Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus (born 85?–81? BC, died 43 BC) was a
RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
politician and general of the 1st century BC and one of
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
's assassins.
Early life
Decimus Brutus was a distant cousin of
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
, and on several occasions Caesar expressed how he loved Brutus like a son.
Ronald SymeSir Ronald Syme, OM, FBA was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. Long associated with Oxford University, he was acclaimed as the twentieth century's greatest historian of ancient Rome.- Life :...
argued that Decimus may have been the natural son of Julius Caesar, not the more famous
Marcus BrutusMarcus Junius Brutus , often referred to simply as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic...
(another distant cousin),
Decimus Brutus spent his youth mainly in the company of Publius Clodius, Gaius Curio and
Mark AntonyMarcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and General. He was an important supporter and the loyal friend of Gaius Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia...
. His mother was
SemproniaSempronia refers either to the female form of the prominent Sempronius family, called the gens Sempronia, or to the women of that family. The family was said to be one of the wealthiest, well-connected and influential political families during the Roman Republic.The gens Sempronia was a plebeian...
Tuditani, wife of Decimus Junius
BrutusBrutus is a Roman cognomen used by several politicians of the Junii family, especially in the Roman Republic. The plural of Brutus is Bruti, and the vocative form is Brute, as immortalized in the quotation "Et tu, Brute?"....
who was consul in 77 B.C. He was adopted by
Aulus Postumius AlbinusAulus Postumius Albinus, was a politician of the Roman Republic, and second consul in 99 BC with M. Antonius. Aulus Gellius quotes the words of a senatus consultum passed in their consulship in consequence of the spears of Mars having moved...
, but kept his own family name, only adding his adoptive father's
cognomen Albinus.
During the Wars
He was a
legateA legatus was a general in the Roman army, equivalent to a modern general officer. Being of senatorial rank, his immediate superior was the dux, and he outranked all military tribunes...
in Caesar's army during the
Gallic warsThe Gallic Wars were a series of military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes, lasting from 58 BC to 51 BC. The Romans would also raid Britannia and Germania, but these expeditions never developed into full-scale invasions...
and was given the command of the fleet in the war against the
VenetiThe Veneti were a seafaring Celtic people who lived in the Brittany peninsula , which in Roman times formed part of an area called Armorica...
. In a decisive sea battle Decimus Brutus succeeded in destroying the Veneti fleet. Using sickle-like hooks fitted on long poles, Decimus Brutus attacked the enemy's sails, leaving them immobilized and easy prey to Roman boarding parties.
When the
Republican Civil WarThe Great Roman Civil War , aka Caesar’s Civil War, is one of the last politico-military conflicts in the Roman Republic, being the first step to empire...
broke out, Decimus Brutus sided with his commander, Caesar, and was entrusted once again with fleet operations.
The Greek city of Massilia (present-day Marseille) sided with Pompey the Great, and Caesar, in a hurry to reach Spain and cut Pompey off from his legions, left Decimus Brutus in charge of the naval blockade of Massilia. Within thirty days, Decimus Brutus built a fleet from scratch and secured the capitulation of Massilia.
Ides of March
When Caesar returned to Rome as
dictatorIn the Roman Republic, the dictator , was an extraordinary magistrate with the absolute authority to perform tasks beyond the authority of the ordinary magistrate . The office of dictator was a legal innovation originally named Magister Populi , i.e...
after the final defeat of the Republican faction in the
battle of MundaThe Battle of Munda took place on March 17, 45 BC in the plains of Munda, modern southern Spain. This was the last battle of Julius Caesar's civil war against the conservative republicans. After this victory, and the death of Titus Labienus and Gnaeus Pompeius , Caesar was free to return to Rome...
(45 BC), Decimus Brutus joined the conspiracy against him after being convinced by Marcus Brutus. However, Caesar continued to trust in Decimus Brutus and even mentioned him in his will.
