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Marcus Junius Brutus

Marcus Junius Brutus

Overview
Marcus Junius Brutus (early June 85 BC – late October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a republican form of government. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, c...

. He is best known in modern times for taking a leading role in the assassination
Assassination
An Assassination is the targeted killing of a public figure.Assassinations may be prompted by ideological, political, or military reasons. Additionally, assassins may be motivated by financial gain, revenge, personal public recognition, or mental illness....

 conspiracy against Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius 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....

 in an attempt to take control of the Republic.

Marcus Junius Brutus was the son of Marcus Junius Brutus the Elder
Marcus Junius Brutus the Elder
Marcus Junius Brutus known by modern historians as Marcus Junius Brutus the Elder, was a Roman man who lived in the 1st century BC. He was tribune in 83 BC and was the founder of the colony in Capua. He was the first husband to Servilia Caepionis who was the elder half-sister of Cato the Younger...

 and Servilia Caepionis
Servilia Caepionis
Servilia Caepionis was the mistress of Julius Caesar, mother of one of Caesar's assassins, Brutus, mother-in-law of another Caesar assassin Cassius, and half-sister of Cato the Younger.-Life:...

. His father was killed by Pompey the Great
Pompey
Gnaeus 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...

 in dubious circumstances after he had taken part in the rebellion of Lepidus; his mother was the half-sister of Cato the Younger
Cato the Younger
Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis , known as Cato the Younger to distinguish him from his great-grandfather , was a politician and statesman in the late Roman Republic, and a follower of the Stoic philosophy...

, and later became Julius Caesar's mistress.
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Quotations

Escape, yes, but this time with my hands, not the feet.

Last words before his suicide after the Battle of Phillipi, answering his friends pleas to escape from Caesar Augustus|Octavianus (who later became known as Caesar Augustus).

Sic Semper tyrannis! (Thus ever to tyrants) said while stabbing Caesar

(Aside) That every like is not the same, O Caesar, the heart of Brutus yearns upon! Act 2 Scene 2 Julius Caesar- William Shakespear

Encyclopedia
Marcus Junius Brutus (early June 85 BC – late October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a politician of the late Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a republican form of government. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, c...

. He is best known in modern times for taking a leading role in the assassination
Assassination
An Assassination is the targeted killing of a public figure.Assassinations may be prompted by ideological, political, or military reasons. Additionally, assassins may be motivated by financial gain, revenge, personal public recognition, or mental illness....

 conspiracy against Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius 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....

 in an attempt to take control of the Republic.

Early life


Marcus Junius Brutus was the son of Marcus Junius Brutus the Elder
Marcus Junius Brutus the Elder
Marcus Junius Brutus known by modern historians as Marcus Junius Brutus the Elder, was a Roman man who lived in the 1st century BC. He was tribune in 83 BC and was the founder of the colony in Capua. He was the first husband to Servilia Caepionis who was the elder half-sister of Cato the Younger...

 and Servilia Caepionis
Servilia Caepionis
Servilia Caepionis was the mistress of Julius Caesar, mother of one of Caesar's assassins, Brutus, mother-in-law of another Caesar assassin Cassius, and half-sister of Cato the Younger.-Life:...

. His father was killed by Pompey the Great
Pompey
Gnaeus 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...

 in dubious circumstances after he had taken part in the rebellion of Lepidus; his mother was the half-sister of Cato the Younger
Cato the Younger
Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis , known as Cato the Younger to distinguish him from his great-grandfather , was a politician and statesman in the late Roman Republic, and a follower of the Stoic philosophy...

, and later became Julius Caesar's mistress. Some sources refer to the possibility of Caesar being his real father,. Brutus' uncle, Quintus Servilius Caepio
Quintus Servilius Caepio (son of Q. S. Caepio the Younger)
Quintus Servilius Caepio, was the son of Quintus Servilius Caepio the Younger and Livia Drusa, and the full brother to Servilia Caepionis mother of Caesar's assassin Marcus Junius Brutus....

, adopted
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another who is not kin and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...

 him in about 59 BC, and Brutus was known officially for a time as Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus before he reverted to using his birth-name. However, following Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, Brutus revived his adoptive name in order to illustrate his links to another famous tyrannicide, Gaius Servilius Ahala
Gaius Servilius Ahala
Gaius Servilius Structus Ahala was a 5th century BC politician of ancient Rome, considered by many later writers to have been a hero. His fame rested on the contention that he saved Rome from Spurius Maelius in 439 BC by killing him with a dagger concealed under an armpit...

, from whom he was descended.

