Theatre of Pompey
On the Ides of March of 44 BC, conspirators and non-conspirators met at the Senate House of Pompey, located in the Theatre of Pompey, for the senate meeting. Usually, the senators would be meeting at the Roman Forum, but Caesar was financing a reconstruction of the forum and so the senators met in other venues throughout Rome, this being one of them. There were gladiatorial games underway at the Theatre, and Decimus Brutus, who owned a company of gladiators, stationed them in the Portico of Pompey, also located in the Theatre of Pompey. The gladiators could be useful to the conspirators: if a fight broke out to protect Caesar, the gladiators could intervene; if Caesar was killed but the conspirators became under attack, the gladiators could protect them; and since it was impossible to enter the Senate House without going through the Portico, the gladiators could block entrance to both if necessary.