Triumvir monetalis ĭenarius of Brutus, 44 BC, depicting the personification of Libertas and Lucius Junius Brutus with lictors. 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". īrutus' 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. Vettius was detained for admitting possession of a weapon within the city, and quickly changed this story the next day, dropping Brutus' name from his accusations. 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. Around 59, Brutus lifted this restriction by being posthumously adopted by one of his relatives, Quintus Servilius Caepio he was therefore known officially as Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, though he hardly used his legal name. Īs a result of his father's proscription, Brutus could not start a political career. 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". Some ancient sources refer to the possibility of Caesar being Brutus' real father, despite Caesar being only fifteen years old when Brutus was born. He had married Servilia of the Servilii Caepiones who was the half-sister of Cato the Younger, and later Julius Caesar's mistress. He later served as legate in the rebellion of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and was killed by Pompey in 77. īrutus' homonymous father was tribune of the plebs in 83 BC, but he was targeted by Sulla during his proscription. 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. Marcus Junius Brutus belonged to the illustrious plebeian gens Junia. The Capitoline Brutus, supposedly depicting Brutus' ancestor Lucius Junius Brutus who expelled the kings from Rome. 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. 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). After the defeat, Brutus committed suicide. The Caesarians decisively defeated the outnumbered armies of Brutus and Cassius at the two battles at Philippi in October 42. This led to a second civil war, in which Mark Antony and Octavian fought the liberatores led by Brutus and Cassius. 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. Popular unrest forced Brutus and his brother-in-law, fellow assassin Gaius Cassius Longinus, to leave Rome in April 44. 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. Brutus took a leading role in the assassination, which was carried out successfully on the Ides of March (15 March) of 44 BC. With Caesar's increasingly monarchical and autocratic behaviour after the civil war, several senators who later called themselves liberatores (Liberators), plotted to assassinate him. Pompey was defeated at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48, after which Brutus surrendered to Caesar, who granted him amnesty. Brutus eventually came to oppose Caesar and sided with Pompey against Caesar's forces during the ensuing civil war (49–45 BC). 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. Įarly in his political career, Brutus opposed Pompey, who was responsible for Brutus' father's death. He is often referred to simply as Brutus. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, which was retained as his legal name. 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC) was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. Marcus Junius Brutus ( / ˈ b r uː t ə s/ Latin pronunciation: c.
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