This free mini mock trial puts the Ides of March on trial. Brutus and the Liberatores stand accused of unlawfully killing a Roman magistrate. The prosecution argues that liberty cannot be defended by secret violence. The defense argues that when one man controls every remedy, legal forms become a mask. Your students argue it out, then vote.

Everything a student needs to speak is printed on the page in front of them. There is no reading assignment the night before, no vocabulary list, and nothing for you to prepare. Hand out the role cards and start.

WHAT’S INSIDE

A 45-minute run sheet timed to the minute, with a “you do this” column for the teacher at every stage
One simplified charge with three elements a student can hold in their head, plus a two-part necessity defence
A one-page case brief that teaches the Roman constitutional setup — no prior reading required
Four short witness affidavits (Antony, Casca, Brutus, and the tribune Marullus) with direct and cross questions already written out
Four mini exhibits, each with a prosecution use and a defence use printed side by side
Eight cut-out role cards covering the whole class — judge, clerk, attorneys, witnesses, jurors, press desk, foreperson
A juror ballot with element gates and a stop rule
A press desk page, three simplified objection cards, debrief questions, and an exit ticket

WHY IT WORKS IN ONE PERIOD

Most mock trials collapse under their own complexity or dissolve into invention. This one has a single rule that fixes both: witnesses may only say what is on their affidavit. “Objection — that is not in the affidavit” is one of the three objection cards, and it keeps a fast lesson historically honest.

WHAT STUDENTS ACTUALLY PRACTICE

Evaluating source reliability. Distinguishing what is legal from what is legitimate. Arguing from evidence to a specific claim rather than from opinion. Sitting with the fact that a defensible verdict can go either way — the debrief page is built around that, not around a right answer.

GREAT FOR

Ancient Rome and Roman Republic units · World History and Western Civilisation · Civics and government · Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (pairs with Act III) · Debate and speech · Sub plans · The last week before a break · Anyone who wants one genuinely good lesson without a weekend of prep

LOVE IT? THERE’S A GREAT DEAL MORE

This is the compressed version of Julius Caesar on Trial: Tyrannicide or Treason? — the complete kit turns the same material into a three-day, five-day, or eight-day unit with two counts, ten witness affidavits, twelve sourced exhibits, a full jury deliberation packet, a courtroom press corps packet, a differentiation guide, rubrics, an answer key, and a teacher guide with model arguments and two defensible model verdicts. Link in the listing.