With Regards to the Body of Caesar

O conscript fathers! I do not need to repeat to you the grave matter upon which we have been deliberating. The story cannot have escaped you, being reminded of it here so many times, the Julius Caesar, as both dictator and consul of this Republic, has been assaulted and killed in the very Senate House. The body of Caesar would be lying still, mangled and bloody, under the staring but unseeing eyes of Gnaeus Pompeius, had not his servants carried his lifeless form home to his bereaved wife. Now, many have put forth their opinions on this matter, many have postulated on the actions to be carried out by us, whether the body of our illustrious leader should be either honored or dishonored.

Caesar has been a most loyal proponent of the Roman people since the 680^th year after the founding of our city, when the people elected him Pontifex Maximus, chief priest of the state. Since that time, he has served numerous public offices, being Quaestor, Praetor, Aedile, and also the supreme office of our Republic, Consul. He has conquered many barbaric enemies, leading the expeditions into Gaul and Britannia, with the foreign enemies having been subdued there, and bringing back the spoils of war for the Roman people to prosper. He was a brilliant leader, both is war and in peace. Have we forgotten his clemency toward his enemies after the conflict with Pompey? Does the mercy of that one so easily escape us? Julius Caesar was freely elected dictator and consul, and yet refused the title of king. Does his rejection of that royal position speak to you, saying thing opposite from what it says to us? Does his refusal tell you that Caesar desired to be king when it most clearly relates to us watching that he had no higher aspiration than to preserve the Republic which he loved? But the assassins did not see what was clearly in front of them. They saw a tyrant, and they struck him down. Of this we are certain. But what is to be done with the body?

We will all agree that by no means can it remain in the house of the wife of Caesar; of that we are certain. Some have unscrupulously proposed that we should throw the body into the Tiber River! How can this be? Do you not remember the honors with which Caesar was bestowed, those honors which I previously mentioned? Why should a body that was so honored in life be thus dishonored in death? And of what good will that be to the Roman people, to see the form of their beloved leader tossed unceremoniously into the waters and waves? Surely you remember, directly after the assassination took place, that the citizens were so in fear for their lives, and in mourning for the life of their champion, that they hid behind closed doors, refusing to emerge. Would these very people who grieve at his death rejoice that their supporter and defender be so unceremoniously disposed of? Certainly not! I tell you, the people of Rome would not stand for it. And if you are striving to preserve the Republic, as you so adamantly proclaim, you must acquiesce to the wishes of the populace; so demands democracy.

--Quintus Pedius