Gaius Octavius speaks concerning the assassin

Noble members of the Senate,

I come before you today with a lingering pain in my heart. The death of my dear great-uncle Gaius Julius Caesar was the saddest news I’ve received in my lifetime and it upsets me still. Not only was Caesar a benevolent and great ruler to this fair nation but he was also a good man and a father to every Roman alike. He was a generous man who treated the republic with great respect, and that is what we owe to him. As it has been mentioned, Caesar had pardoned, trusted and loved many of you among us, but one especially, Brutus, and you returned the favor by a brutal and undeserved murder on sacred ground. I ask you, is that respect befitting such a kind and forgiving man?

My greatest interest today, conscript fathers, is to avenge the murder of my great-uncle Gaius Julius Caesar. That self-righteous assassin acted without considering the feelings of the Roman citizens, who grieve openly for the loss of their courageous leader. It shows that the citizens must have been content with Caesar’s rule, otherwise they would have rejoiced in the murder of such a “tyrant,” as the assassin would call him. This “liberator” is clearly as selfish and power hungry as he claimed his target to be. This man deserves a punishment equal to their crime. He should be killed and his body tossed into the Tiber as is the proper punishment for a criminal. This needs to be handled swiftly so we can move on to the next important issue by reading Caesar’s acta and putting into action those decrees. This way we can restore stability to the republic, as Caesar would want it.

Thank you.

Gaius Ocatvius