Lepidus Convenes the Senate

Inasmuch as it may be good and fortunate for the Roman people of the Quirites, we bring before you, conscript fathers, the matter of the death of Caesar. More specifically, we bring before you the matter of what to do with the body of Caesar. Some of you, conscript fathers, will argue that his body should indeed be given every funerary honor possible. You will argue that his body deserves to be displayed for all the public to view and worship, and all the while funeral games be played in his honor, all of which will end with his body being gloriously burned upon a funeral pyre as is proper for such a leader as Caesar. Others of you will demand that his body be thrown in the Tiber River, disgraced as a criminal and thief of Rome, with no more respect for his leadership as for the escape of a criminal or thief from his rightful death. Yet it is you who should be thrown in the Tiber as criminals. Not only did you take an oath to protect Caesar, but you also legally elected him dictator, as all the senators here elected him dictator. With the utmost disregard to your own oaths and the elections decided through senatorial procedure, you chose to brutally stab him to death, in a holy temple no less. At the Theater of Pompey you swarmed him, as much in the menacing manner of a group of lions as if he were a single, defenseless sheep. Some of you, conscript fathers, have “liberated” the rest of us from Caesar’s legally appointed reign.

Now, with his reign having been brutally cut short, it is my duty to step into the position that Caesar’s death has left vacant. It is only proper that I now assume Caesar’s position, a position with which I have been so closely associated. As Magister Equitum, master of the horses, I served as Caesar’s right hand man. I have control of the Roman troops and cavalry, and I am ready to use those troops to defend the honor of Rome at all costs. With me as leader, Rome will not only be safe, but will also be restored to its former glory, the glory of Rome that was in effect even before the reign of Caesar. Yet, as is proper for a leader of such relevance as Caesar, we, conscript fathers, must give this leader a proper funeral, with every honor with which any other glorious leader would be honored. However, every senator’s opinion must be heard on the matter of what to do with Caesar’s body. So, then, I must ask: what does it please you should be done about this matter?