Killing Jesus: A History

A month ago the nine hundred members of the Senate named Caesar dictator for life. Now Brutus is intimating that they might also name Caesar king this morning, meaning that he will become the first monarch Rome has known in almost five hundred years.
    The citizens of Rome have enjoyed a republic ever since Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was overthrown in 509 B.C. , and they are so averse to the idea of an absolute ruler that the Latin word for “king,” rex , is considered repugnant. But as Caesar draws closer and closer to his meeting with the Senate, he is sure that the people feel differently about him. He has long been devoted to keeping the masses happy. One way to do this is by ensuring that popular entertainment is available to one and all, distracting them from any issues they might have about their government. Right now, for instance, as Caesar’s path to the Senate takes him from his home on the Via Sacra and out beyond the pomerium , Rome’s sacred boundary, he can hear the roar of the crowds in the Theater of Pompey’s grand arena as they gather to watch a blood-soaked gladiatorial battle.
    The Theater of Pompey was built by, and named after, Caesar’s greatest rival. The eleven-year-old columned structure is made of stone and concrete, unlike the wooden theaters that have long been a staple of Roman life. It is an enormous and complex work of architecture—so monumental, in fact, that in the entire seven-hundred-year history of Rome, there has never been a larger or more elaborate entertainment venue. One half is comprised of the D -shaped amphitheater where popular entertainments such as plays and gladiatorial competitions take place. Mock battles with elephants have been staged there, as well as very real combat between lions and men.
    The garden area features lavish flower beds and arcades decorated with fountains and statuary and is partially covered to allow people escape from the rain or sun. Still another portion of this “theater” is the cool and quiet marble-floored great hall, where the Roman Senate meets. Caesar could have changed the facility’s title after Pompey’s execution, but demeaning his rival’s memory would have served no useful political purpose. So it is that Pompey’s name still adorns this magnificent structure and that a giant marble statue of the fallen general watches over the portico of the great hall, as if listening in on everything the Senate has to say.
    The people of Rome joyfully mob Caesar’s litter as the slaves carry him toward the Campus Martius, an open plain along the Tiber River where Roman legions assemble before marching off to war. Once, to ensure his popularity with those armies, Caesar gave each soldier his own personal slave, taken from the ranks of the Gauls they had just defeated in battle. The legionaries have never forgotten that gift and continue to reciprocate by showing Caesar their unconditional support. So, unlike many rulers, Caesar is quite sure of his personal safety. He has even reassigned the two thousand soldiers who once served as his personal guards and is unafraid to walk freely through the streets of Rome, so that one and all can see that he is not a tyrant. “I would rather die,” Caesar has noted, “than be feared.”
    As the journey comes to an end at Pompey’s theater, Caesar spies a familiar face in the crowd. “The day which you warned me against is here,” Caesar calls out to Spurinna, the fortune-teller who was bold enough to predict that a terrible fate would befall the empire’s leader on this very day. Spurinna divined this knowledge by studying the raw livers of sacrificed sheep and chickens. The goddess Venus Genetrix is Caesar’s personal deity, and he has dedicated a large temple in her honor, but on this morning Caesar has little use for religion or superstition. He wears a confident smile on his face—but it is one that quickly vanishes when Spurinna offers his reply.
    “Yes,” the Etruscan haruspex shouts over the clamor of the loyal people of Rome, who now press in around Caesar’s litter. Spurinna is quite sure of his prediction and not at all fearful of being reprimanded for what he is about to say. “It is here, but it is not yet gone.”
    Caesar hears those words but does not respond. Gathering his purple toga to his body with his left arm, he steps from his litter, hoping to soon become king of Rome.
    *   *   *
    But there will be no coronation. Instead, a team of assassins waits for