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Greek, who had thus come to be intimate with some of the associates of
Brutus, had become acquainted to a great extent with what was in
progress, and had drawn up a statement of the information which he had
to give. Seeing that Caesar gave the papers presented to him to the
slaves with him, he came up close and said, 'Caesar, read this alone and
that quickly: it contains matters that nearly concern yourself.' Caesar
took it, and would have read it, but was hindered by the crowd of
persons that thronged to salute him. Keeping it in his hand, he passed
into the House. In the place to which the Senate had been summoned stood
a statue of Pompey. Cassius is said to have looked at it and silently
invoked the dead man's help, and this though he was inclined to the
skeptical tenets of Epicurus. Meanwhile Antony, who was firmly attached
to Caesar and a man of great strength, was purposely kept in
conversation outside the senate-house by Decimus Brutus. As Caesar
entered, the Senate rose to greet him. Some of the associates of Brutus
stood behind his chair; others approached him in front, seemingly
joining their entreaties to those which Cimber Tullius was addressing to
him on behalf of his brother. He sat down and rejected the petition with
a gesture of disapproval at their urgency. Tullius then seized his toga
with both hands and dragged it from his neck. This was the signal for
attack. Casca struck him first on the neck. The wound was not fatal, nor
even serious, so agitated was the striker at dealing the first blow in
so terrible a deed. Caesar turned upon him, seized the dagger, and held
it fast, crying at the same time in Latin, 'Casca, thou villain, what
art thou about?' while Casca cried in Greek to his brother, 'Brother,
help!' Those senators who were not privy to the plot were overcome with
horror. They could neither cry nor help: they dared not even speak. The
conspirators were standing round Caesar each with a drawn sword in his
hand; whithersoever he turned his eyes he saw a weapon ready to strike,
and he struggled like a wild beast among the hunters. They had agreed
that every one should take a part in the murder, and Brutus, friend as
he was, could not hold back. The rest, some say, he struggled with,
throwing himself hither and thither, and crying aloud; but as soon as he
saw Brutus with a drawn sword in his hand, he wrapped his head in his
toga and ceased to resist, falling, whether by chance or by compulsion
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