On the Ides of March in 44 BC, a group of Roman senators, led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, conspired to assassinate Julius Caesar. They believed that Caesar's growing power and ambition threatened the Roman Republic's traditional values and institutions.
The assassins positioned themselves in the Senate, where they planned to execute their plot during a session. As Caesar entered the Senate, he was approached by the conspirators, who surrounded him. Several of the senators drew their daggers and began stabbing Caesar, who was unarmed and caught off guard. According to legend, Brutus was among the last of the assassins to strike Caesar, who uttered the famous last words, "Et tu, Brute?" ("You too, Brutus?") in disbelief and betrayal.
Caesar fell at the base of the statue of his predecessor, Pompey, who had been his rival. The bloodshed inside the Senate marked the end of Caesar's life and significantly altered the course of Roman history.
The Ides of March came to symbolize betrayal and political intrigue in Roman culture, and the event is remembered as a turning point in the transition of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.