The bust is off Gaius Julius Caesar, the man who, using his massive popularity after a series of successful conquests, did a little coup to become the first emperor of the Roman empire (Roman Republic up to that point and formally throughout his reign).

Contemporary sources say he was an excellent orator and commanded absolute loyalty from his men and some famous Latin quotes are originally attributes to him (eg "Aleia iacta est" - "The die is cast" when he initiated his coup by trespassing his army into the de militarized zone around Rome).

He died getting stabbed by a number of senators (the Senate being the Roman parliament) among which was his step son Brutus. Killing him was an attempt to save the Roman Republic but proved instead to be a catalyst that accelerated the rise of his adoptive son Augustus who then became the actual first emperor of the newly formed Roman Empire.

The meme implies that if he had skilled a little bit of block he might have survived the attempt on his life. However, he was stabbed a LOT, was completely unarmed and out numbered about 60:1. He would probably have needed a lot of cheese wheels to make it through that.

Common is a strong word - as a member of the aristocracy, his early service was as an officer on a general's staff.

However, he did, personally, save the life of a fellow citizen in combat during that period, for which he won a Civic Crown, so he wasn't just eating oysters and watching armies!