ABSTRACT
Liberty was perhaps the foremost quality of a Roman citizen under the Republic. It denoted the citizen's freedom to engage in political life along the lines established after the expulsion of Tarquin. Beyond the temples and statues and wreaths and titles, however, Gaius Julius Caesar accepted the dictatorship for life. This chapter outlines Caesar's attitude to the supreme magistracies, especially his reliance on the dictatorship and his appointment of consuls for years in advance. It also analyzes the major reasons for Caesar's assassination, and the means by which this was accomplished on 15 March 44 BCE. This was the end of libertas, and it was this fact, rather than any specific political or religious affront, which fueled the conspiracy. Nevertheless, Marcus Junius Brutus asked Cicero to write a eulogy for Cato, and it was this work that provoked Caesar's vitriolic and undignified Anticato in response.
