0:00:06.749,0:00:11.784
What would you do if you thought [br]your country was on the path to tyranny?

0:00:11.784,0:00:16.091
If you saw one man gaining too much power,[br]would you try to stop him?

0:00:16.091,0:00:20.429
Even if that man was[br]one of your closest friends and allies?

0:00:20.429,0:00:27.331
These were the questions haunting[br]Roman Senator Marcus Junius Brutus in 44 BCE,

0:00:27.331,0:00:31.524
the year Julius Caesar [br]would be assassinated.

0:00:31.524,0:00:35.779
Opposing unchecked power [br]wasn't just a political matter for Brutus;

0:00:35.779,0:00:37.470
it was a personal one.

0:00:37.470,0:00:40.385
He claimed descent[br]from Lucius Junius Brutus,

0:00:40.385,0:00:45.675
who had helped overthrow the tyrannical[br]king known as Tarquin the Proud.

0:00:45.675,0:00:47.485
Instead of seizing power himself,

0:00:47.485,0:00:51.135
the elder Brutus[br]led the people in a rousing oath

0:00:51.135,0:00:54.777
to never again allow a king to rule.

0:00:54.777,0:00:56.003
Rome became a republic

0:00:56.003,0:01:00.239
based on the principle that no one man[br]should hold too much power.

0:01:00.239,0:01:04.763
Now, four and a half centuries later,[br]this principle was threatened.

0:01:04.763,0:01:08.384
Julius Ceasar's rise [br]to the powerful position of consul

0:01:08.384,0:01:10.080
had been dramatic.

0:01:10.080,0:01:14.374
Years of military triumphs [br]had made him the wealthiest man in Rome.

0:01:14.374,0:01:18.777
And after defeating his rival[br]Pompey the Great in a bitter civil war,

0:01:18.777,0:01:21.540
his power was at its peak.

0:01:21.540,0:01:25.301
His victories and initiatives, [br]such as distributing lands to the poor,

0:01:25.301,0:01:27.138
had made him popular with the public,

0:01:27.138,0:01:32.243
and many senators vied for his favor [br]by showering him with honors.

0:01:32.243,0:01:34.832
Statues were built, [br]temples were dedicated,

0:01:34.832,0:01:40.197
and a whole month was renamed,[br]still called July today.

0:01:40.197,0:01:42.654
More importantly, the title of dictator,

0:01:42.654,0:01:45.957
meant to grant[br]temporary emergency powers in wartime,

0:01:45.957,0:01:50.443
had been bestowed upon Caesar [br]several times in succession.

0:01:50.443,0:01:54.438
And in 44 BCE, [br]he was made dictator perpetuo,

0:01:54.438,0:01:56.882
dictator for a potentially unlimited term.

0:01:59.326,0:02:01.772
All of this was too much for the senators

0:02:01.772,0:02:06.628
who feared a return to the monarchy[br]their ancestors had fought to abolish,

0:02:06.628,0:02:09.144
as well as those whose [br]own power and ambition

0:02:09.144,0:02:12.036
were impeded by Caesar's rule.

0:02:12.036,0:02:15.786
A group of conspirators [br]calling themselves the liberators

0:02:15.786,0:02:20.018
began to secretly discuss[br]plans for assassination.

0:02:20.018,0:02:23.451
Leading them were[br]the senator Gaius Cassius Longinus

0:02:23.451,0:02:26.928
and his friend and brother-in-law, Brutus.

0:02:26.928,0:02:30.616
Joining the conspiracy was not [br]an easy choice for Brutus.

0:02:30.616,0:02:34.432
Even though Brutus had sided with Pompey [br]in the ill-fated civil war,

0:02:34.432,0:02:38.682
Caesar had personally intervened [br]to save his life,

0:02:38.682,0:02:42.890
not only pardoning him[br]but even accepting him as a close advisor

0:02:42.890,0:02:45.708
and elevating him to important posts.

0:02:45.708,0:02:50.399
Brutus was hesitant to conspire against[br]the man who had treated him like a son,

0:02:50.399,0:02:51.454
but in the end,

0:02:51.454,0:02:58.185
Cassius's insistence and Brutus's own fear[br]of Caesar's ambitions won out.

0:02:58.185,0:03:01.707
The moment they had been waiting for[br]came on March 15.

