Julius Caesar in Rome
Few individuals altered the history of Rome as profoundly as Julius Caesar.
General, politician, author and dictator, Caesar rose during the final crisis of the Roman Republic and accumulated an unprecedented degree of political and military power.
His assassination on 15 March 44 BC did not restore the old Republic. Instead, it opened another cycle of civil wars that ultimately brought Caesar’s adopted heir Octavian — the future Augustus — to supreme power.
Who Was Julius Caesar?
Gaius Julius Caesar was born in 100 BC into an ancient patrician family whose political influence was more distinguished than dominant.
Through military success, political alliances and extraordinary personal ambition, Caesar rose to become one of the central figures of the late Republic.
His campaigns in Gaul greatly expanded Roman control in western Europe and gave him the wealth, military reputation and loyal army that transformed the balance of Roman politics.
The resulting confrontation with his political opponents culminated in civil war and Caesar’s eventual domination of the Roman state.
Why Did the Senators Fear Caesar?
Caesar accumulated offices and honours on a scale that alarmed many members of Rome’s senatorial elite.
In early 44 BC he held the title of dictator perpetuo, dictator in perpetuity.
To his supporters, Caesar represented stability after years of political violence and civil war. To his opponents, the concentration of authority in one man threatened the traditional institutions of the Republic.
Fear that Roman government was moving toward monarchy became one of the principal motivations behind the conspiracy against him.
The Assassination of Julius Caesar
On the Ides of March, Caesar attended a meeting of the Senate in the Curia of Pompey.
A group of senators including Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus attacked him with daggers.
Ancient accounts describe numerous wounds, traditionally reported as twenty-three.
The conspirators believed Caesar’s death would preserve or restore republican government. What followed was another period of civil war.
Where Was Caesar Actually Killed?
One of the most persistent misunderstandings about Caesar’s death concerns its location.
He was not assassinated inside the Roman Forum or in the Curia Julia seen there today.
The Senate was meeting temporarily in the Curia of Pompey, a large meeting hall connected with the monumental complex created by Pompey in the Campus Martius.
Archaeological remains associated with the Curia survive today within the wider area of Largo di Torre Argentina, allowing visitors to approach the location of one of the most famous political assassinations in history.
Caesar Died in Pompey’s Complex
The location carried an extraordinary historical irony.
Pompey the Great had once been Caesar’s political ally, fellow member of the First Triumvirate and, through marriage, his son-in-law.
Their alliance collapsed, and the two became rivals during the civil war.
Pompey was defeated by Caesar at Pharsalus in 48 BC and later murdered in Egypt.
Four years later, Caesar himself was assassinated inside the monumental complex created by his former rival.
The Cats of Largo Argentina
Largo di Torre Argentina is also known today for the cats that live around its archaeological remains.
A volunteer sanctuary operating beside the ruins has cared for abandoned and injured cats for decades, creating one of the city’s most unusual juxtapositions: an ancient archaeological site connected to Caesar’s assassination alongside a familiar part of contemporary Roman life.
Julius Caesar and the Roman Forum
Although Caesar was not assassinated in the Roman Forum, the Forum remains essential to understanding his political career.
This was the centre of Roman public life: political speeches, elections, ceremonies, legal proceedings and public funerals unfolded here.
After Caesar’s death, his funeral became a dramatic political event that helped turn public opinion against the conspirators.
The Temple of Divus Julius, later constructed under Augustus, commemorated Caesar after his posthumous deification and still survives within the archaeological area.
The Assassination Did Not Save the Republic
Caesar’s murder failed to produce the political restoration his assassins had hoped for.
His adopted heir Octavian entered the struggle for power and eventually defeated his rivals.
In 27 BC, Octavian became Augustus, establishing the political system that historians identify as the beginning of the Roman Empire.
Caesar therefore never became emperor himself, but his career and death were fundamental to the collapse of the Republican political order and the rise of Augustus.
Follow Caesar’s Story Through Rome
A private itinerary can connect the places associated with Caesar’s political career, assassination and legacy.
Depending on the itinerary, the experience may include Largo di Torre Argentina, the Roman Forum, the Temple of Divus Julius and sites associated with Augustus and the transformation of the Republic into imperial Rome.
The route can focus on political history, military power, archaeology, the civil wars or the personalities who reshaped Rome during the first century BC.
What You’ll Discover
- The rise of Julius Caesar
- The conquest of Gaul
- The crisis of the Roman Republic
- The conspiracy of Brutus and Cassius
- The Ides of March, 15 March 44 BC
- The Curia of Pompey
- Largo di Torre Argentina
- Caesar’s political world in the Roman Forum
- The Temple of Divus Julius
- Caesar’s funeral and posthumous deification
- The rise of Octavian and Augustus
Walk through the Rome of Julius Caesar.
Follow the political conflicts, archaeological sites and human stories behind one of the most consequential assassinations in world history.
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