Do you think that Caesar’s killers were justified in their actions?

Brutus truly believed that he killed Caesar for the good of Rome and the Roman

Republic. He made a decision he thought was in the best interest of Rome and although

he was not successful in protecting the Roman Republic, his intentions were good; but,

were they justified? Like Brutus, there are many that believe that the “ends justify the

means”.

Such as in the case of Adolf Hitler, I believe that if a leader is known to be a significant

threat to his state and the people then I would say yes. Even if this act is illegal, I

believe that the assassination would be justified if it prevented a greater evil from being

committed. However, I don’t believe that Caesar was a threat to the Romans as Hitler

was to the Jews.

Julius Caesar was an influential, powerful leader who was very ambitious. When he

realized how dysfunctional the Roman society and government had become, he set forth

to reform the Roman Republic. To accomplish this Julius Caesar gained as much power

as possible. Many, including Brutus, believed that Caesar with an increasing amount of

power was a threat to Rome; therefore, they were justified in killing him, but I disagree.

If a difference of opinion in how a state should be governed is justification for murderer,

then today in the United States, there would hundreds of politicians lying dead in the

streets. So, I believe that despite Caesar’s healthy appetite for power, he was a very

accomplished Roman leader and because of Brutus’s actions, we will never know if

Julius Caesar would have been one of the world’s greatest leaders or one of its most

determined tyrants.