Bringing statues to life: Julius Caesar

100 BC – 44 BC

Gaius Julius was born into a patrician family who claimed descent from the Trojan prince Aeneas, supposedly the son of the goddess Venus. He is reputed to have taken the name Caesar after killing an elephant (caesai, in Moorish) during the Punic Wars.

According to Plutarch he did not utter the words Et tu, Brute when he was assassinated, but instead pulled his toga over his head and remained silent.