The Death of Caesar by Jean-Léon Gérôme – Public Domain

The folly of assassinations is that they generate the opposite of what the assassin intended. Aside from the tragedy of taking a human life, there is a pattern of how assassinations work against what the assassins aim to accomplish.

Perhaps this realization could prevent assassins before they pull the trigger, if even a small amount of thought replaces the emotion driving the act. Here are six assassinations, spanning over 2,000 years to the present, that illustrate how the folly of assassinations has unfolded repeatedly.

Rome’s Dictator Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar’s assassination might be the most famous in history. He was the leader of the Roman Republic. He held the Roman consulship, which was broadly like being the US President with chief executive powers, subject to limits imposed by the Roman Senate. For four hundred years, the Roman Republic’s Senate chose who would serve as consuls, typically for a one-year term and sharing power with a co-consul.

Caesar broke Roman law when he led his army across the Rubicon River into Rome while serving as a top military governor. This was a treasonous act and sparked a civil war, causing many senators to flee Rome. Caesar defeated his enemies and increased the Senate’s size by appointing his supporters, effectively controlling the Senate.

Initially, Caesar obtained just temporary dictatorial powers from the Senate, a practice previously approved for past consuls. However, the Senate later appointed Caesar as dictator for life, and he referred to himself as the “Father of the Fatherland,” with coins bearing his image. The Republic was dying for all to see.

Caesar was assassinated by senators who aimed to restore the Republic’s authority and maintain their oligarchic control over Rome. Instead, a civil war erupted, destroying many of their businesses and resulting in higher tax payments. Caesar’s great-nephew Gaius Octavius fought his way to power, promising to restore the republic, which he did more as a symbolic gesture than a true source of authority.

As a result, wealth and power became concentrated in a single ruler—the emperor—with the Senate losing power, wealth, and respect.

Russia’s Tsar Alexander II

Two assassins from the terrorist group “People’s Will” killed Tsar Alexander II in March 1881. They hoped to see a populist revolution end the monarchy and replace it with a freely elected Constituent Assembly that guaranteed freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association. Their most radical proposal was to transfer all land to the Russia people and gradually transfer factories into the hands of the workers.

Tsar Alexander II was a liberal monarch who abolished serfdom, granting over 23 million people their freedom and rights as citizens. Although many remained indebted and bound to landowners, his reforms extended to the judicial system, education, press, and local government. Nevertheless, he used his absolute power to modify his reforms whenever it suited him.

Upon his death, his son Tsar Alexander III took the throne and consolidated power as an absolute autocrat, blaming his father’s liberal policies for the assassination. His father was tolerant towards Jews; he eliminated special taxes levied on them and........

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