What name was given to the group of senators who assassinated Caesar?

The group of senators who assassinated Caesar was known as the Liberatores, meaning “Liberators.”

The name reflected the conspirators’ claim that they were freeing Rome from tyranny. They believed Caesar’s accumulation of extraordinary powers—especially his appointment as dictator perpetuo, or dictator in perpetuity—threatened the republican system. The label was political propaganda as much as a description: Caesar’s supporters regarded the assassins as murderers and traitors rather than liberators.

The conspiracy culminated on 15 March 44 BC, the Ides of March, at the Curia of Pompey in Rome. The leading figures included Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, and Gaius Trebonius. Ancient accounts suggest that roughly 60 or more senators were involved, although the exact number is uncertain.

Liberatores is the Latin form; English accounts often say “the Liberators.” The term is not synonymous with Optimates, a broader senatorial political tendency, or Triumvirs, the members of later power-sharing alliances. The assassination failed to restore the Republic and instead helped trigger another civil war.