toward those who had fought in the ranks of Pompey and
afterward returned to him was extremely noble, and he regarded the
reconciliation of those men as a personal favor conferred upon himself.
All who knew Cicero must have been convinced that he would not have
given his consent to the plan of the conspirators; and if they ever did
give the matter a serious thought, they must have owned to themselves
that every wise man would have dissuaded them from it; for it was in
fact the most complete absurdity to fancy that the republic could be
restored by Caesar's death. Goethe says somewhere that the murder of
Caesar was the most senseless act that the Romans ever committed; and a
truer word was never spoken. The result of it could not possibly be any
other than that which did follow the deed.

Caesar was cautioned by Hirtius and Pansa, both wise men of noble
character, especially the former, who saw that the republic must become
consolidated and not thrown into fresh convulsions. They advised Caesar
to be careful, and to take a bodyguard; but he replied that he would
rather not live at all than be in constant fear of losing his life.
Caesar once expressed to some of his friends his conviction that Brutus
was capable of harboring a murderous design, but he added that as he,
Caesar, could not live much longer, Brutus would wait, and not be guilty
of such a crime. Caesar's health was at that time weak, and the general
opinion was that he intended to surrender his power to Brutus as the
most worthy. While the conspirators were making their preparations,
Porcia, the wife of Brutus, inferred from the excitement and
restlessness of her husband that some fearful secret was pressing on his
mind; but as he did not show her any confidence, she seriously wounded
herself with a knife and was seized with a violent wound-fever. No one
knew the cause of her illness; and it was not till after many entreaties
of her husband that at length she revealed it to him, saying that as she
had been able to conceal the cause of her illness, so she could also
keep any secret that might be intrusted to her. Her entreaties induced
Brutus to communicate to her the plan of the conspirators. Caesar was
also cautioned by the haruspices, by a dream of his wife, and by his own
forebodings, which we have no reason for doubting. But on the morning of
the 15th of March, the day fixed upon for assassinating Caesar, Decimus
Brutus treacherously enticed him to go with