Rome 1.12 - The Ides of March

"Beware the Ides of March!"

Those words were written by William Shakespeare more than 1600 years after the event, but they're as appropriate as if they'd been written in 44 BC. Julius Caesar was warned by his wife Calpurnia that she had seen bad fortune for her husband in a dream. A flock of crows were flying in the shape of a skull. This portrayal is based on historical records. Caesar wasn't superstitious, so he ignored the warning.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The episode begins on the Kalends of February, i.e. the first of February. Caesar announces that he's increasing the Senate from 600 to 900 men. Many of the new senators will be noblemen from Gaul. This angers the existing senators who consider the newcomers unworthy. No explanation is made of why Caesar wants to take this step, but I assume that he's selected men who will be favourable to him.

Vorenus is consecrating the farmland that he's been given as a magistrate. This involves him lying on the ground with his wife making movements that simulate sexual intercourse, while priests stand watching, chanting the names of the agricultural Gods. The Romans had strange customs.

Pullo was badly injured in the arena in the last episode, so he's been taken to a hospital. He's hardly aware of what's happened to him. The doctor tells him that he's now a famous man, so he leaves the hospital despite being barely able to ride a mule. He travels to Vorenus' house, barely conscious. Vorenus agrees to give Pullo a room where he can recover.

Eirene is now a free woman, but she's remaining with Niobe because she has nowhere else to go. At night she sneaks into Pullo's room to murder him out of revenge for him killing her lover. Before she can do anything Niobe enters and chides her, telling her she would be tried for murder.

The next day Vorenus is summoned to speak to Caesar in the Senate. Caesar is angry with Vorenus for interrupting Pullo's trial, but he says he can't punish him because he's become a hero of the people. On the other hand, Caesar can't be seen to be acting out of weakness, so he decides to reward Vorenus instead. He makes Vorenus a senator. Cicero is horrified, claiming Vorenus is a common man (a pleb) who's unworthy of the office. Mark Antony is amused. Caesar defends his decision, saying that he wants the Senate to be made up of the best men in Italy, not just the richest old men in Rome. Besides, he says that nobody will dare attack him if Vorenus is at his side.

In the evening (probably a few days later), Caesar's spurned lover Servilia is sitting with Quintus Pompey and others who are opposed to Caesar. They discuss how to kill him. Her son Brutus is unsure where his allegiance lies. He loves Julius Caesar as a father, but he's loyal to the principles of the Republic. The conspirators agree that Vorenus would be a problem. Servilia remembers her slave telling her that Niobe deceived Vorenus about her son Lucius being fathered by another man. She thinks this can be used against him.

On the Ides of March (15th March) Caesar is walking to the Senate with Vorenus at his side. Servilia's slave approaches Vorenus and whispers to him that Niobe's grandson is really her son. Vorenus goes home in a rage to challenge her. She throws herself from the balcony to her death.

In the Senate Caesar is pushed and shoved by the senators conspiring against him. Then they stab him from all sides. It's more like a mob than a planned assassination. Caesar collapses on the floor. Quintus gives Brutus a knife and tells him to finish the job.

Brutus weeps. This isn't what he wanted to happen. He kneels before Caesar with the knife in his hand, the two men staring at one another. Finally Brutus stabs Caesar in the heart, which is more of a mercy killing than an assassination. Mark Antony quickly flees, afraid of sharing Caesar's fate.

At the same time, Servilia has invited Atia and Octavian to her house, knowing what would happen. She tells Atia that she will make her suffer for the humiliation she's received.

The whole series has been building up to the events on the Ides of March, 44 BC. The series could have ended here, but a second season will follow.

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