If someone is in the middle of getting repeatedly stabbed in the torso with knives, that person is almost certainly not going to be able to say anything at all, let alone say something intelligible in a foreign tongue. It is simply not going to happen. Even if the person is able to speak, the identity of the person stabbing him is probably not going to be the first thing on his mind.
Weston, depicting the murder of Julius Caesar. The original account is in Greek. But when, after taking his seat, Caesar continued to repulse their petitions, and, as they pressed upon him with greater importunity, began to show anger towards one and another of them, Tullius seized his toga with both hands and pulled it down from his neck.
This was the signal for the assault. It was Casca who gave him the first blow with his dagger, in the neck, not a mortal wound, nor even a deep one, for which he was too much confused, as was natural at the beginning of a deed of great daring; so that Caesar turned about, grasped the knife, and held it fast.
But those who had prepared themselves for the murder bared each of them his dagger, and Caesar, hemmed in on all sides, whichever way he turned confronting blows of weapons aimed at his face and eyes, driven hither and thither like a wild beast, was entangled in the hands of all; for all had to take part in the sacrifice and taste of the slaughter.
Therefore Brutus also gave him one blow in the groin. And it is said by some writers that although Caesar defended himself against the rest and darted this way and that and cried aloud, when he saw that Brutus had drawn his dagger, he pulled his toga down over his head and sank, either by chance or because pushed there by his murderers, against the pedestal on which the statue of Pompey stood.
And the pedestal was drenched with his blood, so that one might have thought that Pompey himself was presiding over this vengeance upon his enemy, who now lay prostrate at his feet, quivering from a multitude of wounds.
For it is said that he received twenty-three; and many of the conspirators were wounded by one another, as they struggled to plant all those blows in one body.
This exclamation, however, is not reported by Suetonius. For, though they had planned to kill both him and Lepidus, they feared they might be maligned as a result of the number they destroyed, on the ground that they had slain Caesar to gain supreme power and not to set free the city, as they pretended; and therefore they did not wish Antony even to be present at the slaying.
As for Lepidus, he had set out on a campaign and was in the suburbs. When Trebonius, then, talked with Antony, the rest in a body surrounded Caesar, who was as easy of access and as affable as any one could be; and some conversed with him, while others made as if to present petitions to him, so that suspicion might be as far from his mind as possible.
And when the right moment came, one of them approached him, as if to express his thanks for some favour or other, and pulled his toga from his shoulder, thus giving the signal that had been agreed upon by the conspirators. Thereupon they attacked him from many sides at once and wounded him to death, so that by reason of their numbers Caesar was unable to say or do anything, but veiling his face, was slain with many wounds. This sceptred isle. Root of all evil.
Ethical conundrums. This sporting life. Stage and screen. Birds and the bees. Plutarch, on the other hand, says that Caesar died in silence, pulling his toga over his head. THE answer is simple. The ancient historians such as Suetonius and Plutarch were as much in the entertainment business as the great playwright. Read Today's E-edition.
Log In. My Membership. Share This. As featured on. Most Popular. Napa city, agencies move to shut down homeless camp The Bowl Authorities: Man dies after being struck by car while crossing Trancas Street in Napa Authorities: Man dies after being hit by falling tree branch in rural Napa County Wilfred's: Napa gets a Tiki bar Driver injured after car runs off Highway 29 in south Napa.
See the latest local obituaries in your inbox daily. Sign up:. Print Ads. Nov 7,
0コメント