Rome opens ancient square where Julius Caesar was assassinated

ROME –

History buffs can walk close to the spot where, according to legend, Julius Caesar met his bloody end, when Rome’s authorities opened a new footbridge on the ancient site on Tuesday.

Accounts, embellished by William Shakespeare, tell how the Roman dictator was stabbed to death by a group of aggrieved senators on the Ides of March – March 15 – in 44 BC.

Tradition has it that he died in the capital’s central Largo Argentina square, home to the remains of four temples.

All are currently below street level and until recently could only be seen from behind barriers near a busy intersection.

From Tuesday, visitors can move through the grounds via the footbridge on the ground floor and view the structures up close.

Italian fashion house Bulgari funded the work on a site first discovered and excavated during construction work in Rome in the 1920s.

The area – close to where Caesar is said to have exclaimed “Et tu, Brute?” when he saw his friend Brutus among his killers – is also today home to a sanctuary for stray cats.

Non-residents pay 5 euros to visit it.

(Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Andrew Heavens)