the days and weeks after
42:01Caesar's murder, Cicero and
42:03others worked hard to restore
42:04the republic to avoid more
42:06violence.
42:07But it was too late.
42:09Caesar's followers whipped up a
42:12hunger for revenge and chased
42:14his assassins from the city.
42:16Soon, Rome was in the grip of
42:18yet another brutal civil war.
42:21All this violence stemmed from one
42:25pivotal moment when Caesar crossed the
42:28Rubicon in 49 BC.
42:30It was an act that ensured the
42:32destruction of the Roman Republic and
42:35the downfall of some of its greatest
42:36figures.
42:37Within just ten years, Pompey,
42:41Brutus, Caesar, Cato, Cicero had been
42:44killed or committed suicide.
42:45Murder begat murder.
42:49Civil war begat civil war.
42:52A point of no return really had been
42:55crossed.
42:57Next time, the day that Caesar's
43:00adopted heir, Octavian, triumphed over
43:03his rival, Mark Antony, and was
43:05acclaimed Augustus, the first emperor
43:08of Rome.
43:10Rome, still mourning the death of Julius
43:13Caesar, will not be prepared, nor will it
43:15see you coming.
43:45erstmal again.
43:47cracking,
43:48keep it alive,
43:49reconciled out of the war.
43:50Except for,
43:51injustice against fierce of Supreme
43:53ăă.
43:55To be
44:04to aid strongest.
44:05Obserter of oppression.
44:07Be caught
44:09low,
44:11Check gamma,
Recommended
43:48
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