Three months prior to his assassination, Caesar had his own portrait struck on Roman coinage, something that had never been done before. While it might not seem out of the ordinary, when considered in context, we begin to see the irony of Brutus’ decision to feature himself on these coins. We know what you’re thinking – a bust on a coin, so what? On the other side of the coin sits a bust of Brutus, looking to the right. The conspirators, who referred to themselves as the Liberatores, had grown fearful of Caesar's consolidation of power and thought he must be stopped. Shortly after, Caesar arrived at the Theatre of Pompey where he was murdered by as many of 60 conspirators - two of whom were Brutus and Cassius, close associates and friends of Caesar at the time. On the day of the assassination, Caesar is said to have met the prophet again on his way to the Senate meeting, remarking that ‘the Ides of March are come’, suggesting that his prediction had not come to pass.Īs it turned out, this man was onto something. These prophetic words were later immortalized in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar - 'Beware the Ides of March!' In ancient Rome, the Ides referred to the day that fell roughly in the middle of a month.

The powerful general had just been named 'Dictator in Perpetuity', and anti-Caesar sentiment was growing in Rome. Today, over 2,000 years ago, Roman general and statesman Julius Caesar was assassinated at a meeting of the Senate.ĭays before the attack, a soothsayer warned Caesar that harm would soon come to him. The 15th of March has come to be known as an ill-fated day. Take a closer look at a rare and significant treasure from the coin collection

Julius caesar coin