Julius Caesar Quotes

Julius Caesar quotes / quotations are limited. There are not many, and, oftentimes I am confused as to which were really Caesar’s and which were William Shakespeare's.

1) “Veni, vidi vici” : I came I saw I conquered. This is a Caesar quote as documented by Suetonius . Details at a previous post.

2) “The die has been cast” : Caesars words on crossing the Rubicon ; Details at a previous post.

3) “Et tu Brute” : And you too Brutus. This is an interesting one, supposedly uttered by Caesar on being assassinated ; Details at a previous post

4) Men in general are quick to believe that which they wish to be true.
(Still working on this one.)

5) It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience
(Still working on this one as well)

6) It is not these well-fed long-haired men that I fear, but the pale and the hungry-looking.
The conspiracy to asassinate Caesar was known well before the time. A number of people had warned Caesar against Brutus, who they believed was one of the main instigators. But, Caesar would not hear of any negative comments implicating Brutus. He believed that he had favoured Brutus in the past at the expense of Cassius, and it was in Brutus’ interest that Caesar should live. Anyhow, the possibility must have stuck in the back of his mind somewhere, as, when rumour had it that Antony and Dolabella were also planning his assination he remarked
"I am not much in fear of these fat, long-haired fellows, but rather of those pale, thin ones",(meaning Brutus and Cassius.) (Plutarch )

7) What we wish, we readily believe, and what we ourselves think, we imagine others think also.

8) Cowards die many times before their actual deaths.

9) As a rule, men worry more about what they can't see than about what they can.

10) I had rather be first in a village than second at Rome.
From Plutarch, that is self explanatory (Page 469)
"We are told that, as he was crossing the Alps and passing by a barbarian village which had very few inhabitants and was a sorry sight, his companions asked with mirth and laughter, "Can it be that here too there are ambitious strifes for office, struggles for primacy, and mutual jealousies of powerful men?" Whereupon Caesar said to them in all seriousness, "I would rather be first here than second at Rome."

11) "Because I maintain that the members of my family should be free from suspicion, as well as from accusation."

12) "I go to meet an army without a leader, and I shall return to meet a leader without an army."
"The sum total of his movements after that is, in their order, as follows: He overran Umbria, Picenum, and Etruria, took prisoner Lucius Domitius, who had been irregularly named his successor, and was holding Corfinium with a garrison, let him go free, and then proceeded along the Adriatic to Brundisium, where Pompey and the consuls had taken refuge, intending to cross the sea as soon as might be. After trying by every kind of hindrance to prevent their sailing, he marched off to Rome, and after calling the senate together to discuss public business, went to attack Pompey's strongest forces, which were in Spain under command of three of his lieutenants — Marcus Petreius, Lucius Afranius, and Marcus Varro — saying to his friends before he left "I go to meet an army without a leader, and I shall return to meet a leader without an army." And in fact, though his advance was delayed by the siege of Massilia, which had shut its gates against him, and by extreme scarcity of supplies, he nevertheless quickly gained a complete victory." Suetonius

I could find detail to those with links and explanations, busy looking for more detail on the others

Image from Wikipedia

When and How was Julius Caesar assassinated?

Julius Caesar was assassinated on the 15th day of March, known as the Ides of March, 44 BC. Much has been written about his death and most of it dramatized for effect. The only available written documentation of his death that I could lay my hands on is that of Suetonius, the respected Roman scholar and historian, and the author of the Lives of the Caesars.
Following, quoted verbatim, from the English translation of his work on “De Vita Caesarum, Divius Iulius”, paragraph LXXXII.

“ As he took his seat, the conspirators gathered around him as if to pay their respects, and straightway Tillius Cimber, who had assumed the lead, came nearer as though to ask something: and when Caesar with a gesture put him off to another time, Cimber caught his toga by both shoulders: then as Caesar cried: “Why, this is violence!” one of the Cascas stabbed him from one side just below the throat. Caesar caught Casca’s arm and ran it through with his stylus, but as he tried to leap to his feet, he was stopped by another wound. When he saw he was beset on every side by drawn daggers, he muffled his head in his robe, and at the same time drew down its lap to his feet with his left hand, in order to fall more decently, with the lower part of his body also covered. And in this wise he was stabbed with three and twenty wounds, uttering not a word, but merely a groan at the first stroke, although some have written that when Marcus Brutus rushed at him, he said in Greek, “You too, my child”. All the conspirators made off, and he lay there lifeless for some time, until finally three common slaves put him on a litter and carried him home, with one arm hanging down. And of so many wounds none turned out to be mortal, in the opinion of the Physician Antistius, except the one in the breast. The conspirators had intended after slaying him to drag his body to the Tiber, confiscate his property, and revoke his decrees: but they forboe through fear of Marcus Antonius the consul, and Lepidus, the master of horse”

Suetonius based his writings on interviews with people present at the assassination and writings available at the time.
If there are other sources more credible than his, please let me know

Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war...

Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war to whip the citizenry
into a political fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double edged sword.
It emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums
of war have reached a fevered pitch and the blood boils with hate and
the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights
of the citizenry. Rather the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by
patriotism, will offer up all their rights unto the leader and gladly so.
How do I know? For this is what I have done.
And I am Caesar.

Julius Caesar (101-44 BC)