Brutus held his uncle in high regard and his political career started when he became an assistant to Cato, during his governorship of Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon....

. During this time, he enriched himself by lending money at high rates of interest
Interest
Interest is a fee paid on borrowed assets. It is the price paid for the use of borrowed money, or, money earned by deposited funds. Assets that are sometimes lent with interest include money, shares, consumer goods through hire purchase, major assets such as aircraft, and even entire factories in...

. He returned to Rome a rich man, where he married Claudia Pulchra. From his first appearance in the Senate, Brutus aligned with the Optimates
Optimates
Optimates were the pro-aristocratic faction of the later Roman Republic. They wished to limit the power of the popular assemblies and the Tribunes of the Plebs, and to extend the power of the Senate, which was viewed as more dedicated to the interests of the aristocrats...

 (the conservative faction) against the First Triumvirate
First Triumvirate
The First Triumvirate was the political alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. Unlike the Second Triumvirate, the First Triumvirate had no official status whatsoever – its overwhelming power in the Roman Republic was strictly unofficial...

 of Marcus Licinius Crassus
Marcus Licinius Crassus
Marcus Licinius Crassus was a Roman general and politician who commanded Sulla's decisive victory at Colline gate, suppressed the slave revolt led by Spartacus and entered into a secret pact, known as the First Triumvirate, with Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus and Gaius Julius Caesar...

, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus
Pompey
Gnaeus 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...

 and Gaius Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar most commonly refers to:* Gaius Julius Caesar , conqueror of Gaul, dictatorGaius Julius Caesar may also refer to:...

.

Senate career


When civil war
Caesar's civil war
The 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 in 49 BC between Pompey and Caesar, Brutus followed his old enemy and present leader of the Optimates, Pompey. When the Battle of Pharsalus
Battle of Pharsalus
The Battle of Pharsalus was a decisive battle of Caesar's Civil War. On 9 August 48 BC, the battle was fought at Pharsalus in central Greece between forces of the Populares faction and forces of the Optimates faction. Both factions fielded armies from the Roman Republic...

 began, Caesar ordered his officers to take him prisoner if he gave himself up voluntarily, and if he persisted in fighting against capture, to let him alone and do him no violence. After the disaster of the battle of Pharsalus, Brutus wrote to Caesar with apologies and Caesar immediately forgave him. In his letter Brutus declared he was a strong supporter of democracy and continually pushed it throughout the letter. Caesar accepted him into his inner circle and made him governor of Gaul
Gaul
Gaul is a historical name used in the context of the Roman Empire in references to the region of Western Europe approximating present day France and Belgium, but also sometimes including the Po Valley, western Switzerland, and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River...

 when he left for Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...

 in pursuit of Cato and Metellus Scipio
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica
Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica was a Roman consul and military commander in the Late Republic. During the civil war between Julius Caesar and the senatorial faction led by Pompeius Magnus , he remained a staunch optimate...

. In 45 BC, Caesar nominated Brutus to serve as urban praetor
Praetor
Praetor 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...

 for the following year.

Also, in June 45 BC, Brutus divorce
Divorce
Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the final termination of a marriage, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between two persons...

d his wife and married his first cousin, Porcia Catonis
Porcia Catonis
Portia Catonis, also known simply as Porcia was a Roman woman who lived in the 1st century BC. She was the daughter of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticencis and his first wife Atilia...

, Cato's daughter. According to Cicero
Cicero
Marcus 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 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. The marriage also caused a rift between Brutus and his mother, who resented the affection Brutus had for Porcia.

Conspiracy to kill Caesar


Around this time, many senators began to fear Caesar's growing power following his appointment as dictator for life. Brutus was persuaded into joining the conspiracy against Caesar by the other senators. (In William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

's play Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
Julius 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...

, he also discovers messages written on the busts of his ancestors, which have been forged by Cassius to make Brutus feel as if he were doing the right thing for Rome. This, however, may just be dramatic license on the part of Shakespeare. There is no real evidence that Cassius ever planted phony notes.)

Eventually, Brutus decided to move against Caesar after Caesar's king-like behavior prompted him to take action. His wife was the only woman privy to the plot.

The conspirators planned to carry out their plot on the Ides of March
Ides of March
The ides of March is the name of March 15 in the Roman calendar. The term ides was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, and October. The Ides of March was a festive day dedicated to the god Mars and a military parade was usually held. In modern times, the term Ides of March is...

 (March 15) that same year. On that day, Caesar was delayed going to the Senate because his wife, Calpurnia Pisonis
Calpurnia Pisonis
Calpurnia 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...

