WEBVTT

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What would you do if you thought 
your country was on the path to tyranny?

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If you saw one man gaining too much power,
would you try to stop him?

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Even if that man was
one of your closest friends and allies?

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These were the questions haunting
Roman Senator Marcus Junius Brutus in 44 BCE,

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the year Julius Caesar 
would be assassinated.

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Opposing unchecked power 
wasn't just a political matter for Brutus;

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it was a personal one.

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He claimed descent
from Lucius Junius Brutus,

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who had helped overthrow the tyrannical
king known as Tarquin the Proud.

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Instead of seizing power himself,

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the elder Brutus
led the people in a rousing oath

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to never again allow a king to rule.

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Rome became a republic

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based on the principle that no one man
should hold too much power.

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Now, four and a half centuries later,
this principle was threatened.

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Julius Ceasar's rise 
to the powerful position of consul

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had been dramatic.

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Years of military triumphs 
had made him the wealthiest man in Rome.

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And after defeating his rival
Pompey the Great in a bitter civil war,

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his power was at its peak.

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His victories and initiatives, 
such as distributing lands to the poor,

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had made him popular with the public,

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and many senators vied for his favor 
by showering him with honors.

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Statues were built, 
temples were dedicated,

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and a whole month was renamed,
still called July today.

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More importantly, the title of dictator,

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meant to grant
temporary emergency powers in wartime,

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had been bestowed upon Caesar 
several times in succession.

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And in 44 BCE, 
he was made dictator perpetuo,

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dictator for a potentially unlimited term.

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All of this was too much for the senators

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who feared a return to the monarchy
their ancestors had fought to abolish,

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as well as those whose 
own power and ambition

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were impeded by Caesar's rule.

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A group of conspirators 
calling themselves the liberators

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began to secretly discuss
plans for assassination.

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Leading them were
the senator Gaius Cassius Longinus

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and his friend and brother-in-law, Brutus.

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Joining the conspiracy was not 
an easy choice for Brutus.

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Even though Brutus had sided with Pompey 
in the ill-fated civil war,

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Caesar had personally intervened 
to save his life,

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not only pardoning him
but even accepting him as a close advisor

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and elevating him to important posts.

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Brutus was hesitant to conspire against
the man who had treated him like a son,

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but in the end,

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Cassius's insistence and Brutus's own fear
of Caesar's ambitions won out.

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The moment they had been waiting for
came on March 15.

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At a senate meeting

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held shortly before Caesar was to depart
on his next military campaign,

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as many as 60 conspirators surrounded him,

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unsheathing daggers from their togas
and stabbing at him from all sides.

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As the story goes,

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Caesar struggled fiercely
until he saw Brutus.

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Despite the famous line, "Et tu, Brute?" 
written by Shakespeare,

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we don't know Caesar's actual dying words.

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Some ancient sources claim
he said nothing,

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while others record the phrase, 
"And you, child?",

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fueling speculation that Brutus may have
actually been Caesar's illegitimate son.

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But all agree that when 
Caesar saw Brutus among his attackers,

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he covered his face and gave up the fight,

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falling to the ground 
after being stabbed 23 times.

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Unfortunately for Brutus,

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he and the other conspirators 
had underestimated Caesar's popularity

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among the Roman public,

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many of whom saw 
him as an effective leader,

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and the senate as a corrupt aristocracy.

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Within moments of Caesar's assassination,
Rome was in a state of panic.

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Most of the other senators had fled,

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while the assassins barricaded themselves
on the Capitoline Hill.

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Mark Antony, 
Caesar's friend and co-consul,

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was swift to seize the upper hand,

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delivering a passionate speech 
at Caesar's funeral days later

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that whipped the crowd into a frenzy 
of grief and anger.

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As a result, the liberators 
were forced out of Rome.

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The ensuing power vacuum 
led to a series of civil wars,

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during which Brutus, 
facing certain defeat, took his own life.

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Ironically, the ultimate result

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would be the opposite of what
the conspirators had hoped to accomplish:

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the end of the Republic

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and the concentration of power 
under the office of Emperor.

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Opinions over the assassination of Caesar 
were divided from the start

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and have remained so.

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As for Brutus himself,

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few historical figures have inspired 
such a conflicting legacy.

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In Dante's "Inferno," he was placed 
in the very center of Hell

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and eternally chewed by Satan himself
for his crime of betrayal.

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But Swift's "Gulliver's Travels"

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described him as one of the most
virtuous and benevolent people to have lived.

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The interpretation of Brutus as either
a selfless fighter against dictatorship

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or an opportunistic traitor

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has shifted with the tides 
of history and politics.

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But even today, over 2000 years later,

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questions about the price of liberty,

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the conflict between 
personal loyalties and universal ideals,

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and unintended consequences
remain more relevant than ever.