0:03:01.707,0:03:02.840
At a senate meeting

0:03:02.840,0:03:07.166
held shortly before Caesar was to depart[br]on his next military campaign,

0:03:07.166,0:03:10.377
as many as 60 conspirators surrounded him,

0:03:10.377,0:03:15.546
unsheathing daggers from their togas[br]and stabbing at him from all sides.

0:03:15.546,0:03:17.058
As the story goes,

0:03:17.058,0:03:21.627
Caesar struggled fiercely[br]until he saw Brutus.

0:03:21.627,0:03:25.183
Despite the famous line, "Et tu, Brute?" [br]written by Shakespeare,

0:03:25.183,0:03:28.509
we don't know Caesar's actual dying words.

0:03:28.509,0:03:31.077
Some ancient sources claim[br]he said nothing,

0:03:31.077,0:03:33.852
while others record the phrase, [br]"And you, child?",

0:03:33.852,0:03:39.522
fueling speculation that Brutus may have[br]actually been Caesar's illegitimate son.

0:03:39.522,0:03:43.072
But all agree that when [br]Caesar saw Brutus among his attackers,

0:03:43.072,0:03:46.739
he covered his face and gave up the fight,

0:03:46.739,0:03:51.681
falling to the ground [br]after being stabbed 23 times.

0:03:51.681,0:03:52.984
Unfortunately for Brutus,

0:03:52.984,0:03:57.208
he and the other conspirators [br]had underestimated Caesar's popularity

0:03:57.208,0:03:58.856
among the Roman public,

0:03:58.856,0:04:01.284
many of whom saw [br]him as an effective leader,

0:04:01.284,0:04:04.621
and the senate as a corrupt aristocracy.

0:04:04.621,0:04:08.764
Within moments of Caesar's assassination,[br]Rome was in a state of panic.

0:04:08.764,0:04:11.264
Most of the other senators had fled,

0:04:11.264,0:04:14.853
while the assassins barricaded themselves[br]on the Capitoline Hill.

0:04:14.853,0:04:17.895
Mark Antony, [br]Caesar's friend and co-consul,

0:04:17.895,0:04:20.498
was swift to seize the upper hand,

0:04:20.498,0:04:24.250
delivering a passionate speech [br]at Caesar's funeral days later

0:04:24.250,0:04:28.229
that whipped the crowd into a frenzy [br]of grief and anger.

0:04:28.229,0:04:31.564
As a result, the liberators [br]were forced out of Rome.

0:04:31.564,0:04:35.287
The ensuing power vacuum [br]led to a series of civil wars,

0:04:35.287,0:04:40.629
during which Brutus, [br]facing certain defeat, took his own life.

0:04:40.629,0:04:42.639
Ironically, the ultimate result

0:04:42.639,0:04:46.104
would be the opposite of what[br]the conspirators had hoped to accomplish:

0:04:46.104,0:04:47.480
the end of the Republic

0:04:47.480,0:04:51.648
and the concentration of power [br]under the office of Emperor.

0:04:51.648,0:04:55.735
Opinions over the assassination of Caesar [br]were divided from the start

0:04:55.735,0:04:57.388
and have remained so.

0:04:57.388,0:04:58.715
As for Brutus himself,

0:04:58.715,0:05:02.701
few historical figures have inspired [br]such a conflicting legacy.

0:05:02.701,0:05:06.990
In Dante's "Inferno," he was placed [br]in the very center of Hell

0:05:06.990,0:05:12.198
and eternally chewed by Satan himself[br]for his crime of betrayal.

0:05:12.198,0:05:14.148
But Swift's "Gulliver's Travels"

0:05:14.148,0:05:18.522
described him as one of the most[br]virtuous and benevolent people to have lived.

0:05:18.522,0:05:22.994
The interpretation of Brutus as either[br]a selfless fighter against dictatorship

0:05:22.994,0:05:25.291
or an opportunistic traitor

0:05:25.291,0:05:28.378
has shifted with the tides [br]of history and politics.

0:05:28.378,0:05:31.330
But even today, over 2000 years later,

0:05:31.330,0:05:33.338
questions about the price of liberty,

0:05:33.338,0:05:37.646
the conflict between [br]personal loyalties and universal ideals,

0:05:37.646,0:05:42.173
and unintended consequences[br]remain more relevant than ever.