Early in the year of 44 BC, a seer warned the Emperor of Rome that a fatal blow would befall him no later than the Ides of March.

As promised, Gaius Julius Caesar would not live through the third month of that year. On the Ides of March, the treacherous plan of the conspirators Brutus and Cassius came to fruition as they led the bloody assassination of Julius Caesar on the floor of the Roman senate.

With the death of Julius Caesar came the end of an era in Roman history. After a wave of dissatisfaction and unrest among the lower classes following their leader’s brutal murder, the fall of the golden age of the Roman Republic was imminent. The unrest bred violence and war as tensions grew between Mark Antony and the forces of Brutus and Cassius.

This era of civil war that birthed the Roman Empire was sparked in large part by Brutus, history’s first literal “back-stabber.” As once a friend to the Emperor, Brutus’s part in the assassination was a special brand of betrayal. Fictionalized interpretations of history give famously heartbreaking accounts of what Caesar’s dying words might have been, presuming that he gasped incredulously, “Et tu, Brute?”

As dictated by the ancient Roman calendar, the Ides of each month were to be spent honoring Jupiter, the most sacred of the Roman gods. Two years following his death, Caesar was officially deified, which meant Jupiter would now have to share the celebration of the March Ides with the posthumously sacred Divus Iulius.

The 15th day of March this year marked the 2058th anniversary of Caesar’s assassination, an event in history that will not soon be forgotten.

For all Caesar-era reenactments, including his epic death on the senate floor, check out Armory Replicas’ collection of medieval weapons and armor. We’ve even got replicas of the senators’ murder weapons - the Roman Gladius! When role playing this one, just remember...Cavete Idibus Martiis!