Gaius Julius Caesar, life dictator of Rome, not quite a king and not yet a god, was murdered on the 15th of March-the Ides of March-in 44 BC. The killers were a conspiracy of senators that included the leading politicians and intellectuals of their day. Citing the best of motives, they committed the wrost of crimes, to save the city. In vain. Within months the leaders of the conspiracy were fleeing for their lives, and Rome plunged into a decade and...