Take a closer look at a rare and significant treasure from the coin collection
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The 15th of March has come to be known as an ill-fated day. Today, over 2,000 years ago, Roman general and statesman Julius Caesar was assassinated at a meeting of the Senate.
Days before the attack, a soothsayer warned Caesar that harm would soon come to him. The powerful general had just been named 'Dictator in Perpetuity', and anti-Caesar sentiment was growing in Rome. These prophetic words were later immortalized in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar - "Beware the Ides of March!" In ancient Rome, the Ides referred to the day that fell roughly in the middle of a month. In the case of March, this was the 15th.
On the day of the assassination, Caesar is said to have met the prophet again on his way to the Senate meeting, remarking that ‘the Ides of March are come’, suggesting that his prediction had not come to pass.
"Aye, Caesar; but not gone," he replied.
As it turned out, this man was onto something. Shortly after, Caesar arrived at the Theatre of Pompey where he was murdered by as many of 60 conspirators - two of whom were Brutus and Cassius, close associates and friends of Caesar at the time. The conspirators, who referred to themselves as the Liberatores, had grown fearful of Caesar's consolidation of power and thought he must be stopped.