, tried to convince him not to go. The conspirators feared the plot had been found out. Brutus persisted, however, waiting for Caesar at the Senate, and allegedly still chose to remain even when a messenger brought him news that would otherwise have caused him to leave. When Caesar finally did come to the Senate, they attacked him. Publius Servilius Casca
Servilius Casca
Publius Servilius Casca was one of the assassins of Gaius Julius Caesar in 44 BC. Though his family was loyal to Caesar, his brother Gaius even being a close friend of the dictator, both siblings joined in the assassination.-History:...

 was allegedly the first to attack Caesar with a blow to the shoulder, which Caesar blocked. However, upon seeing Brutus was with the conspirators, he covered his face with his toga
Toga
The toga, a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a cloth of perhaps twenty feet in length which was wrapped around the body and was generally worn over a tunic. The toga was invariably made of wool, and the tunic under it often was made of linen...

 and resigned himself to his fate. The conspirators attacked in such numbers that they even wounded one another. Brutus is said to have been wounded in the hand.

After Caesar's assassination


After the assassination, the Senate passed an amnesty on the assassins. This amnesty was proposed by Caesar's friend and co-consul Marcus Antonius
Mark Antony
Marcus 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...

. Nonetheless, uproar among the population caused Brutus and the conspirators to leave Rome. Brutus settled in Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km²...

 from 44 to 42 BC.

In 43 BC, after Octavian received his consulship
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic and Empire.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. An election occurred every year for new consul...

 from the Roman Senate, one of his first actions was to have the people that had assassinated Julius Caesar declared murder
Murder
Murder, as defined in common law countries, is the unlawful killing of another human being with intent , and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

ers and enemies of the state. Marcus Tullius Cicero, angry at Octavian, wrote a letter to Brutus explaining that the forces of Octavian and Mark Antony
Mark Antony
Marcus 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...

 were divided. Antony had laid siege to the province of Gaul
Gaul
Gaul is a historical name used in the context of the Roman Empire in references to the region of Western Europe approximating present day France and Belgium, but also sometimes including the Po Valley, western Switzerland, and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River...

, where he wanted a governorship. In response to this siege, Octavian rallied his troops and fought a series of battles in which Antony was defeated. Upon hearing that neither Antony nor Octavian had an army big enough to defend Rome, Brutus rallied his troops, which totaled about 17 legions
Roman legion
The 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...

. When Octavian heard that Brutus was on his way to Rome, he made peace with Antony. Their armies, which together totaled about 19 legions, marched to meet Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus
Gaius Cassius Longinus
Gaius 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:...

. The following battles are known as the Battle of Philippi
Battle of Philippi
The Battle of Philippi was the final battle in the Wars of the Second Triumvirate between the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian against the forces of Julius Caesar's assassins Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus in 42 BC, at Philippi in Macedonia...

. The First Battle of Philippi was fought on October 3, 42 BC, in which Brutus defeated Octavian's forces, although Cassius was defeated by Antony's forces. The Second Battle of Philippi was fought on October 23, 42 BC and ended in Brutus' defeat.

After the defeat, he fled into the nearby hills with only about four legions. Knowing his army had been defeated and that he would be captured, Brutus committed suicide. Among his last words were, according to Plutarch, "By all means must we fly; not with our feet, however, but with our hands."
Brutus also uttered the well-known verse calling down a curse upon Antony (Plutarch repeats this from the memoirs of Publius Volumnius
Publius Volumnius
Publius Volumnius was a 1st-century BC Roman philosopher, and a friend and companion of Marcus Junius Brutus who led the conspiracy to assassinate Julius Caesar...

): Forget not, Zeus, the author of these crimes (in the Dryden
John Dryden
John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.-Early life:Dryden was born in the village rectory of Aldwincle...

 translation this passage is given as Punish, great Jove, the author of these ills). Plutarch wrote that, according to Volumnius, Brutus repeated two verses, but Volumnius was only able to recall the one quoted.

Antony, as a show of great respect, ordered Brutus' body to be wrapped in Antony's most expensive purple mantle (this was later stolen and Antony had the thief executed). Brutus was cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing human remains to basic chemical compounds in the form of gases and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high temperatures and vaporization....

, and his ashes were sent to his mother, Servilia Caepionis
Servilia Caepionis
Servilia Caepionis was the mistress of Julius Caesar, mother of one of Caesar's assassins, Brutus, mother-in-law of another Caesar assassin Cassius, and half-sister of Cato the Younger.-Life:...

