Editing Julius Caesar (section)

== Dictatorship and assassination ==
[[File:Caesar-Altes-Museum-Berlin.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|The [[Green Caesar]], posthumous [[Roman portraiture|portrait]] from the 1st century AD, now located at the [[Altes Museum]] in Berlin]]
{{Multiple image
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| image1            = Cesar Dictator Perpetuo denier Gallica 23528 avers.jpg
| image2            = Cesar Dictator Perpetuo denier Gallica 23528 revers.jpg
| footer            = This coin, minted {{circa|44&nbsp;BC}}, shows Caesar's laurelled head surrounded by the {{lang|la|CAESAR DICT PERPETVO}}. The reverse shows symbols of victory, internal harmony, and liberty.{{sfn|Crawford|1974|loc=480/6 (= pp. 487–89, 494)}}
}}

=== Dictatorships and honours ===
Prior to Caesar's assumption of the title {{lang|la|dictator perpetuo}} in February 44&nbsp;BC, he had been appointed dictator some four times since his first dictatorship in 49&nbsp;BC. After occupying Rome, he engineered this first appointment, largely to hold elections; after 11 days he resigned. The other dictatorships lasted for longer periods, up to a year, and by April 46 BC he was given a new dictatorship annually.{{sfn|Wilson|2021|p=309}} The task he was assigned revived that of Sulla's dictatorship: {{Lang|la|rei publicae constituendae}}.{{sfnm|Badian|2012|Broughton|1986|2pp=107–8}} These appointments, however, were not the source of legal power themselves; in the eyes of the literary sources, they were instead honours and titles which reflected Caesar's dominant position in the state, secured not by extraordinary magistracy or legal powers, but by personal status as victor over other Romans.{{sfn|Wilson|2021|pp=311–13. "In the view of the ancient historians and biographers self-tasked with assessing Caesar's rule, his dictatorships, and indeed his consulships... were incidental to the authority he possessed on account of being himself"}} 

Through the period after Pharsalus, the Senate showered Caesar with honours,<ref>See {{harvnb|Wilson|2021|p=313 n. 46}}. {{harvnb|Meier|1995|pp=474–75|ps=&nbsp;notes that senators may have wanted to curry favour or otherwise, by giving him excessive honours, show the public Caesar's tyrannical ambitions}}.</ref> including the title {{lang|la|praefectus moribus}} ({{lit|prefect of morals}}) which historically was associated with the [[Roman censor|censorial]] power to revise the Senate rolls. He was also granted power over war and peace,{{sfn|Wilson|2021|p=314}} usurping a power traditionally held by the [[comitia centuriata]].<ref>{{harvnb|Lintott|1999|p=21}}; eg {{Cite wikisource |author=Livy |author-link=Livy |title=From the Founding of the City |translator-last=Roberts |translator-first=Canon |year=1905 |wslink=From the Founding of the City |orig-date=1st century AD |wslanguage=en |ref={{harvid|Livy}} |at=31.5–7 }}</ref> These powers attached to Caesar personally.{{sfn|Wilson|2021|pp=314–15}} Similarly extraordinary were a number of symbolic honours which saw Caesar's portrait placed on coins in Rome – the first for a living Roman<ref>[[Titus Quinctius Flamininus]] was the first Roman to appear on coinage, specifically on a ''stater'' minted after the [[Second Macedonian War]]. Caesar was the first portrait of a living Roman on coins meant to circulate in Rome. {{Cite book |last=Sellars |first=Ian J |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m_Y-CgAAQBAJ |title=The monetary system of the Romans |date=2013 |page=33 |quote=Though technically not the first living Roman to appear on coinage... Caesar was the first to appear on the coins of Rome. }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=West |first=R |chapter=The chronological development of Roman provincial coin iconography |title=Coinage and identity in the Roman provinces |year=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-926526-7 |editor-last=Howgego |editor-first=Christopher |display-editors=etal |page=44 |quote=As far as the Roman republican coinage is concerned, a major change occurred when Caesar became the first living Roman to have his portrait depicted on Roman coins. }}</ref> – with special rights to wear royal dress, sit atop a golden chair in the Senate, and have his statues erected in public temples. The month Quintilis, in which he was born, was renamed {{lang|la|Julius}} (now July).{{sfn|Meier|1995|pp=473–74}} These were symbols of divine monarchy and, later, objects of resentment.

