During his assassination Tullius grabbed hold of Caesar 's toga and pulled it down from his neck , which signaled to the other conspirators that it was time to attack . According to historian Suetonius , Caesar shouted out in Latin , " Ista quidem vis est ! " ( " Why , this is violence ! " ) when his toga was ripped down from his shoulder . Another version often parroted is " What is this ? Such violence against Caesar ! " which seems to emphasise Caesar 's ego as it implies both affront and shock that anyone would ever dare to attempt to attack him . However , historian Ploutarchos , does not mention anything about Caesar having said this . He claims that Caesar cried out instead " Ῥωμαϊστί ‘ μιαρώτατε Κάσκα , τί ποιεῖς ; ’ " ( " Accursed Casca , what does thou ? " or " Casca , you villain , what are you doing ? " ) in Latin when he was grabbed by senator Casca . This exclamation , however , is not reported by Suetonius . Ploutarchos and Suetonius described that they believed that the last sound Caesar ever made was simply a groan as he was slashed by a knife the first time . Although the utterance was suggested to be more of an aggressive " spontaneous curse " than any kind of sigh
assassination
Assassination of Julius Caesar
Last words of Julius Caesar