Great tumult and commotion followed; and, in their alarm, most of the
Senators fled. It was two days before the Senate met, the conspirators
meanwhile having taken refuge in the Capitol. Public sentiment was
against them. Many of Caesar's old soldiers were in the city, and many
more were flocking there from all directions. The funeral oration of
Mark Antony over the remains produced a deep impression upon the
crowd. They became so excited when the speaker removed the dead man's
toga, and disclosed his wounds, that, instead of allowing the body to
be carried to the Campus Martius for burial, they raised a funeral
pile in the Forum, and there burned it. The crowd then dispersed in
troops, broke into and destroyed the houses of the conspirators.
Brutus and Cassius fled from the city for their lives, followed by the
other murderers.

As a general Caesar was probably superior to all others, excepting
possibly Hannibal. He was especially remarkable for the fertility of
his resources. It has been said that Napoleon taught his enemies how
to conquer him; but Caesar's enemies never learned how to conquer him,
because he had not a mere system of tactics, but a new stratagem for
every emergency. He was, however, not only a great general, but a pre-
eminent statesman, and second only to Cicero in eloquence. As a
historian, he wrote in a style that was clear, vigorous, and also
simple. Most of his writings are lost; but of those that remain Cicero
said that fools might try to improve on them, but no wise man would
attempt it.




CHAPTER XXXV.