The multitude, taking this for the man, fell upon him, and
tore him to pieces upon the spot. Brutus and Cassius were so terrified
at this rage of the populace that a few days after they left the city.
An account of their subsequent actions, sufferings, and death may be
found in the life of Brutus.
Caesar died at the age of fifty-six, and did not survive Pompey above
four years. His object was sovereign power and authority, which he
pursued through innumerable dangers, and by prodigious efforts he gained
it at last. But he reaped no other fruit from it than an empty and
invidious title. It is true the divine Power, which conducted him
through life, attended him after his death as his avenger, pursued and
hunted out the assassins over sea and land, and rested not till there
was not a man left, either of those who dipped their hands in his blood
or of those who gave their sanction to the deed.
The most remarkable of natural events relative to this affair was that
Cassius, after he had lost the battle of Philippi, killed himself with
the same dagger which he had made use of against Caesar; and the most
signal phenomenon in the heavens was that of a great comet, which shone
very bright for seven nights after Caesar's death, and then disappeared;
to which we may add the fading of the sun's lustre; for his orb looked
pale all that year; he rose not with a sparkling radiance, nor had the
heat he afforded its usual strength.
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