Marcus Junius Brutus

Marcus Junius Brutus Caepio ( 85 BC – 42 BC ), or simply '''Brutus''', was a Roman senator of the late Roman Republic . He was one of Julius Caesar 's Assassin s.

BACKGROUND

Marcus Brutus was the son of Decimus Junius Brutus , a relatively unimportant politician, and Servilia Caepionis , half-sister of Cato The Younger and mistress of Julius Caesar . Some sources refer to the possibility of Caesar being his real father, but this is probably gossip because Caesar was fifteen years old at the time of Brutus' birth and the affair with his mother started some ten years after. Brutus' uncle Quintus Servilius Caepio adopted him when he was a young man and Brutus added his Cognomen to his own name. His political career started when he became an assistant to Cato, during his governorship of Cyprus . During this time, he enriched himself by lending money to desperate people at high rates of interest. From his first appearance in the Senate , Brutus aligned with the Optimates (the conservative faction) against the First Triumvirate of Marcus Licinius Crassus , Pompey , and Caesar. He had every reason to hate Pompey, who had had his father murdered in 77 BC , during the proscriptions by Sulla .

When Civil War broke out in 49 BC between Pompey and Caesar, Brutus followed his old enemy and present leader of the Optimates, Pompey. After the disaster of the Battle Of Pharsalus , Brutus wrote to Caesar with apologies and Caesar immediately forgave him. Caesar accepted him into his inner circle and made him governor of Gaul when he left for Africa in pursuit of Cato and Metellus Scipio . In the next year ( 45 BC ), Caesar nominated him to be a Praetor .

CAESAR'S ASSASSINATION AND ITS AFTERMATH

A conservative by nature, Brutus never concealed his convictions. However, it is now believed that he was a strong nationalist, and a fierce supporter of friends along bloodlines. He married '' ("And {Link without Title} you, Brutus?"). Suetonius stated that Caesar said, in Greek, ''και συ, τεkνον''? (transliterated as "kai su, tecnon", that is "even you, my child?") (''De Vita Caesarum'', Liber I Divus Iulius, LXXXII). Shortly after the assassination, the senators left the building talking excitedly amongst themselves, and Brutus cried out to his beloved city: ''Romanorum populus , nos es quondam iterum solvo!'' ("People of Rome, we are once again free!")

However, the city itself was against them, because most of the population loved Caesar dearly. Antony, a close friend of the dictator's, decided to make use of the circumstances and, on March 20 spoke angrily against the assassins during Caesar's funeral eulogy. Since Rome no longer saw them as saviors of the Republic and they faced Treason charges, Brutus and his fellow conspirators fled to the East. In Athens, Brutus dedicated himself to the study of Philosophy and, no less importantly, to the raising of funds to support an army in the coming war for power.

Octavian and Antony marched their army toward Brutus and Cassius. After two engagements at the Battle Of Philippi in 42 BC , during the first of which Cassius committed suicide, Brutus fled with his remaining forces. Seeing that defeat and capture was imminent, he committed suicide.

CHRONOLOGY

85 BC – Brutus was born in Rome

58 BC – assistant to Cato, governor of Cyprus

53 BC – quaestorship in Cilicia

49 BC – follows Pompey to Greece, during the civil war against Caesar

48 BC – Caesar complete

46 BC – Julius complete

45 BC – praetor

44 BC – murders Caesar with other senators; goes to Athens

42 BC – death

--- October 3 - First Battle Of Philippi – defeated Octavian, but Antony defeated Cassius, who committed suicide

--- October 23 - Second Battle Of Philippi – his army was decisively defeated; Brutus escaped, but committed suicide soon after. However according to the play ''Julius Caesar'', he whispered to his two men Clitus and Dardanius to kill him. They refused but eventually agreed to assist him. He fell onto his own sword and died moments later.

LATER EVALUATIONS OF BRUTUS

Dante considered Brutus to be the Epitome of shameful Betrayal , and in his ''Inferno'' section of the '' Divine Comedy '' (''Inferno'', XXXIV, 64-67), portrayed Brutus being chewed, but never consumed, by Satan , along with Judas Iscariot (who betrayed Jesus ) and Cassius at the very lowest level of Hell .

Shakespeare has Mark Antony describe Brutus as "the noblest Roman of them all" in the final scene of '' Julius Caesar ''. In modern productions of this play he is commonly portrayed as honorably motivated and his action Tyrannicide rather than Murder .

The phrase '' Sic Semper Tyrannis '' ("Thus always to tyrants") is attributed to Brutus at the assassination. It has been adopted as a motto by supporters of tyrannicide.

John Wilkes Booth , the assassin of Abraham Lincoln was inspired by Brutus. Lamenting the negative reaction to his deed, Booth wrote in his journal on April 21, 1865, " {Link without Title} ith every man's hand against me, I am here in despair. And why; For doing what Brutus was honored for ... And yet I for striking down a greater tyrant than they ever knew am looked upon as a common cutthroat."

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Marcus Junius Brutus