ABSTRACT
The conspirators and their friends hoped to wipe out all vestiges of C. Julius Caesar the divinely sanctioned dictator and return to free republican aristocratic competition as equals. Many of Caesar’s allies and relatives wanted to take up his fallen mantle and use his popularity with the masses to assert their own dominance. At Marcus Junius Brutus’ insistence, the conspirators had planned nothing but killing the “tyrant,” Caesar. Brutus naively thought that the old free Republic would miraculously return to life afterward. Caesar’s benefactions to the Roman People included turning his gardens across the Tiber into a public park and giving 300 sesterces in cash to each Roman citizen. As consul and executor of Caesar’s estate, Antonius tried to bolster his position by showing special favor to friends like Lepidus. Octavian probably realized that Italy was the key to ultimate control of Rome’s empire, despite the problems that awaited him there.