The decisions on the normal operation of the state – justice, legislation, administration, and public works – were concentrated into Caesar's person without regard for or even notice given to the traditional institutions of the republic.{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=448. "He acted as he saw fit. Others had no right even to be informed of his intentions... Rome still had a Senate and magistrates, but they were not free in their decision-making... in all matters the decisive authority lay with Caesar alone"}} Caesar's domination over public affairs and his competitive instinct to preclude all others alienated the political class and led eventually to the conspiracy against his life.{{sfnm|Badian|2012|Meier|1995|2pp=447–48}}

=== Legislation<span class="anchor" id="Constitutional reforms"></span><span class="anchor" id="Reforms"></span> ===
Caesar, as far as is attested in evidence, did not intend to restructure Roman society. Ernst Badian, writing in the ''Oxford Classical Dictionary'', noted that although Caesar did implement a series of reforms, they did not touch on the core of the republican system: he "had no plans for basic social and constitutional reform" and that "the extraordinary honours heaped upon him... merely grafted him as an ill-fitting head on to the body of the traditional structure".{{sfn|Badian|2012}}<ref>Similarly, {{harvnb|Meier|1995|p=470}}, "However restlessly active [Caesar] was, we still hear of nothing that could be construed as a move towards the consolidation of the commonwealth... We have no evidence that he intended to set up a monarchy".</ref>

The most important of Caesar's reforms was to the calendar, which saw the abolition of the [[Roman calendar|traditional republican lunisolar calendar]] and its replacement with a solar calendar now called the [[Julian calendar]].{{sfnm|Wilson|2021|1p=318|Badian|2012|Meier|1995|3p=447}} He also increased the number of magistrates and senators (from 600 to 900) to better administer the empire and reward his supporters with offices. Colonies also were founded outside Italy – notably on the sites of Carthage and Corinth, which had both been destroyed during Rome's 2nd century BC conquests – to discharge Italy's population into the provinces and reduce unrest.<ref>{{harvnb|Badian|2012}} for administration and colonial activity. {{harvnb|Wilson|2021|p=318|ps=, noting Suetonius viewing the expansion of the magistracies and Senate as constitutional reform with Dio believing it a means to reward followers.}} {{harvnb|Meier|1995|p=464}} notes "such a large membership [in the Senate] would certainly make the house incapable of functioning properly, but it enabled Caesar to show favour to many".</ref> The royal power of naming patricians was revived to benefit the families of his men{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=464}} and the [[quaestio perpetua|permanent courts]]' jury pools were also altered to remove the {{lang|la|[[Aerarium#Tribuni_aerarii|tribuni aerarii]]}}, leaving only the equestrians and senators.{{sfnm|Wilson|2021|1p=318|Lintott|1999|2p=160}}
[[File:Gaius Julius Caesar, denarius, 44 BC, RRC 480-10.jpg|thumb|Julius Caesar February-March 44 BC. AR Denarius (19mm, 3.70 g, 6h).  Rome mint. head of Caesar right / Venus Victrix standing left, holding Victory and scepter, shield set on ground to right.]]
He also took further administrative actions to stabilise his rule and that of the state.{{sfn|Wilson|2021|p=318}} Caesar reduced the size of the grain dole from 320,000 down to around 150,000 by tightening the qualifications; special bonuses were offered to families with many children to stall depopulation.{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=447}} Plans were drawn for the conduct of a census. Citizenship was extended to a number of communities in Cisalpine Gaul and to [[Cádiz]].{{sfn|Wilson|2021|pp=319, 321}} During the civil wars, Caesar had also instituted a novel debt repayment programme (no debts would be forgiven but they could be paid in kind), remitted rents up to a certain amount, and thrown games distributing food.{{sfn|Wilson|2021|p=319}} Many of his enemies during the civil wars were pardoned – Caesar's clemency was exalted in his propaganda and temple works – with the intent to cultivate gratitude and draw a contrast between himself and the vengeful dictatorship of Sulla.{{sfn|Wilson|2021|pp=321–22}}

