Julius Caesar was not only one of the most well-known figures in the history of Rome, but was undoubtedly one of the greatest military leaders of all time. From his invasion of Gaul to his triumphant victory over Pompey, Caesar was destined to be Rome's next ruler. His successes would bring Rome success and make the Roman people proud to be under Caesar's rule. However, Caesar's success as a general did not translate well into his rise to power. Before Caesar is crowned the new ruler of Rome, he is killed by his council who he thought admired and respected him and wanted to see him as king. While it is true that Caesar suffered from health problems such as epilepsy and made questionable decisions according to his own advice, Caesar did not deserve to be killed. The senators who plotted to kill Caesar and manipulated and deceived the people around him in hopes of restoring Rome as a successful city set Rome on a path that would only seal its fate. The reason why Caesar's death was clearly a mistake of the immoral council is demonstrated by the effects his death has on some characters in the play and on the city of Rome. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Thanks to the contributions Caesar made to both the city and the people of Rome, it would hardly be a surprise that he would be the next ruler. For example, Caesar was idolized and admired by the people of Rome for many reasons; one reason is the way Caesar dealt with widespread debt in Rome caused by a civil war, which consequently caused suffering for both lenders and borrowers. According to Mary T. Boatwright, Caesar reinstated an earlier law that said property sold must be accepted for reimbursement at its prewar value. He also reinstated a previous law that prohibited anyone from holding more than 60,000 sesterces in cash. Caesar later canceled all interest payments from early 49 BC and allowed licensed tenants not to pay rent for a year. Although Caesar's actions did not entirely resolve Rome's debt, his creative thinking and quick decision making helped relieve the debt in a way that satisfied not only creditors and borrowers, but also showed the people of Rome the leadership skills that Caesar possesses for the throne. . Another reason why the people of Rome wanted Caesar to become the next ruler of Rome was Caesar's nobility. When Plutarch talks about Caesar in his battles he says: “He managed, however, to retreat to a strong position, where, after having mustered and marshalled his men, his horse was brought to him; whereupon he said, "When I have won a battle, I will use my horse for hunting, but for the present let us go against the enemy." While Caesar could have simply stayed on his horse and let his men fight for him, he instead decides to stay and fight alongside them, showing how Caesar will stand with his men and help them in the battle regardless of their rank. This would not be the only time that Plutarch speaks well of Caesar as later in his volume, Plutarch describes Caesar's actions and his internal conflict as he says, "Caesar was born to do great things, and he had a passion for honor, and the many noble deeds he had accomplished did not now serve as an inducement to stand still and reap the fruit of his past labors, but were inducements and encouragements to go forward, and aroused in him ideas of still greater deeds, and the desire for new glory, as if the present had all passedin fact of a sort of emulative struggle with himself, as it had been with another, on how to overcome his past actions with the future. Caesar's internal conflict regarding his future goals reflects his nobility because, as Caesar continues to pursue increasingly difficult goals, he credits his noble mentality as the main reason for his past successes. He even convinces himself that this mindset will continue to lead him to achieve goals that will make his past successes seem like smaller tasks. While Julius Caesar's leadership combined with his noble mentality should have made him a clear candidate to become the next ruler of Rome, the advisors however were not convinced of Caesar's leadership due to his questionable actions and health problems. The council viewed Caesar's rise to power as a threat to the city of Rome, due to a number of questionable actions by Caesar and his health problems. For example, when Caesar began writing further constitutional reforms, the council interpreted them as a deceptive way for Caesar to overthrow the Roman Republic and form a monarchy. According to Frank Frost, Caesar limited the terms of governors and then increased the number of senators in the Senate. Before this law was implemented, Caesar had the power to control the process of appointing a member of the Senate and could now increase the number of senators, thus allowing him to choose more members of the Senate who were loyal to him. It is reasonable for the council to assume that Caesar's new reform was a way to keep himself in power, since he now not only had the ability to eliminate all members of the Senate who did not agree with him, but he could now increase the number of members of the Senate. who were most loyal to him. Another way in which the lawyer had witnessed a questionable change in Caesar's actions is shown in Shakespeare's play when Caesar is asked to grant Cimber pardon for his crime and he responds with "Your brother by decree is banished... Caesar does not err, nor