Brutus

A meeting of the senate having been called, to which it was expected that Caesar would come, they determined to make their attempt there; for they could then gather together in numbers without exciting suspicion, and would have all the best and foremost men in one place, who, once the great deed was done, would straightway espouse the cause of liberty.

It was thought, too, that the place of meeting was providentially in their favour; for it was one of the porticoes about the theatre, containing a session-room in which stood a statue of Pompey.

This statue the city had erected in his honour when he adorned that place with the porticoes and the theatre.[*](Cf. Pompey, xl. 5. ) Hither, then, the senate was summoned about the middle of March[*](March 15, 44 B.C.) (the Romans call the day the Ides of March), so that some heavenly power seemed to be conducting Caesar to Pompey’s vengeance.

When the day came, Brutus girt on a dagger, to the knowledge of his wife alone, and went forth, while the rest assembled at the house of Cassius and conducted his son, who was about to assume what was called the toga virilis, down to the forum.

Thence they all hastened to the portico of Pompey and waited there, expecting that Caesar would straight-way come to the meeting of the senate.

There any one who knew what was about to happen would have been above all things astonished at the indifference and composure of the men on the brink of this terrible crisis. Many of them were praetors and therefore obliged to perform the duties of their office, wherein they not only listened calmly to those who had petitions to offer or quarrels to compose, as if they had ample time, but also took pains to give their verdicts in every case with accuracy and judgment.

And when a certain man who was unwilling to submit to the verdict of Brutus appealed to Caesar with loud cries and attestations, Brutus turned his gaze upon the bystanders and said: Caesar does not prevent me from acting according to the laws, nor will he prevent me.

And yet many things occurred to surprise and disturb them. First and foremost, though the day was advancing, Caesar delayed his coming, being detained at home by his wife because his omens were unpropitious,[*](Cf. Caesar, lxiii. 5. ) and prevented from going forth by the soothsayers.

In the second place, some one came up to Casca, one of the conspirators, took him by the hand, and said: You hid the secret from us, Casca, but Brutus has told me everything.

And when Casca was dumb with amazement, the man burst out laughing and said: How did you get so rich on a sudden, my good fellow, as to stand for the aedilesilip? So near did Casca come, in the mistake caused by the man’s ambiguity, to disclosing the secret.

Moreover, Brutus and Cassius were greeted more warmly than, usual by Popilius Laenas, a senator, who then whispered quietly to them: I join you in praying for the accomplishment of what you have in mind, and exhort you not to delay, for the matter is on men’s tongues. Having said this, he went away, leaving them full of suspicion that their undertaking had become known.

At this juncture, too, a messenger from his house came running to Brutus with the tidings that his wife was dead.

For Porcia, being distressed about what was impending and unable to bear the weight of her anxiety, could with difficulty keep herself at home, and at every noise or cry, like women in the Bacchic frenzy, she would rush forth and ask every messenger who came in from the forum how Brutus was faring, and kept sending out others continually.

Finally, as the time grew long, her bodily powers could no longer endure the strain, but were relaxed and enfeebled as her perplexities threatened to drive her mad. She had not time to go to her chamber, but just as she was, sitting in the midst of her servants, she was overwhelmed with faintness and helpless stupor, her colour fled, and her speech was utterly stayed.