On the Matter of the Conspirators

Fellow senators, there are many issues pressing upon us at this time. I am about to speak is one that is of great importance and must be addressed for the good and welfare of the Roman people. Rome is still in great turmoil and we, as the wise and reasoned fathers of the state, should move through these difficult issues as quickly as possible, but we should not move so quickly that we overlook the intricate details involved in these matters. That is, we must work rapidly enough to show that we can work together and that our great city will pull through this challenging time, yet we must not be so hasty as to be rash with our decisions. In the most recent meeting of the senate, we were not even able to accomplish our goal of deciding what to do about the body of our former leader, Gaius Julius Caesar, and this must not set the course for how other issues are handled. Shall we continue to do this, fellow senators? I surely hope, for the sake of Rome, that in future meetings we will be able to discuss each matter thoroughly and come to our conclusions in a timely, judicious manner, fully informed on all sides.

Now we come to the issue of what is to be done about the conspirators and assassins of Julius Caesar. Senators, shall we condemn them to death? Shall we exile them? Shall we send them away from all they know – away from their families and their beloved Rome? Shall we hail them as assassins of one whom some have called a tyrant? Shall we reward their self-described courage to do what they claim the rest of us had no stomach to do? Fellow senators, I personally am not ready to make a final decision about a matter as important as the lives of these men at this time. I wish to make a proposal: I believe that a trial should be held in order to figure out how best to handle the situation at hand. I do not believe that we should come to a decision about the fates of the conspirators without going through proper steps. It would further the cycle of death to proceed without trial, would it not? Murder would lead to more murder. Where and when would it stop? Should we do as they did and murder without due process? I do not think that this would be the best course of action. However, I also do not believe that cold-blooded murder should go entirely unpunished. Otherwise, we will have thrown ourselves back into those dark times when it was almost acceptable to murder our leaders whenever we felt the urge. Shall we return to the times of Tiberius Gracchus? I will recall the history of this example. He was brutally murdered, publicly, also by fellow senators because they disagreed with him. We cannot allow this unjust, rash display of disagreement to continue. We are not barbarians! We cannot allow murder to go unpunished, but we should also take time to think about what should be done and how it should be handled. We cannot be rash and decide without trial – as these conspirators did – the fate of men’s lives.

Let us be examples to our fellow Romans, senators. Let us prove to our fellow citizens that we, as a leading body, are capable of keeping order in our city. By putting the conspirators on trial, we will be following our system of justice and law, thereby, showing that we have matters in control and we are not losing our heads. We, the leaders of Rome, must show calm and collection in this time when our city is in such disarray.