8. Caesar’s Most Famous Assassin
Marcus Junius Brutus (85 -42 BC) is perhaps best known as the addressee of Julius Caesar’s final words and lines, “Et tu, Brute?” from Shakespeare’s play. He was the Roman dictator’s friend, the son of his longtime mistress, and the most famous of his assassins. Incongruously, Brutus’ father had been betrayed and murdered by Pompey the Great, so early in his political career, Brutus was an opponent of Pompey and the conservative optimates faction that supported him. Eventually, however, Brutus fought under Pompey’s command against Caesar.
After his father’s death, Brutus was raised by his uncle Cato the Younger, a conservative reactionary who became an avowed enemy of Caesar. Brutus initially supported Caesar but eventually thought he wanted to become a king – a position that Romans of his era greatly feared and loathed – and turned against him. When Caesar invaded Italy in 49 BC, Brutus went against him in the resultant civil war, joined the ranks of his enemies, and even became an ally of Pompey despite the fact that Pompey had killed his father.