The building programmes, started prior to his expedition to Spain, continued, with the construction of the [[Forum of Caesar]] and the [[Temple of Venus Genetrix]] therein. Other public works, including an expansion of Ostia's port and a canal through the [[Corinthian Isthmus]], were also planned.{{cn |date=July 2023}} Very busy with this work, the heavy-handedness with which he ignored the Senate, magistrates, and those who came to visit him also alienated many in Rome.{{sfn|Meier|1995|pp=447–49}}

The {{lang|la|collegia}}, civic associations restored by Clodius in 58&nbsp;BC, were again abolished.{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=447}} His actions to reward his supporters saw him allow his subordinates illegal triumphal processions and resign the consulship so that allies could take it up for the rest of the year. On the last day of 45&nbsp;BC, when one of the succeeding consuls died, Caesar had an [[Gaius Caninius Rebilus (consul 45 BC)|ally]] elected as replacement for a single day.{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=462}} Corruption on the part of his partisans was also overlooked to ensure their support; provincial cities and client kingdoms were extorted for favours to pay his bills.<ref>{{harvnb|Wilson|2021|p=322 n. 92}} on favours for clients. {{harvnb|Wilson|2021|p=322 n. 94}}, noting {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=54.1–3}} reporting on Caesar looting and extorting client states and {{harvnb|Dio|loc=42.49–50, 43.24}} on Caesar's forced loans to pay soldiers.</ref>

=== Conspiracy and death ===
{{see also|Assassination of Julius Caesar}}
[[File:Iulius Caesar denarius 44 BC 851830.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|
This also shows Caesar's laurelled head with the inscription {{lang|la|CAESAR DICT PERPETVO}}. The reverse, however, shows the name of the moneyer – one Publius Sepullius Macer – along with the goddess Venus, with which Caesar identified, holding Victory in her right hand and a sceptre in the left.{{sfn|Crawford|1974|loc=480/10 (= pp. 487–90, 494)}}
]]
[[File:Gaius Cassius Longinus and Lentulus Spinther. 42 BC. AR Denarius.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|[[Denarius]] (42&nbsp;BC) of Cassius and [[Publius Cornelius Lentulus Spinther|Lentulus Spinther]], depicting the crowned head of [[Libertas|Liberty]] and on the reverse a sacrificial jug and ''[[lituus]]''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crawford |first=Michael Hewson |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w0pmAAAAMAAJ |title=Roman republican coinage |date=1974 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-07492-6 |page=514}}</ref> ]]
[[File:Jean-Léon Gérôme - The Death of Caesar - Walters 37884.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|An 1867 depiction of Caesar's death. ''[[The Death of Caesar (Gérôme)|The Death of Caesar]]'' by [[Jean-Léon Gérôme]].]]

Attempts in January 44&nbsp;BC to call Caesar {{lang|la|rex}} ({{lit|king}}) – a title associated with arbitrary oppression against citizens – were shut down by two tribunes before a supportive crowd. Caesar, claiming that the two tribunes infringed on his honour by doing so, had them deposed from office and ejected from the Senate.{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=476}} The incident both undermined Caesar's original arguments for pursuing the civil war (protecting the tribunes) and angered a public which still revered the tribunes as protectors of popular freedom.{{sfnm|Morstein-Marx|2021|1p=522 (noting attempts to restore the tribunes to office after Caesar's death)|Tempest|2017|2p=81}} Shortly before 15 February 44&nbsp;BC, he assumed the dictatorship for life, putting an end to any hopes that his powers would be merely temporary.{{sfn|Meier|1995|pp=474, 476}} Transforming his dictatorship, even with a decadal appointment, into one for life clearly showed to all contemporaries that Caesar had no intention to restore a free republic and that no free republic could be restored so long as he was in power.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Badian |first=Ernst |date=1990 |title=Review of "Caesar" |jstor=27690364 |journal=Gnomon |volume=62 |issue=1 |pages=35 |issn=0017-1417 |quote=At this point, some time in early February 44, no one could persuade himself that the ''res publica'' would ever be restored as long as Caesar lived. }}</ref>

