The Roman Senate, electing Caesar consul for a third consecutive term, had given Caesar the title Pater Patriae ("Father of the Fatherland"), appointing him dictator a third time, then nominated him for nine consecutive one-year terms as dictator, effectually making him dictator for ten years.

He is also given censorial authority as praefectus morum (prefect of morals) for three years.

The unemployed Mark Antony, his career in eclipse since his appointment as Master of the Horse in 47-48, is chosen Caesar's co-consul for 44.

On February 15, during the Lupercalia festival, Antony publicly offers Caesar a diadem, an event fraught with meaning: a diadem is a symbol of a king, and in refusing it, Caesar demonstrates that he does not intend to assume the throne.

Continuing his reforms, Caesar issues an edict banning the nighttime movement of heavy wagons, Rome’s streets having been widened to accommodate their growing number, and begins planning the conquest of Parthia.