The Death of Caesar: The Story of History's Most Famous Assassination

William Shakespeares gripping play showed Caesars assassination to be an amateur and idealistic affair. The real killing, however, was a carefully planned paramilitary operation, a generals plot put together by Caesars disaffected officers and designed with precision. Brutus and Cassius were indeed key players, but they had the help of a third man—Decimus. He was the mole in Caesars entourage, one of Caesars leading generals, and a lifelong friend. It was he, not Brutus, who truly betrayed Caesar. Caesars assassins saw him as a military dictator who wanted to be king. He threatened a permanent change in the Roman way of life and in the power of senators. The assassins rallied support among the common people, but they underestimated Caesars soldiers, who flooded Rome.