Almanac: The Ides of March
And now a page from our "Sunday Morning" Almanac: March 15th, 44 B.C., 2,059 years ago today . . . the day a gang of togaed conspirators assassinated Julius Caesar.
A successful general and wily politician, Caesar had been declared dictator for life just the year before.
Fearful of his power, Caesar's rivals plotted to kill him in the Roman Senate on the Ides of March, and even persuaded Caesar's protege Brutus to join them.
The story has been told and retold countless times since then, most notably in the play by William Shakespeare.
A 1953 film version featured Louis Calhern as Caesar, and James Mason and John Gielgud as co-conspirators Brutus and Cassius.
Marlon Brando also starred as Caesar loyalist Mark Antony, whose funeral oration turned Romans against the plotters.
Antony: "This was the most unkindest cut of all;
For when the noble Caesar saw him stab,
Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms,
Quite vanquish'd him: then burst his mighty heart;
And, in his mantle muffling up his face,
Even at the base of Pompey's statua,
Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell.
O, what a fall was there, my countrymen!
Then I, and you, and all of us fell down,
Whilst bloody treason flourish'd over us."
In the early 1950s, it even was part of the series "You Are There." Walter Cronkite was the anachronistic anchor. And one version, in 1953, featured a young Paul Newman -- believe it or not -- as Brutus.
The killing of Caesar set off a years-long battle for power. At its end, Brutus was dead -- as was Caesar loyalist Mark Antony and his mistress, the enchanting Queen Cleopatra of Egypt.
Seizing power was Octavian, Caesar's adopted son, who went on to rule Rome for nearly 40 years as the Emperor Augustus.
And if you think it's all ancient history, not so fast. We re-live the times of Caesar and Augustus, in a manner of speaking, every summer during the months the Romans named for them ... July and August.
For more info:
- "Julius Caesar" (1953), directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz; Available on DVD from Warner Home Video, and on digital download from Amazon and iTunes