Caesar Spared Him. Then Brutus Picked Up the Knife.

On the Ides of March, 44 BC, a Roman magistrate sat hearing cases, wearing a dagger, by one account, and waiting for the man who had spared his life. Julius Caesar had pardoned Marcus Brutus after a civil war and then promoted him. That morning Caesar was killed, with twenty-three wounds by most counts. This is the story of what the killing cost the man who did it. Chapters: 00:00 Cold open 02:17 Act One — The Man Caesar Spared: Brutus from Pharsalus to the Praetorship 04:56 What Caesar gave Brutus: a province and the city praetorship 07:05 Dictator for life, and the writing on Brutus's chair 08:51 Act Two — The Plot: Cassius, Porcia and the Decision to Spare Antony 11:00 Porcia, Antony, and the choice of the Ides of March 13:36 Act Three — The Ides of March, 44 BC: Pompey's Hall 16:31 The killing of Julius Caesar 19:28 Act Four — After the Ides: Caesar's Funeral and the Road out of Italy 23:40 Shut out of Rome: Antium, June 44 BC 26:27 The Price 29:35 Porcia's death, the apparition and Philippi 31:43 The last night of Marcus Brutus 34:50 What became of the killers, and of Brutus's body The episode follows Marcus Brutus from the eve of the battle of Pharsalus, where Caesar is said to have ordered that he be spared, through the pardon, the province and the praetorship Caesar gave him, to the visit from Cassius, the wound Porcia is said to have given herself before she asked to share his troubles, and the decision to let Mark Antony live. It tells the morning of the Ides as the ancient writers give it: Calpurnia's dream, Decimus Brutus leading Caesar out of his house by the hand, the note Caesar carried in unread, and the hall in Pompey's theater. Then it follows what came after: the silence of the crowd, the funeral, the retreat from Rome, the family council at Antium, and the war that ended at Philippi. The Price is what became of the men who did it, and of Brutus last. The story comes mainly from Plutarch, Suetonius, Appian, Cassius Dio and Nicolaus of Damascus, with Cicero's letters; where they disagree, the episode says so. Every quotation is read from a published English translation of the Greek or Latin, made between 1900 and 1923, which is why some of the wording is old-fashioned. Sources: Cicero, The Letters of Cicero: the whole extant correspondence in chronological order, translated by Evelyn S. Shuckburgh, vol. IV, B.C. 44–43 (London: George Bell and Sons, 1900). Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Augustus, translated by Clayton M. Hall (Smith College Classical Studies IV; Menasha, Wisconsin: George Banta, 1923). Plutarch, Life of Brutus, and Comparison of Dion and Brutus, translated by Bernadotte Perrin, Plutarch's Lives vol. VI, Loeb Classical Library (London: Heinemann; New York: Putnam, 1918). Plutarch, Life of Caesar, translated by Bernadotte Perrin, Plutarch's Lives vol. VII, Loeb Classical Library (first printed 1919). Plutarch, Life of Antony, translated by Bernadotte Perrin, Plutarch's Lives vol. IX, Loeb Classical Library (1920). Suetonius, The Deified Julius and The Deified Augustus, translated by J. C. Rolfe, Suetonius vol. I, Loeb Classical Library (first printed 1913). Appian, The Civil Wars, translated by Horace White, Appian's Roman History vols. III–IV, Loeb Classical Library (1913). Cassius Dio, Roman History, translated by Earnest Cary, vols. IV and V, Loeb Classical Library (1916; first printed 1917). Velleius Paterculus, The Roman History, translated by Frederick W. Shipley, Loeb Classical Library (1924). Livy, Periocha of Book 116 (Latin). Eutropius, Breviarium, translated by John Selby Watson (London: George Bell, 1886). William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (Project Gutenberg eBook 1522), for the wording of the line that is not in the ancient record. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, "Silver denarius of M. Junius Brutus", object 2026.235, for the museum's description of the coin. Münzkabinett der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, object 18204986, for the catalogue's description of the coin. Full bibliography with links, and image credits, in the pinned comment. Narration is a synthetic voice (ElevenLabs). Images captioned 'Illustration' are AI-generated and disclosed as altered or synthetic content; all other images are public-domain works, credited on screen. Researched and written with AI tools under human editorial review; every quotation was checked against the original texts. Corrections: if we got something wrong, say so in the comments and the correction is pinned here. Also available as an audio podcast: The Price of Loyalty. #TheAssassinationofJuliusCaesar #history #documentary