March 15, 44 B.C.: Julius Caesar is assassinated.

The plot to murder Rome’s recently declared Dictator perpetuothis date was perpetrated by dozens of members of the Roman Senate and other statesmen, looking to protect their own power from Caesar’s grasp. This group included Marcus Brutus, who, in the Shakespeare play, shared a close relationship with Caesar. However, there is little evidence that Caesar and Brutus were very close in real life (though Brutus’s mother was one of Caesar’s lovers), and it is highly unlikely that the famous “Et tu, Brute?” line was ever uttered… especially given the circumstances.

Over sixty people participated in the assassination, which took place at the Theatre of Pompey. Twenty-three wounds were inflicted on Caesar, only one of which was fatal - it was said that the murder was so chaotic that many of the assassins themselves received dagger wounds. Caesar’s assassination marked a pivotal point in the collapse of the Roman Republic, bringing his heir Octavius to power, and later, to emperorship. Still today, the ”Ides of March” (the fifteenth) carries an unlucky connotation.