this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2025
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[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 32 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Explanation: After the assassination of Julius Caesar, of dictator and conqueror fame, many of the 'Liberatores', the assassins, thought they would be welcomed by Rome as heroes. Quite the opposite was true - the people were outraged at the killing. For to the Roman people, Caesar was not a tyrant (and, indeed, he went to great lengths to avoid that reputation despite taking up the dictatorship), but a patron and reformer in favor of the poor of Rome. For yet another reformist politician to be killed by conservatives - after a long string of similar extrajudicial murders for the past 100 years of crisis in the Late Roman Republic - was not cause for celebration, but for wrath! And, sure enough, the liberatores, despite some initial attempts at political maneuvering, were driven out of Rome, and their immense wealth failed to gain them sufficient allies to resist Caesar's allies and comrades from seeking vengeance for his death.

Unfortunately, those who avenged Caesar - primarily Mark Antony and Octavian (later known as Augustus) - were not exactly the same champions of reform that Caesar was.

Sit Tibi Terra Levis, Caesar!

[–] Successful_Try543@feddit.org 29 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Mark Antony

As a German, I'm always a little confused when Roman names are converted into their contemporary English form. His name was Marcus Antonius. Marc Antony is the guy from Backstreet Boys!

[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 27 points 3 months ago (1 children)

"Mark Antony" has received such vast currency by Shakespeare's usage that, as an English speaker, it feels wrong to refer to him by any other form, even if it's more correct.

[–] markz@suppo.fi 8 points 3 months ago

I guess this is kind of a native vs non native English speaker thing. Mark Antony sticks out to me as well.

[–] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 8 points 3 months ago

Oh, that explains a lot. I was wondering why a random English name showed up in a Roman history explanation.

[–] unconsequential@slrpnk.net 9 points 3 months ago

I mean technically he was assassinated by the aristocracy… so, yeah, if I had a political figure making reforms in favor of the little guy, over the capitalist oligarchs, and the oligarchs themselves offed that leader to “save me” from their “tyranny”— I wouldn’t be very pleased either. Dictator war machine arguments and public populism manipulation aside.

[–] shadowedcross@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I wonder, if he was somehow made aware of what was going to happen, how he would've acted.