Afterwards it was said that perhaps this was done by some friend or servant to warn him what would befall him should he leave the house. At the time, the broken bust seemed but another of the omens of evil with which of late he had been surrounded.
But he left the house and stepped into the street. As he walked along he passed the soothsayer, and with an attempt at gaiety he called to him, ‘The Ides of March have come.’
‘Yes,’ answered the wise man, ‘they are come, but they are not past.’
As was ever the way, the crowd pressed close to offer petitions to him as he passed along the street.
One man seemed more eager even than the others to hand a paper to the Dictator, and when at length he succeeded, he said hurriedly, ‘Read it without delay, Cæsar, for it concerns your safety.’ But the paper was never read, for the Dictator handed it with others to his attendant.
No sooner had Cæsar reached the Senate-house and taken his seat than the conspirators crowded around him, one of them, named Cimber, offering him a petition.
It was one which the Dictator had already refused to grant, and he was annoyed at the persistence shown by Cimber.
Moreover, the other conspirators joined him in his entreaties, pressing ever closer and closer around the Dictator, until only those in the plot were near to him.
Cæsar was now really angry and turned away from Cimber, again refusing his request. As he did so, Cimber pulled Cæsar’s toga down from his neck. It was the signal upon which the conspirators had agreed.
Casca, who was to give the first blow, thereupon drew his dagger and struck Cæsar on the shoulder. Either through fear or haste he did little harm by his stroke.