Introduction:
Marcus Junius Brutus (/ˈbruːtəs/; Latin pronunciation: [ˈmaːrkʊs juːniʊs ˈbruːtʊs]; ), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was retained as his legal name.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Junius_Brutus
Date of birth: c.85 BC
Date of death: 23 October 42 BC
Unknown facts: Brutus’s mother was Caesar’s longtime mistress,during Caesar’s Civil War, Brutus picked the Losing side, he became Governor of Gaul in 46 BCE, Brutus divorced his first wife so he could marry his cousin, in his spare time, Brutus took up poetry, he tried raising money for Caesar’s assassins with food, coins complete with daggers were once issued in his honor
Source: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/62165/15-back-stabbing-facts-about-brutus
Life and career:
Early in his political career, Brutus opposed Pompey, who was responsible for Brutus’ father’s death. He also was close to Caesar. However, Caesar’s attempts to evade accountability in the law courts put him at greater odds with his opponents in the Roman elite and the senate. Brutus eventually came to oppose Caesar and sided with Pompey against Caesar’s forces during the ensuing civil war (49–45 BC). Pompey was defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48, after which Brutus surrendered to Caesar, who granted him amnesty.
With Caesar’s increasingly monarchical and autocratic behaviour after the civil war, several senators who later called themselves liberatores (Liberators), plotted to assassinate him. Brutus took a leading role in the assassination, which was carried out successfully on the Ides of March (15 March) of 44 BC. In a settlement between the liberatores and the Caesarians, an amnesty was granted to the assassins while Caesar’s acts were upheld for two years.
Popular unrest forced Brutus and his brother-in-law, fellow assassin Gaius Cassius Longinus, to leave Rome in April 44. After a complex political realignment, Octavian – Caesar’s adoptive son – made himself consul and, with his colleague, passed a law retroactively making Brutus and the other conspirators murderers. This led to a second civil war, in which Mark Antony and Octavian fought the liberatores led by Brutus and Cassius. The Caesarians decisively defeated the outnumbered armies of Brutus and Cassius at the two battles at Philippi in October 42. After the defeat, Brutus committed suicide.
His name has been condemned for betrayal of his friend and benefactor Caesar, and is perhaps only rivalled in this regard by the name of Judas Iscariot (famously in Dante’s Inferno). He also has been praised in various narratives, both ancient and modern, as a virtuous and committed republican who fought – however futilely – for freedom and against tyranny.
Marcus Junius Brutus belonged to the illustrious plebeian gens Junia. Its semi-legendary founder was Lucius Junius Brutus, who played a pivotal role during the overthrow of Tarquinius Superbus, the last Roman king, and was afterward one of the two first consuls of the new Roman Republic in 509 BC, taking the opportunity also to have the people swear an oath never to have a king in Rome.
Brutus’ homonymous father was tribune of the plebs in 83 BC, but he was killed by Pompey in 77 while serving as legate in the rebellion of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. He had married Servilia of the Servilii Caepiones who was the half-sister of Cato the Younger, and later Julius Caesar’s mistress. Some ancient sources refer to the possibility of Caesar being Brutus’ real father, despite Caesar being only fifteen years old when Brutus was born. Ancient historians were sceptical of this possibility and “on the whole, scholars have rejected the possibility that Brutus was the love-child of Servilia and Caesar on the grounds of chronology”.
A relative of Brutus, Quintus Servilius Caepio, adopted him posthumously around 59 BC, and Brutus was known officially as Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, though he hardly used his legal name. In 59, when Caesar was consul, Brutus also was implicated by Lucius Vettius in the Vettius affair as a member of a conspiracy plotting to assassinate Pompey in the forum. Vettius was detained for admitting possession of a weapon within the city, and quickly changed this entire story, dropping Brutus’ name from his accusations.
Brutus’ first appearance in public life was as an assistant to Cato, when the latter was appointed by the senate acting at the bequest of Publius Clodius Pulcher, as governor of Cyprus in 58. According to Plutarch, Brutus was instrumental in assisting the administration of the province (specifically by converting treasure of the former king of the island into usable money); his role in administering the province, however, has “almost certainly been exaggerated”.
Opposition to Pompey:
In 52, in the aftermath of the death of his uncle-in-law, Publius Clodius Pulcher (brother of his wife’s father), he wrote a pamphlet, De Dictatura Pompei (On the Dictatorship of Pompey), opposing demands for Pompey to be made dictator, writing “it is better to rule no one than to be another man’s slave, for one can live honourably without power but to live as a slave is impossible”. He was in this episode more radical than Cato the Younger, who supported Pompey’s elevation as sole consul for 52, saying “any government at all is better than no government”. Soon after Pompey was made sole consul, Pompey passed the lex Pompeia de vi, which targeted Titus Annius Milo, for which Cicero would write a speech pro Milone. Brutus also wrote for Milo, writing (a now lost) pro T Annio Milone,[c] in which he connected Milo’s killing of Clodius explicitly to the welfare of the state and possibly also criticising what he saw as Pompey’s abuses of power.This speech or pamphlet was very well received and positively viewed by later teachers of rhetoric.
