Shadowicon Before The Storm
[Instrumental]
[In 60 BC, Caesar entered into a political alliance
with Crassus and Pompey that was to dominate Roman
politics for several years. Their attempts to amass
power for themselves through populist tactics were
opposed within the Roman Senate by the conservative
elite. Caesar’s achievements granted him unmatched
military power and threatened to eclipse Pompey's
standing. The balance of power was further upset by the
death of Crassus in 53 BC. Political realignments in
Rome finally led to a stand-off between Caesar and
Pompey, the latter having taken up the cause of the
Senate. Ordered by the senate to stand trial in Rome
for various charges, Caesar marched from Gaul to Italy
with his legions, crossing the Rubicon in 49 BC. This
sparked a civil war from which he emerged as the
unrivalled leader of the Roman world.
As Caesar gained more and more political power some
members of the Roman senate (Senatus Populusque
Romanus) began fearing that the rule of the patrician’s
elite might be coming to an end. A group of senators,
led by Marcus Junius Brutus, plotted the assassination
attempt on the dictator on the Ides of March (15 March)
44 BC, hoping to restore the constitutional government
of the Republic.
On that day Caesar was due to appear at a session of
the Senate. Mark Antony, having vaguely learned of the
plot the night before from a terrified Liberator named
Servilius Casca, and fearing the worst, went to head
Caesar off. The plotters, however, had anticipated this
and, fearing that Antony would come to Caesar's aid,
had arranged for Trebonius to intercept him just as he
approached the portico of Theatre of Pompey, where the
session was to be held, and detain him outside.]
