Ides Of MarchOn 15 March 44 BC, the career of the Roman general and politician
Julius Caesar came to a violent end. Up until that point, old Julius
had been on a hot streak.
Here
is a picture of Pompey's Theater. Built by the general and politician
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, it was the first permanent theater in the Roman
world. Even though the Senate had supported Pompey as its only chance
against Caesar, Pompey came to an exceedingly bad end.
 Julius
was just passing through the lobby when he was accosted by up to
forty public affairs minded Romans led by the "noble" Brutus and the
"lean and hungry" Cassius. They were so proud of their achievement that
they even put it on their coinage: But
it didn't help them much in the long run. The late Julius's
posthumously adopted son Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus united with
Julius's right hand man and boon companion Marcus "Mark Antony"
Antonius to wipe out the conspirators' forces in two years' time.
Julius himself became a god with his own spiffy temple in downtown Rome:  When
young Octavianus had established sole power and had made dang sure his
theories about restructuring the Roman state actually worked, he then
built an enormous temple to Mars Ultor (Mars the Avenger) celebrating
his victory over the conspirators: The subtext of this massive temple, which survives only in ruins today, is DON'T MESS WITH AUGUSTUS CAESAR. | 