In 44 BC, he was made
praetorPraetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, either before it was mustered or more typically in the field, or an elected magistrate assigned duties that varied depending on the historical period. The...
peregrinus by personal appointment of Caesar and was destined to be the governor of
Cisalpine GaulCisalpine Gaul was the Roman name for a geographical area , in the territory of modern-day northern Italy , inhabited by the Celts.Sometimes referred to...
in the following year.
On the
Ides of MarchThe Roman calendar changed its form several times in the time between the foundation of Rome and the fall of the Roman Empire. This article generally discusses the early Roman or pre-Julian calendars...
(March 15), when Caesar decided not to attend the Senate meeting due to the concerns of his wife,
CalpurniaCalpurnia Pisonis , daughter of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, was a Roman woman, third and last wife of Julius Caesar. She was sister of Lucius Calpurnius Piso "the Pontifex". They married in 59 BC with no children resulting from the union...
, Decimus Brutus persuaded him to go, dismissing Calpurnia's concerns. When Caesar arrived in
PompeyGnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey /'pɑmpi/, Pompey the Great or Pompey the Triumvir , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...
's
theatreThe Theatre of Pompey was a structure in Ancient Rome, built during the later part of the Roman Republican era. It was completed in seven years, starting from 61 BC, and was dedicated early in 55 BC before the structure was fully completed...
for the
Roman SenateThe Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government...
meeting, Decimus and the rest of the conspirators attacked and assassinated him. According to
Nicolaus of DamascusNicolaus of Damascus was a Greek historian and philosopher who lived during the Augustan age of the Roman Empire. His name is derived from that of his birthplace, Damascus. He was born around 64 BC....
, Decimus Brutus was the third to strike Caesar, stabbing him in the side.
Consequences and Death
The assassins received an amnesty the next day, issued by the senate at the instigation of
Mark AntonyMarcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and General. He was an important supporter and the loyal friend of Gaius Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia...
, Caesar's fellow
consul-Ancient Rome:During the time of ancient Rome as a Republic, the consuls were the highest civil and military magistrates, serving as the heads of government for the Republic. New consuls were elected every year. There were two consuls, and they ruled together...
. But the situation was not peaceful, Rome's population and the
legionariesThe Roman legionary was a professional soldier of the Roman army after the Marian reforms of 107 BC. Legionaries had to be Roman citizens under the age of 45. They enlisted in a legion for twenty-five years of service, a change from the early practice of enlisting only for a campaign...
of Caesar's
legionsThe Roman legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the...
wanted to see the conspirators punished. The group decided to lie low and Decimus used his office of Praetor Peregrinus to stay away from Rome. The climate of reconciliation soon passed and slowly the conspirators were starting to feel the strain of the assassination. Thus, at the beginning of 43 BC, Decimus Brutus hurried to Gallia Cisalpina, the
provinceIn Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of the Italian peninsula...
assigned to him as pro-praetor, and started to levy his own troops. He was ordered by the Senate to surrender his province to Antony but refused. This was the act of provocation to which Antony was only too happy to respond. With his own political situation on the verge of disaster and himself declared public enemy, defeating Decimus Brutus was a way for Antony to regain his ascendancy and get control of the strategically important Italian Gaul.
In 43 BC Decimus Brutus occupied Mutina, laying in provisions for a protracted siege. Antony obliged him, and blockaded Decimus Brutus' forces, intent on starving them out.
Nevertheless, the consuls of the year,
Aulus HirtiusAulus Hirtius was one of the consuls of the Roman Republic and a writer on military subjects.He was known to have been a legate of Caesar's since about 54 BC, and served as an envoy to Pompey in 50. During the Roman Civil Wars he served in Spain, he might have been a tribune in 48, and in 47 was...
and
Gaius Vibius Pansa CaetronianusGaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus , consul of the Roman Republic in 43 BC. He supported Gaius Julius Caesar in the Civil War.Tribune in 51 BC, during the civil war between Julius Caesar and Pompey, he joined the cause of the Caesarians...
, marched northward to raise the siege. Guided by
CiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. Cicero is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.Cicero is generally perceived to be one of the most versatile minds of ancient Rome...
, the Senate was inclined to view Mark Antony as an enemy.