Just days after his assumption of the life dictatorship, he publicly rejected a [[diadem]] from Antony at celebrations for the [[Lupercalia]]. Interpretations of the episode vary: he may have been rejecting the diadem publicly only because the crowd was insufficiently supportive; he could have done it performatively to signal he was no monarch; alternatively, Antony could have acted on his own initiative. By this point, however, rumour was rife that Caesar – already wearing the dress of a monarch – sought a formal crown and the episode did little to reassure.{{sfn|Meier|1995|pp=476–77}}

The plan to assassinate Caesar had started by the summer of 45&nbsp;BC. An attempt to recruit Antony was made around that time, though he declined and gave Caesar no warning. By February 44&nbsp;BC, there were some sixty conspirators.{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=479}} It is clear that by this time, the victorious Caesarian coalition from the civil war had broken apart.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=561–62}} While most of the conspirators were former Pompeians, they were joined by a substantial number of Caesarians.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=556}} Among their leaders were [[Gaius Trebonius]] (consul in 45), Decimus Brutus (consul designate for 42), as well as [[Gaius Cassius Longinus|Cassius]] and [[Marcus Junius Brutus|Brutus]] (both praetors in 44&nbsp;BC).{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=480}} Trebonius and Decimus had joined Caesar during the war while Brutus and Cassius had joined Pompey; other Caesarians involved included [[Servius Sulpicius Galba (praetor 54 BC)|Servius Sulpicius Galba]], [[Lucius Minucius Basilus]], [[Lucius Tillius Cimber|Lucius Tullius Cimber]], and [[Publius Servilius Casca|Gaius Servilius Casca]].{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=556, noting Basilus and Cimber as praetors in 45 and Casca as plebeian tribune in 44 or 43}} Many of the conspirators would have been candidates in the consular elections for 43 to 41&nbsp;BC,{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=560}} likely dismayed by Caesar's sham elections in early 44&nbsp;BC that produced advance results for the years 43–41&nbsp;BC. Those electoral results came from the grace of the dictator and not that of the people; for the republican elite this was no substitute for actual popular support.{{sfnm|Tempest|2017|1p=93|Meier|1995|2p=465 ("their dignity would have been spurious")|Morstein-Marx|2021|3pp=547–48, 549–50 ("{{lang|la|honores}} obtained as a personal favour rather than by a judgment of the People were in fact no 'honour' at all")}} Nor is it likely that the subordination of the normal magistrates to Caesar's masters of horse ({{langx|la|magistri equitum}}) was appreciated.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=553}}

Brutus, who claimed descent from the [[Lucius Junius Brutus]] who had [[Overthrow of the Roman monarchy|driven out the kings]] and the [[Gaius Servilius Ahala]] who had freed Rome from incipient tyranny, was the main leader of the conspiracy.{{sfnm|Tempest|2017|1p=41|Meier|1995|2pp=480–81}} By late autumn 45&nbsp;BC, graffiti<ref>{{harvnb|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=524–25}} gives a number of examples:
* {{harvnb|Plut. ''Brut.''|loc=9.6}}: "If only you lived now, Brutus", on the Capitoline statue of Lucius Brutus.
* {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=80.3}}: "If only you [Lucius Brutus] were alive".
* {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.112}}: "[Lucius Brutus,] your descendants are unworthy of you", challenging Marcus Brutus to act.
* {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=80.3}}: "Brutus became the first consul, since he had expelled the kings; This man [Caesar] at last became king, since he had expelled the consuls", on a statue of Caesar.
* {{harvnb|Plut. ''Brut.''|loc=9.7}}; {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=62.7}}; {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.112}}; {{harvnb|Dio|loc=44.12.3}}: graffiti at Marcus Brutus' praetorian seat in the forum challenging him as asleep, corrupt, or not a true descendant of the Lucius Brutus who founded the republic.</ref> and some public comments at Rome were condemning Caesar as a tyrant and insinuating the need for a Brutus to remove the dictator. The ancient sources, excepting [[Nicolaus of Damascus]], are unanimous that this reflected a genuine turn in public opinion against Caesar.{{sfnm|Morstein-Marx|2021|1pp=523, 526–27, 528 (calling the belief in modern scholarship that Caesar remained "the darling of the People" unsupported by the evidence and "infantilising")|Tempest|2017|2pp=86–87}} Popular indignation at Caesar was likely rooted in his debt policies (too friendly to lenders), use of lethal force to suppress protests for debt relief, his reduction in the grain dole, his abolition of the {{lang|la|collegia}} restored by Clodius, his abolition of the poorest panel of jurors in the permanent courts, and his abolition of open elections which deprived the people of their ancient right of decision.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=528 (debts), 529 (lethal force, corn dole, {{lang|la|collegia}}), 530 (juries, elections)}} A popular turn against Caesar is also observed with reports that the two deposed tribunes were written-in on ballots at Caesar's advance consular elections in place of Caesar's candidates.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=548 (the two candidates for the consulship of 43&nbsp;BC were the only two men allowed to stand), 550}} Whether the Romans thought they had a tradition of tyrannicide is unclear;{{efn|The [[Lucius Tarquinius Superbus|last king]] and the [[second decemvirate]] were overthrown, not killed; [[Spurius Cassius Vecellinus|Spurius Cassius]] and [[Manlius Capitolinus]] were executed after trials, as was [[Spurius Maelius]] in an ostensibly legal process; [[Tiberius Gracchus]] was killed in a riot; [[Gaius Gracchus]] and [[Lucius Appuleius Saturninus|Saturninus]] were each killed after a ''[[senatus consultum ultimum]]''; [[Catiline]] had been allowed to leave Rome.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=575}} }} Cicero wrote in private as if the duty to kill tyrants was already given, but he made no public speeches to that effect and there is little evidence that the public accepted the logic of preventive tyrannicide.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|pp=318, 573–75}} The philosophical tradition of the [[Plato]]nic [[Old Academy]] was also a factor driving Brutus to action due to its emphasis on a duty to free the state from tyranny.{{sfn|Tempest|2017|pp=95–99}} 