In the late 50s, Brutus was elected as a pontifex, one of the public priests in charge of supervising the calendar and maintaining Rome’s peaceful relationship with the gods. It is likely that Caesar supported his election. Caesar had previously invited Brutus, after his quaestorship, to join him as a legate in Gaul, but Brutus declined, instead going with Appius Pulcher to Cilicia, possibly out of loyalty thereto. During the 50s, Brutus also was involved in some major trials, working alongside famous advocates like Cicero and Quintus Hortensius. In 50, he – with Pompey and Hortensius – played a significant role in defending Brutus’ father-in-law Appius Claudius from charges of treason and electoral malpractice.
In the political crisis running up to Caesar’s Civil War in 49, Brutus’ views are mostly unknown. While he did oppose Pompey until 52, Brutus may have simply taken a tactical silence.
Caesar’s civil war:
When Caesar’s Civil War broke out in January 49 BC between Pompey and Caesar, Brutus had a choice whether to support Pompey, whom the senate supported, or to join his mother’s lover Caesar, who also promised vengeance for Brutus’ father’s death. Pompey and his allies fled the city before Caesar’s army arrived in March. Brutus decided to support his father’s killer, Pompey; this choice may have had mostly to do with Brutus’ closest allies – Appius Claudius, Cato, Cicero, etc. – also all joining Pompey. He did not, however, immediately join Pompey, instead travelling to Cilicia as legate for Publius Sestius before joining Pompey in winter 49 or spring 48.
It is not known whether Brutus fought in the ensuing battles at Dyrrhachium and Pharsalus. Plutarch says that Caesar ordered his officers to take Brutus prisoner if he gave himself up voluntarily, but to leave him alone and do him no harm if he persisted in fighting against capture. After the massive Pompeian defeat at Pharsalus on 9 August 48, Brutus fled through marshland to Larissa, where he wrote to Caesar, who welcomed him graciously into his camp. Plutarch also implies that Brutus told Caesar of Pompey’s withdrawal plans to Egypt, but this is unlikely, as Brutus was not present when Pompey’s decision to go to Egypt was made.
While Caesar followed Pompey to Alexandria in 48–7, Brutus worked to effect a reconciliation between various Pompeians and Caesar. He arrived back in Rome in December 47. Caesar appointed Brutus as governor (likely as legatus pro praetore) for Cisalpine Gaul while he left for Africa in pursuit of Cato and Metellus Scipio. After Cato’s suicide following defeat at the battle of Thapsus on 6 April 46,[56] Brutus was one of Cato’s eulogisers writing a pamphlet entitled Cato in which he reflected positively both on Cato’s life while highlighting Caesar’s clementia.
After Caesar’s last battle against the republican remnant in March 45, Brutus divorced his wife Claudia in June and promptly remarried his cousin Porcia, Cato’s daughter, late in the same month. According to Cicero the marriage caused a semi-scandal as Brutus failed to state a valid reason for his divorce from Claudia other than he wished to marry Porcia. Brutus’ reasons for marrying Porcia are unclear, he may have been in love or it could have been a politically motivated marriage to position Brutus as heir to Cato’s supporters. The marriage also caused a rift between Brutus and his mother,[60] who was resentful of the affection Brutus had for Porcia.
Brutus also was promised the prestigious urban praetorship for 44 BC and possibly earmarked for the consulship in 41
Liberatores’civil war:
Preparations in the East:
The senate assigned Brutus to Crete (and Cassius to Cyrene) in early August, both small and insignificant provinces with few troops. Later in the month, Brutus left Italy for the east. He was acclaimed in Greece by the younger Romans there and recruited many supporters from the young Roman aristocrats being educated in Athens. He discussed with the governor of Macedonia handing the province over to him; while Antony in Rome allocated the province to his brother Gaius, Brutus travelled north with an army to Macedonia, buoyed by funds collected by two outgoing quaestores at the end of the year.
In January 43, Brutus entered Macedonia and with his army, took Antony’s brother Gaius captive. At the same time, the political situation in Rome turned against Antony, as Cicero was delivering his Phillipics. Over the next few months, Brutus spent his time in Greece building strength. In Italy, the senate at Cicero’s urging fought against Antony at the battle of Mutina, where both consuls (Hirtius and Pansa) were killed. During this time, the republicans enjoyed the support of the senate, which confirmed Brutus and Cassius’ commands in Macedonia and Syria, respectively.
Dolabella switched sides in 43, killing Trebonius in Syria and raising an army against Cassius.Brutus decamped for Syria in early May, writing letters to Cicero criticising Cicero’s policy to support Octavian against Antony; at the same time, the senate had declared Antony an enemy of the state.[108] In late May, Lepidus (married to Brutus’ half-sister) – possibly forced by his own troops – joined Antony against Cicero, Octavian, and the senate, leading Brutus to write to Cicero asking him to protect both his own and Lepidus’ family. The next month, Brutus’ wife Porcia died.
