In the first weeks of 44 B.C., Caesar was proclaimed "dictator for life." His life, though, wouldn't last much longer. Fearful that the concentration of absolute power in a single man threatened the republic's democratic institutions, dozens of senators who called themselves the "Liberators" plotted to kill the dictator. On March 15 in 44 B.C., Caesar was stabbed 23 times by conspirators who believed themselves to be saviors of liberty and democracy. Instead, the daggers they thrust into Caesar dealt a fatal blow to the already wounded Roman Republic.