While some news of the conspiracy did leak, Caesar refused to take precautions and rejected escort by a bodyguard. The date decided upon by the conspirators was 15 March, the [[Ides of March]], three days before Caesar intended to leave for his Parthian campaign.{{sfn|Meier|1995|p=485}} News of his imminent departure forced the conspirators to move up their plans; the Senate meeting on the 15th would be the last before his departure.{{sfn|Morstein-Marx|2021|p=563}} They had decided that a Senate meeting was the best place to frame the killing as political, rejecting the alternatives at games, elections, or on the road.{{sfn|Tempest|2017|pp=99–100}} That only the conspirators would be armed at the Senate meeting, per Dio, also would have been an advantage. The day, 15 March, was also symbolically important as it was the day on which consuls took office until the mid-2nd century BC.{{sfn|Tempest|2017|p=100}}

[[File:Brutus & L. Plaetorius Cestianus, denarius, 42 BC, RRC 508-3.jpg|thumb|The [[Ides of March coin]], minted in 42&nbsp;BC, depicts [[Marcus Junius Brutus]]. The reverse depicts daggers and a [[Pileus (hat)|''pileus'']] symbolising their use to win back freedom.]]
Various stories purport that Caesar was on the cusp of not attending or otherwise being warned about the plot.{{sfn|Tempest|2017|p=100}}{{sfn|Meier|1995|pp=485–86, noting three: Caesar felt unwell and had to be persuaded by a conspirator to attend the Senate; one [[Artemidorus of Knidos]] gave Caesar a scroll informing on the conspiracy; the augur Spurinna allegedly prophesied misfortune for Caesar on the Ides}} Approached on his golden chair at the foot of the statue of Pompey, the conspirators attacked him with daggers. Whether he fell in silence, per Suetonius, or after reply to Brutus' appearance – {{lang|grc|kai su teknon?}} ("you too, child?") – is [[Last words of Julius Caesar|variantly recorded]].{{sfn|Tempest|2017|p=101–3, citing {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=81–82}} }} He was stabbed at least twenty-three times and died at once.{{sfnm|Tempest|2017|1p=3–4, 261 n. 1|Meier|1995|2p=486 (reporting 23 wounds)}}<ref>{{harvnb|Tempest|2017|p=261 n. 1}} cites all ancient accounts: Nic. Dam., 58–106; {{harvnb|Plut. ''Caes.''|loc=60–68}}; {{harvnb|Plut. ''Brut.''|loc=8–20}}; {{harvnb|Suet. ''Iul.''|loc=76–85}}; {{harvnb|App. ''BCiv.''|loc=2.106–147}}; {{harvnb|Dio|loc=44.9–19}}.</ref>

