 The conspirators, who styled themselves the "Liberatores" ("The Liberators"), had barricaded themselves on the Capitoline Hill for their own safety.Though they believed Caesar's death would restore the Republic, Caesar had been immensely popular with the Roman middle and lower classes, who became enraged upon learning a small group of aristocrats had killed their champion.Antony, as the sole consul, soon took the initiative and seized the state treasury.