But in the midst of all these grand projects he was suddenly stricken down. Although the Romans disliked the thought of being ruled by a king, they preserved certain statues of their kings in some of the public buildings, and the ambition of Cæsar led him very foolishly to place his own statue among them. He also had a seat prepared for himself in the Senate in the form of a throne. On one occasion, when the members of the Senate were to come to him in a temple to announce certain decrees they had passed to his honor, Cæsar received them sitting upon a magnificent chair, which seemed a throne, so gorgeous was it; and he did not even rise to welcome them, as was the usual custom, thus showing that he would receive them as a monarch, who never rises in the presence of inferiors. This incident, small as it may seem, aroused much indignation. His statue was also found adorned with a laurel crown, to which was fastened a white fillet, which was an emblem of royalty. On another occasion, at a public entertainment, an officer placed a diadem upon the head of Cæsar, who pretended to be disinclined to receive it, and taking it off, it was offered twice again, and refused, when Cæsar sent the diadem to a temple near by as an offering to Jupiter. Although he thus appeared to reject the honor, his manner indicated that he only desired to be more warmly pressed to receive it. There was now formed a strong conspiracy against Cæsar, headed by Cassius, who had for a long time been Cæsar’s enemy. Cassius at last succeeded in persuading Marcus Brutus to join him. The plan was then divulged to such men as the conspirators thought most necessary to the success of their plot. It was agreed that Cæsar must be slain. They at length decided that the Roman Senate was the proper place. As it had been rumored that Cæsar’s friends were about to attempt to crown him as a king on the Ides of March, that day was chosen by the conspirators as a fitting one on which Julius Cæsar should meet his doom. Cæsar received many warnings of his approaching fate, and the soothsayers reported many strange omens which betokened some portentous event. One of these soothsayers informed Cæsar that he had been warned, by certain signs at a public sacrifice, that some terrible danger threatened his life on the Ides of March; and he besought him to be cautious until that day should have passed. The Senate were to meet on the Ides of March in a new and magnificent edifice, which had been erected by Pompey. In this Senate Chamber was a statue of Pompey. The day before the Ides of March, some birds of prey from a neighboring grove came flying into this hall, pursuing a little wren which had a sprig of laurel in its beak. The birds tore the poor wren to pieces, and the laurel fell from its bill to the marble pavement below. As Cæsar had been crowned with laurel after his victories, and always wore a wreath of laurel on public occasions, this event was thought to portend some evil to him.