without cause... But I am constant as the North Star.” Caesar's response to the request for forgiveness clearly shows that he does not think he should forgive anyone since he claims to never err, and the fact of being questioned makes him feel quite insulted. Cesare even refers to himself in the third person showing a very peculiar trait not shown before by the lawyer. Obviously after seeing this, the council would think that someone so arrogant and strange is not suitable for to become the next ruler of Rome. The lawyer not only had to deal with Caesar's actions, but also had to take his health into account when deciding whether or not he deserved to rule. For example, when Suetonius writes about Julius Caesar's complexion, he describes Caesar as having “sharp black eyes; good health, except that towards the end he was subject to sudden fainting spells and even nightmares. Given that Caesar suffered from poor health, it makes sense for the council to think that a man like this would not have the right mind to lead a civilization and therefore could not be the next ruler of Rome. While Caesar's actions and health might have been reasonable evidence that the council should have assassinated Caesar, in reality, this "evidence" would have backfired on the council since not only were the reasons for saving Rome a devious lie, but the Caesar's death would plague Caesar's minds. some members of the council and those who were not tormented by his death suffered the consequences that the city of Rome suffered in the transition from republic to monarchy. The assassination of Julius Caesar ultimately proved to be unjustified, and this is demonstrated primarily by the effects that Julius Caesar's death would have had on somemembers of the board. To analyze the effects that Caesar's death had on the council it is important to know the effects that social class had in Rome. According to Michele Parenti, the Roman upper class hated and feared the common people of Rome (who all loved Caesar) and anyone else who wanted to limit the privileges they enjoyed. Oligarchs were no exception as they loved the luxury and wealth that came with being part of such a class and despised pious leaders who took it upon themselves to take away their luxuries and give them to the lower class. The greed of the Council of Rome makes it difficult to believe that these people wanted to kill Caesar for the good of the city and the people. It makes more sense that the council wanted to kill Caesar just so they wouldn't have to share their wealth with the lower class. Caesar's death would especially torment the minds of the once noble council members. In Shakespeare's play we are introduced to Brutus who, like Caesar, was loved by the people of Rome. Brutus ultimately becomes, according to Aristotle, a tragic hero, someone who is noble but makes an error in judgment that leads to his death. For Brutus, his error in judgment was to join the conspiracy to kill Caesar and not realize that he was being manipulated by the council to kill Caesar because of his own power, and not for the benefit of the city or the Roman Republic. This is shown in the play when Brutus is tormented by nightmares about Caesar and his wife says "you rose up suddenly and walked here and there, thinking and sighing, with your arms crossed." From this quote it is clear that Brutus is going crazy thinking about Caesar's death and cannot convince himself that what he did was honorable. According to Aristotle, Brutus' courage and moral codes are what lead to his error of judgment and ultimately his death and his death supposedly cleanses the audience of emotions since Brutus never realizes that at the council he is not never cared about Rome and the justification of Caesar's death as he did. Caesar's death would change the council for the worse as their goal of killing Caesar would corrupt the minds of some of the council members and their desire to keep their wealth would backfire as the city of Rome would suffer due to the council's actions . Julius Caesar cold-bloodedly thought that his death would be the end of a new monarchy. However, the councils' plan inevitably failed because not only would they suffer the death of Caesar, but the Roman Republic they sought to hold together collapsed, as the city of Rome soon became the Roman Empire after a series of civil wars that followed the fall of Caesar. death, and the people of Rome would endure the transition of government. The civil wars that Rome would take part in have a small taste of them in Shakespeare's work, when Mark Antony tells the people of Rome that Caesar's death was caused by the council and in their fury they kill a man named Cinna who the same name as one of the board members. The fury created by Antony symbolizes the future of Rome under the Roman Republic without Julius Caesar, as the lack of discipline, control and respect that the people of Rome show to the council of the Roman Republic and the city makes it clear that the current government of Rome is unable to govern without Julius Caesar. According to William C. Morey, the council had little or no idea how to effectively lead the Roman Republic after Caesar's death as he states: "Whatever their motives may have been, they appear to have given little thought to how Rome would be governed after killed their tyrant... The only leading man of the Senate to survive the last civil war was Cicero;.