Were There Any Reasons to Kill Julius Caesar?

I believe the conspirators in Julius Caesar were incorrect and immoral in their killing of Caesar. Caesar’s death ultimately caused more problems than it did fix anything. After his death, a fight broke out between Cassius and Brutus and Mark Antony and his forces. Brutus and Cassius were the ones who wanted Caesar dead and in the end they both end up dead as well. The whole plan definitely did not go as it was suppose to. The conspirators were wrong to kill Caesar because he did nothing wrong that would give them a reason to kill him, his death just created more issues for everyone, and he was actually a good leader and did good things for Rome.

Caesar never really gave anyone a reason to want him murdered. Cassius wanted Caesar dead mainly out of jealousy. Brutus was basically manipulated into thinking that Caesar was going to become too powerful. Caesar did gain a lot of power in the republic, but he never said he was going to completely take over nor did he have plans to do so. Mark Antony said, “You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; and, sure, he is an honourable man.” Caesar was offered more power and a crown but he did not accept it which shows that he never had intentions of taking over. The conspirators believed he just put on a show for the crowd to make them like him by not accepting this power and to make them think he was humble. I believe Caesar did not just do this for the crowd and that he was a good leader and never wanting anything bad for Rome. The conspirators really had no actual reason for wanting Caesar dead, but you could tell they were jealous of the power he had. Many people in Rome liked Caesar and had no problem with him. This shows that he was a good leader and killing him was not the best thing for the people and country, which is what they should be thinking about. Mark Antony even spoke at Caesar’s funeral and tried to explain the conspirators reasons for killing him and what they feared would happen. The crowd was still angry and this showed even the people did not believe he was gaining to much power or that he would use his power in the wrong way. The conspirators were only thinking about themselves and their position in the whole situation. It would be different if Caesar was a bad leader and was trying to gain all that power for other reasons, but he was not. The conspirators had to have realized he did not have any bad intentions. Caesar did not deserve to die because of the jealousy of the conspirators.

Caesar’s death was followed by many problems that could have easily been avoided if he was not killed. For example, after his death Brutus and Cassius got an army to fight Mark Antony’s army. They both wanted control of Rome and this caused them to fight. This battle ended in the death of Brutus and Cassius, who were the main ones that planned the death of Caesar in the first place. After the battle, Antony and Octavius rule Rome which is not what was the plan was supposed to even be. This could have all been avoided if they never killed Caesar. His death only led to the death of others. The conspirators did not really completely think through everything that could have happened once they killed Caesar. They did not consider the problems that could occur when they kill him. They were only thinking about themselves and not about what would happen to Rome and how it would affect everyone else. The conspirators should have really thought about everything that could occur when they killed their leader. His death was not worth what followed it. His death really did nothing good for Rome. If they would have never killed Caesar, they would not be dead as well and Caesar could have done more good things for Rome. Caesar said, “A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once. It seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come.” Caesar’s death was not a “necessary end” and it should not have happened the way it did. Caesar should have been able to live out his life the way he was supposed to and many things could have been avoided.

Caesar was a good leader for Rome for many years. He did many good things in these years. Caesar was very intelligent and had good leadership skills. Caesar said, “As I love the name of honour more than I fear death.” Caesar did everything for Rome and was not selfish like the conspirators. He led many battles and tried his best in all of them. I believe Caesar never had intentions to do evil or selfish things in Rome. I do not think Caesar having what the conspirators viewed as “too much power” would have been such a bad thing since he was a good leader. The conspirators believed he would get all this power and they did not know how he would treat it. I really do not think he would use it to do bad things. Caesar never gave the conspirators a reason to believe he would use this power in a bad way. They just envied this power and did not like that he was gaining it. However, Caesar would not have all this power if people in Rome did not think he deserved it. At his funeral and when he was murdered, the crowd there was very angry. This shows the people also liked him and also believed he was a good leader. The conspirators should not have killed a good leader like Caesar just out of jealousy.

In conclusion, there were not many logical reasons the conspirators had to kill Caesar. There are more reasons why he should not have been killed than there are why he should have. He never did anything wrong to the conspirators or anything wrong to Rome. His death created problems that could have easily been avoided if the conspirators were not jealous of him and his power. Caesar did mostly good things for Rome and definitely did not deserve what happened to him. The conspirators were very wrong to do this to Caesar and just made problems for themselves, including some of their own deaths.