First in Recorded History: The Autopsy of Julius Caesar | A Body Bags Special Report

On March 15th in 44 B.C. Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, was assassinated by a group of senators who stabbed him 23 times during a Senate meeting.

The senators claimed Caesar's concentration of power threatened the Roman Republic. However, their efforts to restore the Republic failed, and the aftermath led to a civil war and the rise of the Roman Empire. His death also led to the earliest recorded autopsy in history.

In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and special guest co-host Dave Mack discuss the purpose of autopsies, Caesar's life, and leadership, the details of how he was attacked, the injuries sustained, and how this event shaped the course of history.

Show Notes:

0:00 - Intro

1:12 - Background and overview

2:35 - What’s the purpose of an autopsy?

4:05 - Caesar’s life and work as a leader

7:15 - The day of Caesar’s assassination

9:15 - How the attack happened

10:50 - Caesar’s autopsy

13:20 - After someone is stabbed multiple times does blood keep flowing or will it eventually stop after a few hours?

17:10 - Could the doctor have attributed Caesar’s death to blood loss?

20:10 - What was the assassination plan for Caesar? Were there other injuries and what was Caesar's condition afterward?

22:10 - Where was the autopsy done?

23:40 - The start of 3D modeling

25:30 - How this event shaped history

27:05 - Outro

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