=== Aftermath of the assassination ===
{{anchor|funeral}}
{{further|War of Mutina|Second Triumvirate|Liberators' civil war}}
[[File:Marc Antony's Oration at Caesar's Funeral by George Edward Robertson.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|''Marc Antony's Oration at Caesar's Funeral'' by [[George Edward Robertson]] (late 19th or early 20th century)]]

The assassins seized the Capitoline hill after killing the dictator. They then summoned a public meeting in the Forum where they were coldly received by the population. They were also unable to fully secure the city, as Lepidus – Caesar's [[Magister equitum|lieutenant in the dictatorship]] – moved troops from the [[Tiber Island]] into the city proper. Antony, the consul who escaped the assassination, urged an illogical compromise position in the Senate:{{sfn|Mackay|2009|p=316}} Caesar was not declared a tyrant and the conspirators were not punished.<ref>{{harvnb|Rawson|1994b|p=469|ps=. "Antony pointed out that logically, if Caesar was a tyrant, his body should be thrown into the Tiber and all his measures [rescinded]; if he was not, his murderers should be punished".}}</ref> Caesar's funeral was then approved. At the funeral, Antony inflamed the public against the assassins, which triggered mob violence that lasted for some months before the assassins were forced to flee the capital and Antony then finally acted to suppress it by force.{{sfn|Rawson|1994b|p=470}}

In 44 BC, there was a seven-day [[Great comet|cometary outburst]] that the Romans believed to represent the deification of Caesar, giving it the name [[Caesar's Comet]]. On the site of his cremation, the [[Temple of Caesar]] was begun by the triumvirs in 42&nbsp;BC at the east side of the main square of the [[Roman Forum]]. Only its altar now remains.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Richardson |first=L |title=Iulius, Divus, Aedes |encyclopedia=A new topographical dictionary of ancient Rome |year=1992 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=0-8018-4300-6 |pages=213–14}}</ref> The terms of the will were also read to the public: it gave a generous donative to the plebs at large and left as principal heir one [[Augustus|Gaius Octavius]], Caesar's great-nephew then at [[Apollonia (Illyria)|Apollonia]], and adopted him in the will.{{sfnm|Mackay|2009|1pp=318–19|Rawson|1994b|2p=471}}

Resumption of the pre-existing republic proved impossible as various actors appealed in the aftermath of Caesar's death to liberty or to vengeance to mobilise huge armies that led to a series of civil wars.{{sfn|Mackay|2009|pp=315–16}} The [[War of Mutina|first war]] was between Antony in 43&nbsp;BC and the Senate (including senators of both Caesarian and Pompeian persuasion) which resulted in Octavian – Caesar's heir – exploiting the chaos to seize the consulship and join with Antony and Lepidus to form the [[Second Triumvirate]].{{sfn|Boatwright|2004|pp=270–72}} After purging their political enemies in a [[Proscription|series of proscriptions]],{{sfn|Mackay|2009|p=332}} the triumvirs secured the deification of Caesar – the Senate declared on 1 January 42&nbsp;BC that Caesar would be placed among the Roman gods<ref>{{harvnb|Mackay|2009|p=334|ps=. Caesar's heir then took the style {{lang|la|divi filius}}, meaning "son of the deified one".}}</ref> – and marched on the east where a [[Liberators' civil war|second war]] saw the triumvirs defeat the tyrannicides in [[Battle of Philippi|battle]],{{sfn|Boatwright|2004|p=273}} resulting in a final death of the republican cause and a three-way division of much of the Roman world.{{sfnm|Mackay|2009|1p=335|Boatwright|2004|2p=274}} By 31&nbsp;BC, Caesar's heir had taken sole control of the empire, ejecting his triumviral rivals after two decades of civil war. Pretending to restore the republic, his masked autocracy was acceptable to the war-weary Romans and marked the establishment of a [[Roman Empire|new Roman monarchy]].{{sfn|Meier|1995|pp=494, 496}}
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