OctavianGaius Julius Caesar Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in AD 14.
[These are the contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian after 45 BC...]
, the nineteen-year-old heir of Caesar, and already raised to the rank of Propraetor, accompanied Gaius Pansa north. The first confrontation occurred on April 14 at the
battle of Forum GallorumThe Battle of Forum Gallorum was fought near a village in northern Italy , on April 14, 43 BC, between the forces of Mark Antony and the legions of the Roman Republic under the overall command of consul Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus, aided by Aulus Hirtius and the untested Octavian...
, where Antony hoped to deal with his opponents piecemeal. Antony defeated the forces of Gaius Pansa and Octavian, which resulted in Pansa suffering mortal wounds; however, Antony was then defeated by a surprise attack from Hirtius. A second battle on 21 April at
MutinaThe Battle of Mutina was fought on April 21, 43 BC between the forces of Mark Antony and the forces of Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus and Aulus Hirtius, who were providing aid to one of Caesar's assassins, Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus.-Prelude:...
resulted in a further defeat for Antony and Hirtius' death. Antony withdrew, unwilling to become the subject of a double circumvallation as Caesar had done to Vercingetorix at
AlesiaAlesia may refer to:France*Alesia , an ancient city in Gaul**Battle of Alesia*Alésia , a station in the Paris Métro*Rue d'Alésia, Paris*Le quartier Alésia, an unofficial district of Paris that mostly overlaps Petit-Montrouge...
.
With the siege raised, Decimus Brutus cautiously thanked Octavian, now commander of the legions that had rescued him, from the other side of the river. Octavian coldly indicated he had come to oppose Antony, not aid Caesar's murderers. Decimus Brutus was given the command to wage war against Antony, but many of his soldiers deserted to Octavian. His position deteriorating by the day, Decimus Brutus fled Italy, abandoning his legions. He attempted to reach
MacedoniaThe Roman province of Macedonia was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated Andriscus of Macedon, the last Ancient King of Macedon in 148 BC, and after the four client republics established by Rome in the region were dissolved...
, where
Marcus Junius BrutusMarcus Junius Brutus , often referred to simply as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic...
and
Gaius Cassius LonginusGaius Cassius Longinus was a Roman senator, a leading instigator of the plot to kill Julius Caesar, and the brother in-law of Marcus Brutus.-Early life:...
had stationed themselves but was executed en route by a Gallic chief loyal to Mark Antony, becoming the first of Caesar's assassins to be killed.
Several letters written by Decimus Brutus during the last two years of his life are preserved among Cicero's collected correspondence.
In literature
In Shakespeare's
Julius CaesarJulius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the conspiracy against the Roman dictator of the same name, his assassination and its aftermath...
, Decimus Brutus is mistakenly called "Decius".
In
Allan MassieAllan Massie is a well-known Scottish journalist and novelist.-Early life:Born in 1938 in Singapore, where his father was a rubber planter for Sime Darby, Massie spent his childhood in Aberdeenshire...
's 1993 book entitled
Caesar, Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus narrates his story and reason for joining in Caesar's assassination while being held captive by the Gallic chief.
Decimus Brutus is an important character in
CaesarCaesar: Let the Dice Fly is the fifth historical novel in Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series.-Plot summary:The novel opens in 54 BC, with Caesar in the middle of his epochal Gallic campaigns, having just invaded Britannia...
and
The October HorseThe October Horse is the sixth novel in Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series.-Plot introduction:The book begins with Gaius Julius Caesar's Egyptian campaign in Alexandria, his final battles with the Republicans led by Metellus Scipio, Cato the Younger, Titus Labienus and the brothers...
by
Colleen McCulloughColleen McCullough-Robinson, Order of Australia, is an internationally acclaimed Australian author.-Life:McCullough was born in Wellington, in outback central west New South Wales, in 1937 to James and Laurie McCullough.. Her mother was a New Zealander of part-Maori descent. During her childhood,...
. In these novels, he and Gaius Trebonius are portrayed as the real leaders of the assassination conspiracy.