Julius Caesar died by assassination on the Ides of March, March 15, 44 BC. He was stabbed to death by a group of about 60 to 70 Roman senators during a Senate session held in the Curia of Pompey, a meeting hall in Rome. The leading conspirators included Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, and Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus. Caesar was attacked from all sides and stabbed approximately 23 times. Though he tried to defend himself and even wounded one attacker with a stylus, he ultimately fell at the foot of a statue of his rival Pompey and died from blood loss due to the multiple stab wounds
. His last words are uncertain; ancient sources differ, with some saying he said nothing, others reporting he said in Greek, "You too, child?" directed at Brutus. The famous phrase "Et tu, Brute?" ("You too, Brutus?") is a later Renaissance invention and not historically verified
. The assassination was motivated by fears among the senators that Caesar's accumulation of power, including his appointment as dictator for life, threatened the Roman Republic. However, rather than restoring the Republic, his death led to civil wars and ultimately the rise of the Roman Empire under Augustus