. His wife Porcia was reported to have committed suicide upon hearing of her husband's death, although, according to Plutarch (Brutus 53 para 2), there is some dispute as to whether this is the case: Plutarch states that there is a letter in existence that was allegedly written by Brutus mourning the manner of her death.

Chronology

  • 85 BC: Brutus was born in Rome
    Ancient Rome
    Ancient 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....

     to Marcus Junius Brutus The Elder and Servilia Caepionis.
  • 58 BC: He was made assistant to Cato, governor of Cyprus
    Cyprus
    Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country situated in the eastern Mediterranean, south of Turkey and west of Syria and Lebanon....

     which helped him start his political career.
  • 53 BC: He was given the quaestorship in Cilicia.
  • 49 BC: Brutus followed Pompey
    Pompey
    Gnaeus 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...

     to Greece during the civil war against Caesar.
  • 48 BC: Brutus was pardon
    Pardon
    A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. It is granted by a head of state, such as a monarch or president, or by a competent church authority. Clemency is an associated term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime itself. The...

    ed by Caesar.
  • 46 BC: He was made governor of Gaul
    Gaul
    Gaul is a historical name used in the context of the Roman Empire in references to the region of Western Europe approximating present day France and Belgium, but also sometimes including the Po Valley, western Switzerland, and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River...

    .
  • 45 BC: He was made Praetor
    Praetor
    Praetor 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...

    .
  • 44 BC: Murdered Caesar with other liberatores; went to Athens
    Athens
    Athens , the capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery; as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans around 3,400 years....

     and then to Crete
    Crete
    Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km²...

    .
  • 42 BC: Battle with Marc Antony's forces.

Influence

  • The phrase Sic semper tyrannis
    Sic semper tyrannis
    Sic semper tyrannis is a Latin phrase meaning "thus always to tyrants". It is sometimes mistranslated as "death to tyrants". It is most known as the official motto of Virginia and for its usage during the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and Julius Caesar....

    !
    ["thus, ever (or always), to tyrants!"] is attributed to Brutus at Caesar's assassination. The phrase is also the official motto of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
  • John Wilkes Booth
    John Wilkes Booth
    John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a popular actor, well known in both the...

    , the assassin of Abraham Lincoln
    Abraham Lincoln
    Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery...

    , claimed to be inspired by Brutus. Booth's father, Junius Brutus Booth
    Junius Brutus Booth
    Junius Brutus Booth was an English actor. He was the father of John Wilkes Booth , Edwin Booth , and Junius Brutus Booth, Jr., an actor and theatre manager...

    , was named for Brutus, and Booth (as Mark Antony) and his brother (as Brutus) had performed in a production of Julius Caesar in New York
    New York
    New York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

     just six months before the assassination. On the night of the assassination, Booth is alleged to have shouted "Sic semper tyrannis" while leaping to the stage of Ford's Theater. Lamenting the negative reaction to his deed, Booth wrote in his journal on April 21, 1865, while on the run, "[W]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." Booth was also known to be greatly attracted to Caesar himself, having played both Brutus and Caesar upon various stages.
  • The well-known phrase "Et tu, Brute?
    Et tu, Brute?
    "Et tu, Brute?" is a Latin phrase often used poetically to represent the last words of Roman dictator Julius Caesar...

    " ("Even you, Brutus?") was said to be Caesar's last utterance, although the sources describing Caesar's death disagree about what his last words were (if he said any at all).

Fiction

  • In Dante
    Dante Alighieri
    Durante degli Alighieri , commonly known as Dante, was an Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His central work, the Divina Commedia , is often considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.In...

    's Inferno, Brutus is one of three people deemed sinful enough to be chewed in one of the three mouths of Satan, in the very center of Hell, for all eternity. The other two are Cassius
    Gaius Cassius Longinus
    Gaius 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:...

     and Judas Iscariot
    Judas Iscariot
    Judas Iscariot, "Yehuda" ' was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve original Apostles of Jesus. Among the twelve, he was apparently designated to keep account of the "money bag" Judas Iscariot, "Yehuda" ' was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve original Apostles of...

     (Canto XXXIV). Dante condemned these three in the afterlife for being Treacherous Against Their Masters.
  • Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar
    Julius Caesar (play)
    Julius 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...

    depicts Caesar's assassination by Brutus and his accomplices, and the murderers' subsequent downfall. In the final scene, Mark Antony describes Brutus as "the noblest Roman of them all", for he was the only conspirator who acted for the good of Rome.
  • In the Masters of Rome
    Masters of Rome
    Masters of Rome is a series of historical fiction novels by author Colleen McCullough set in ancient Rome during the last days of the old Roman Republic; it primarily chronicles the lives and careers of Gaius Marius, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Pompey the Great, Julius Caesar, and the early career of...

    novels of Colleen McCullough
    Colleen McCullough
    Colleen 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,...

