Which famous person was stabbed to death on March 15, 44 B.C.?

On the Ides of March, March 15, 44 B.C., the powerful Roman dictator Julius Caesar was assassinated. A group of senators, who feared Caesar's ambition and his recent appointment as "dictator for life," conspired to kill him. The assassination took place during a Senate meeting at the Curia of Pompey in Rome. The conspirators, led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, numbered at least 60 and stabbed Caesar a total of 23 times.

The senators justified their actions as an attempt to preserve the Roman Republic, believing that Caesar's immense power was a threat to its foundations. Concerns that he intended to declare himself king were a primary motivation for the plot. Ironically, the assassination did not restore the Republic. Instead, it plunged Rome into a new series of civil wars. These conflicts ultimately led to the downfall of the Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire, with Caesar's own adopted son, Octavian, becoming the first emperor, Augustus.

The act was meticulously planned, with the conspirators choosing the Ides of March for their strike. Among the assassins were some of Caesar's own allies and friends, a betrayal famously immortalized in literature. The event marked a pivotal turning point in Roman history, ending the life of one of its most influential figures and setting in motion the events that would transform Rome from a republic into an empire.