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1º ESO/THE GREAT CONSPIRACY AGAINST JULIUS CAESAR - Contenido educativo
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What would you do if you thought your country was on the path to tyranny?
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If you saw one man gaining too much power, would you try to stop him?
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Even if that man was one of your closest friends and allies?
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These were the questions haunting Roman Senator Marcus Junius Brutus in 44 BCE,
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the year Julius Caesar would be assassinated.
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Opposing unchecked power wasn't just a political matter for Brutus. It was a personal one. He
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claimed dissent from Lucius Junius Brutus, who had helped overthrow the tyrannical king
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known as Tarquin the Proud. Instead of seizing power himself, the elder Brutus led the people
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in a rousing oath to never again allow a king to rule. Rome became a republic based on the
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principle that no one man should hold too much power. Now, four and a half centuries later,
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this principle was threatened. Julius Caesar's rise to the powerful position of consul had been
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dramatic. Years of military triumphs had made him the wealthiest man in Rome, and after defeating
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his rival Pompey the Great in a bitter civil war, his power was at its peak. His victories and
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initiatives, such as distributing lands to the poor, had made him popular with the public,
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and many senators vied for his favor by showering him with honors. Statues were built, temples were
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dedicated, and a whole month was renamed, still called July today. More importantly, the title of
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dictator, meant to grant temporary emergency powers in wartime, had been bestowed upon Caesar
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several times in succession,
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and in 44 BCE,
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he was made dictator perpetuo,
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dictator for a potentially unlimited term.
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All of this was too much
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for the senators who feared a return to the monarchy
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their ancestors had fought to abolish,
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as well as those whose own power and ambition
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were impeded by Caesar's rule.
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A group of conspirators calling themselves the Liberators
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began to secretly discuss plans for assassination.
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Leading them were the senator Gaius Cassius Longinus
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and his friend and brother-in-law, Brutus.
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Joining the conspiracy was not an easy choice for Brutus.
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Even though Brutus had sided with Pompey
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in the ill-fated civil war,
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Caesar had personally intervened to save his life,
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not only pardoning him,
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but even accepting him as a close advisor
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and elevating him to important posts.
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Brutus was hesitant to conspire against the man who had treated him like a son.
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But in the end, Cassius' insistence and Brutus' own fear of Caesar's ambitions won out.
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The moment they had been waiting for came on March 15th.
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At a Senate meeting held shortly before Caesar was to depart on his next military campaign,
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as many as 60 conspirators surrounded him, unsheathing daggers from their togas and stabbing at him from all sides.
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As the story goes, Caesar struggled fiercely until he saw Brutus.
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Despite the famous line,
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et tu, Brute, written by Shakespeare,
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we don't know Caesar's actual dying words.
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Some ancient sources claim he said nothing,
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while others record the phrase,
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and you, child,
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fueling speculation that Brutus may have actually been Caesar's illegitimate son.
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But all agree that when Caesar saw Brutus among his attackers,
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he covered his face and gave up the fight,
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falling to the ground after being stabbed 23 times.
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Unfortunately for Brutus,
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he and the other conspirators
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had underestimated Caesar's popularity
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among the Roman public,
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many of whom saw him as an effective leader
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and the Senate as a corrupt aristocracy.
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Within moments of Caesar's assassination,
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Rome was in a state of panic.
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Most of the other senators had fled,
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while the assassins barricaded themselves on the Capitoline Hill.
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Marc Antony, Caesar's friend and co-consul,
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was swift to seize the upper hand,
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delivering a passionate speech at Caesar's funeral days later
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that whipped the crowd into a frenzy of grief and anger.
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As a result, the liberators were forced out of Rome.
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The ensuing power vacuum led to a series of civil wars,
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during which Brutus, facing certain defeat, took his own life.
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ironically the ultimate result would be the opposite of what the conspirators had hoped to
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accomplish the end of the republic and the concentration of power under the office of
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emperor opinions over the assassination of caesar were divided from the start and have remained so
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as for brutus himself few historical figures have inspired such a conflicting legacy
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in dante's inferno he was placed in the very center of hell and eternally chewed by satan
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himself for his crime of betrayal. But Swift's Gulliver's Travels described him as one of the
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most virtuous and benevolent people to have lived. The interpretation of Brutus as either a selfless
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fighter against dictatorship or an opportunistic traitor has shifted with the tides of history and
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politics. But even today, over 2,000 years later, questions about the price of liberty, the conflict
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between personal loyalties and universal ideals
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and unintended consequences remain more relevant than ever.
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- Subido por:
- Alicia M.
- Licencia:
- Dominio público
- Visualizaciones:
- 72
- Fecha:
- 23 de enero de 2021 - 20:58
- Visibilidad:
- Público
- Centro:
- IES LA SENDA
- Duración:
- 05′ 58″
- Relación de aspecto:
- 1.78:1
- Resolución:
- 1920x1080 píxeles
- Tamaño:
- 155.00 MBytes