Who Killed Julius Caesar?
After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal
History Hit
4.7 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 9 March 2026
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 44 BCE, Roman senators assassinated Julius Caesar to stop his ascent towards becoming a king. Dr Jess Venner takes Anthony blow-by-blow through the deadly events of the Ides of March.
Dr Jess Venner's new book The Lost Voices of Pompeii: The Final Day in Seven Lives' will be out in April.
This episode was edited by Hannah Feodorov. Produced by Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Freddy Chick.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Looking for more shady and sinister stories, sign up to History Hit. |
| 0:04.4 | You can join us to explore the tragic life of the Bronties or discover the chilling story of Burke and Hair. |
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| 0:22.5 | Just visit historyhit.com forward slash subscribe to start exploring the past. |
| 0:37.4 | Julius Caesar, the soldier who dared to cross the Rubicon, champion for the common people, |
| 0:43.3 | tyrant to Rome's elite, the man who led Rome to victory in the long, brutal Gallic wars, |
| 0:50.3 | who crushed Rome's enemies from the Pyrenees to the Rhine, and to thrust Roman eagles across the channel into Britannia, |
| 0:58.0 | laying the foundations for the most famous empire in ancient history. |
| 1:03.0 | The man who, on the Ides of March, 44 BC, walked into the Senate, |
| 1:09.0 | past the soothsayers' warnings, past the rumours, and passed the uneasy |
| 1:14.0 | silence of the men he trusted, and calmly took his place. Within minutes, Julius Caesar would |
| 1:21.2 | lie dying, stabbed 23 times by his friends, allies and protégés. |
| 1:27.7 | They called themselves liberators. |
| 1:30.7 | They claimed they were saving the Republic. |
| 1:33.5 | Instead, they unleashed civil war. |
| 1:38.6 | This is the history of how the Romans killed their most famous ruler and lost themselves in the chaos. |
| 1:46.2 | Welcome to After Dark. |
| 1:47.9 | Thank you. Hello and welcome to After Dark. Now, you may have noticed that I am riding solo at the moment |
| 2:22.7 | because Maddie is off on a brand new adventure. She has started a new baking company and she's |
| 2:27.2 | up to her elbows in flour and cakes. No, she's not. She's had a baby. But for the next few episodes, |
| 2:33.0 | well, there are quite a few episodes. I am going to be going solo on After Dark. |
| 2:36.8 | So thank you for joining me. It's going to be a bit of an adventure and let's see how we all get on together. |
... |
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