The assassination plot was carefully planned by the conspirators. On the Ides of March, they gathered in the Theatre of Pompey under the pretext of attending a meeting of the Roman Senate. When Caesar arrived, they presented him with a petition to recall their exiled colleague Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, but Caesar refused. This served as a signal for the conspirators to launch their attack.
Gaius Casca Longinus, one of the conspirators, stabbed Caesar in the neck, drawing first blood. This was followed by a flurry of attacks as multiple senators surrounded and stabbed Caesar with daggers. Caesar made a final attempt to defend himself, but he was overpowered and stabbed more than 23 times.
According to the Roman historian Suetonius, Caesar's last words were, "Et tu, Brute?" ("You too, Brutus?"). He is said to have uttered this phrase upon seeing his close friend and trusted lieutenant, Marcus Junius Brutus, among his attackers.
Caesar's assassination brought an end to his life and dramatically altered the course of Roman history. In the aftermath, the Roman Republic underwent a period of civil wars, which eventually led to the ascendancy of Caesar's adopted son and heir, Octavian (later known as Emperor Augustus), and the establishment of the Roman Empire.