Cicero, who had been present, answered not, though he
was called by name; Antony had hurried away to exchange his consular
robes for the garb of a slave. Disappointed of obtaining the sanction of
the senate, the conspirators sallied out into the Forum to win the ear
of the people. But here, too, they were disappointed. Not knowing what
massacre might be in store, every man had fled to his own house; and in
vain the conspirators paraded the Forum, holding up their blood-stained
weapons and proclaiming themselves the liberators of Rome.
Disappointment was not their only feeling: they were not without fear.
They knew that Lepidus, being on the eve of departure for his province
of Narbonnese Gaul, had a legion encamped on the island of the Tiber:
and if he were to unite with Antony against them, Caesar would quickly be
avenged. In all haste, therefore, they retired to the Capitol. Meanwhile
three of Caesar's slaves placed their master's body upon a stretcher and
carried it to his house on the south side of the Forum, with one arm
dangling from the unsupported corner.
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