him dictator and imperator for life.

These high honors were not sufficient for Caesar's ambition. He wished to
be made king. He had no son of his own, but desired to make his power
hereditary, and chose his grandnephew Octavius as his heir. But he was
to find the people resolutely bent on having no king over Rome.

To try their temper some of his friends placed a crown on his statue in
the Forum. Two of the tribunes tore it off, and the crowd loudly
applauded. Later, at the festival of the Alban Mount, some voices in the
crowd hailed him as king. But the mutterings of the multitude grew so
loud, that he quickly cried, "I am no king, but Caesar."

At the feast of the Lupercalia, on February 15, he was approached by
Marc Antony, as he sat in his golden chair, and offered an embroidered
band, such as the sovereigns of Asia wore on their heads. The crowd
failed to applaud, and Caesar pushed it aside. Then the multitude broke
out in a roar of applause. Again and again he rejected the glittering
bauble, and again the people broke into loud cries of approval. It was
evident that they would have no king. At a later date it was moved in
the senate that Caesar should be king in the provinces; but he died
before this decree could be put in effect.

There was discontent at Rome. Even the clemency of Caesar had made him
enemies, for there were many who hoped to profit by proscription. His
justice made foes among those who wished to grow rich through extortion
and oppression. He secluded himself while engaged on his reforms, and
this lost him popularity. A conspiracy was organized against him by a
soldier named Caius Cassius and others of the discontented. For leader
they selected Marcus Junius Brutus, who believed himself a descendant of
the Brutus of old, and was won to their plot by being told that, while
his great ancestor had expelled the last king of Rome, he was resting
content under the rule of a new king.

Brutus, at length convinced that Caesar was seeking to overthrow the
Roman republic, and that patriotism required him to emulate the famous
Brutus of old, joined the conspiracy, which now included more than sixty
persons, most of whom had received benefits and honors from the man they
wished to kill. But no considerations of gratitude prevailed; they
determined on Caesar's death; and the meeting of the senate called for
the Ides of March (March 15) was fixed for the time and place of the
projected murder.

The morni