    , Brutus is portrayed as a timid intellectual who hates Caesar for personal reasons. Cassius
    Gaius Cassius Longinus
    Gaius 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:...

     and Trebonius
    Trebonius
    Gaius Trebonius was a military commander and politician of the late Roman Republic, a trusted associate of Julius Caesar who later participated in his assassination....

     use him as a figurehead because of his family connections. He appears in Fortune's Favourites
    Fortune's Favourites (novel)
    Fortune's Favourites is the third historical novel in Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series. In the United States of America, it has been published as Fortune's Favorites.- Plot Summary :...

    , Caesar's Women
    Caesar's Women
    Caesar's Women is the fourth historical novel in Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series, published on 21 March 1996.-Plot summary:...

    , Caesar
    Caesar (novel)
    Caesar: 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 Horse
    The October Horse (novel)
    The 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...

    .
  • Ides of March
    Ides of March (novel)
    The Ides of March is an epistolary novel by Thornton Wilder. It is, in the author's words, 'a fantasia on certain events and persons of the last days of the Roman republic... Historical reconstruction is not among the primary aims of this work'...

    is an epistolatory novel by Thornton Wilder
    Thornton Wilder
    Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. His best known work is his play Our Town.-Early years:...

     dealing with characters and events leading to, and culminating in, the assassination of Julius Caesar.
  • A fictionalized Brutus
    Marcus Junius Brutus (character of Rome)
    Marcus Junius Brutus is a historical figure who features as a character in the HBO/BBC2 original television series Rome, played by Tobias Menzies. He is depicted as a young man torn between what he believes is right, and his loyalty and love of a man who has been like a father to him...

    , portrayed by Tobias Menzies
    Tobias Menzies
    Tobias Menzies is a British stage, television and film actor, best known for his role as Brutus in the 2005/2007 TV series Rome.-Early years:...

    , is a major character in the TV series Rome
    Rome (TV series)
    Rome is an American-British-Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius, and William J. MacDonald. The show's first season originally aired on HBO in the United States between August 28 and November 20, 2005, subsequently being broadcast on the United Kingdom's...

    .
  • Brutus is an occasional supporting character in Asterix
    Asterix
    The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comic strips written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo . The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on 29 October 1959...

     comics. He is the main antagonist in the comic Asterix and Son
    Asterix and Son
    Asterix and Son is the twenty-seventh volume of the Asterix comic book series, created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo .-Plot summary:In this story, a baby boy inexplicably appears at the porch of Asterix's house one morning...

    . The character appears in the live action adaptations Asterix and Obelix vs Caesar
    Asterix and Obelix vs Caesar
    Asterix and Obelix vs Caesar or Asterix & Obelix take on Caesar is a Franco-Italo-German cult film, created by Claude Zidi, and released by 1999. The sequel, Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, was filmed in 2002...

    (played by Didier Cauchy) and Asterix at the Olympic Games
    Astérix at the Olympic Games (film)
    Astérix at the Olympic Games is a French movie, adapted from René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo's Astérix comic series. It was filmed essentially in Spain in the course of the year 2006. Its €78 million budget makes it one of the most expensive European movies ever...

    . In the latter film, he is portrayed as a comical villain by Belgian
    Belgium
    The Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...

     actor Benoît Poelvoorde
    Benoît Poelvoorde
    Benoît Poelvoorde is a Belgian actor.His first movie was the 1987 short student film Pas de C4 pour Daniel Daniel . It was a stylized trailer for a mock-spy film...

    . He is a central character to the film, even though he was not depicted in the original Asterix at the Olympic Games
    Asterix at the Olympic Games
    Asterix at the Olympic Games is the 12th comic book album in the Asterix series. Serialized in Pilote issues 434-455 in 1968 , it was translated into English in 1972...

     comic book. In contradiction with historical facts, he is implied in that film to be Julius Caesar's biological son.
  • Brutus is a recurring supporting character and antagonist in the TV series Xena Warrior Princess.
  • In "EMPEROR" the fictional book series which is surrounded by factual events and people by Conn Iggulden, Brutus is portrayed as a bold mischievous and humorous character that grows up as a childhood friend of Julius Caesar. Iggulden depicts Brutus as being envious of Caesar for many reasons which ultimately leads to the betrayal.


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