Cicero’s policy of attempting to unify Octavian with the senate against Antony and Lepidus started to fail in May; he requested Brutus to take his forces and march to his aid in Italy in mid-June. It seems that Brutus and Cassius in the east had substantial communications delays and failed to recognise that Antony had not been defeated, contra earlier assurances after Mutina. Over the next few months from June to 19 August, Octavian marched on Rome and forced his election as consul. Shortly afterwards, Octavian and his colleague, Quintus Pedius, passed the lex Pedia making the murder of a dictator retroactively illegal, and convicting Brutus and the assassins in absentia. The new consuls also lifted the senate’s decrees against Lepidus and Antony, clearing the way for a general Caesarian rapprochement. Under that law, Decimus was killed in the west some time in autumn, defeating the republican cause in the west; by 27 November 43, the Caesarians had fully settled their differences and passed the lex Titia, forming the Second Triumvirate and instituting a series of brutal proscriptions. The proscriptions claimed many lives, including that of Cicero.
When news of the triumvirate and their proscriptions reached Brutus in the east, he marched across the Hellespont into Macedonia to quell rebellion and conquered a number of cities in Thrace. After meeting Cassius in Smyrna in January 42, both generals also went on a campaign through southern Asia minor sacking cities which had aided their enemies.
Brutus’ depiction among certain authors, like Appian, suffered considerably from this eastern campaign: where Brutus marched into cities like Xanthus enslaving their populations and plundering their wealth. Other ancient historians, including Plutarch, take a more apologetic tone, having Brutus “cry in anguish at the sufferings of his victims” a common theme used by ancient historians “to turn an otherwise condemnable action [sacking cities] into something that could be praised or even used as a positive moral example”. The campaign continued with less sacking but more coerced payments; the ancient tradition on this turn also is divided, with Appian seeing eastern willingness to surrender emerging from stories of Xanthus’ destruction contra Cassius Dio and Plutarch viewing the later portions of the campaign as emblematic of Brutus’ virtues of moderation, justice, and honour.
By the end of the campaign in Asia minor, both Brutus and Cassius were tremendously rich. They reconvened at Sardis and marched into Thrace in August 4
Philippi:
The Caesarians also marched into Greece, evading the naval patrols of Sextus Pompey, Lucius Staius Murcus [de], and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. The liberatores had positioned themselves west of Neapolis with clear lines of communication back to their supplies in the east. Octavian and Antony, leading the Caesarian forces, were not so lucky, as their supply lines were harassed by the superior republican fleets, leading the liberatores to adopt a strategy of attrition.
Octavian and Antony had some 95,000 legionaries with 13,000 horsemen, while Brutus and Cassius had some 85,000 legionnaires and 20,000 cavalry. Flush with cash, the liberatores also had a substantial financial advantage, paying their soldiers in advance of the battle with 1,500 denarii a man and more for officers. Antony moved quickly to force an engagement immediately, building a causeway under cover of darkness into the swamps that anchored the republican left flank; Cassius, commanding the republican left, countered with a wall to cut off Antony from his men and to defend his own flank.
In the ensuing first Battle of Philippi, the start of the battle is unclear. Appian says Antony attacked Cassius whereas Plutarch reports battle was joined more-or-less simultaneously. Brutus’ forces defeated Octavian’s troops on the republican right flank, sacking Octavian’s camp and forcing the young Caesar to withdraw. Cassius’ troops fared poorly against Antony’s men, forcing Cassius to withdraw to a hill. Two stories then follow: Appian reports that Cassius heard of Brutus’ victory and killed himself from shame while “otherwise our sources preserve a largely unanimous account” of how one of Cassius’ legates failed to convey news of Brutus’ victory, leading Cassius to believe that Brutus was defeated and consequently commit suicide.
Following the first battle, Brutus assumed command of Cassius’ army with the promise of a substantial cash reward. He also possibly promised his soldiers that he would allow them to plunder Thessalonica and Sparta after victory, as the cities had supported the triumvirs in the conflict. Fearful of defections among his troops and the possibility of Antony cutting his supply lines, Brutus joined battle after attempting for some time to continue the original strategy of starving the enemy out. The resulting second Battle of Philippi was a head-on-head struggle in which the sources report little tactical manoeuvres while reporting heavy casualties, especially among eminent republican families.
After the defeat, Brutus fled into the nearby hills with about four legions. Knowing his army had been defeated and that he would be captured, he committed suicide by falling on his sword. Among his last words were, according to Plutarch, “By all means must we fly, but with our hands, not our feet”. Brutus reportedly also uttered the well-known verse calling down a curse quoted from Euripides’ Medea: “O Zeus, do not forget who has caused all these woes”. It is, however, unclear whether Brutus was referring to Antony, as claimed by Appian, or otherwise Octavian, as Kathryn Tempest believes. Also according to Plutarch, he praised his friends for not deserting him before encouraging them to save themselves.
Some sources report that Antony, upon discovering Brutus’ body, as a show of great respect, ordered Brutus’ body to be wrapped in Antony’s most expensive purple mantle and cremated with the ashes to be sent to Brutus’ mother Servilia. Suetonius, however, reports that Octavian had Brutus’ head cut off and planned to have it displayed before a statue of Caesar until it was thrown overboard during a storm in the Adriati
