The name Marcus Junius Brutus is well-known in history, not least because of Julius Caesar’s dying remarks to him in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar. The real Marcus Junius Brutus was a leader of the group of conspirators who plotted against Caesar and carried out his assassination in 44 BCE. They thought they were restoring the Roman Republic after the bitter wars of the First Triumvirate. What they really did was ignite another round of wars in Rome.

Brutus and his supporters were known as the Republicans or the Liberators. Although it’s questionable whether their goal of restoring the Republic had a realistic chance of success, that was their proclaimed intent. Opposing Brutus, co-conspirator Gaius Cassius Longinus, and their supporters were two of Rome’s greatest figures. Marc Antony, whose own career was colorful and very interesting, was a general who had served under Caesar. Then, there was Octavian, Caesar’s adopted heir and the future Caesar Augustus, first Roman Emperor.

The End of Macus Junius Brutus

The downfall of the Republican forces came in October of 42 BCE. At the Battle of Philippi, in Greece, Antony defeated Cassius, who took his own life in defeat. That left Brutus to fight on against both Antony and Octavian. In a second encounter near the same location on October 23, Brutus suffered a decisive defeat as well, and killed himself rather than surrender.

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I wish I could write that this initiated a period of peace and happiness throughout the Roman world, but no. The defeat and death of Marcus Junius Brutus left Octavian and Antony without a common opponent. To govern, they soon teamed with a lesser figure known as Lepidus to form the Second Triumvirate, but it was no more harmonious than the first. Less so, in fact. Before long, Lepidus was out of the picture while Antony and Octavian warred for control of Rome. Octavian won, and by 27 BCE the Roman Republic had become the Roman Empire, in fact if not in name. (In case you were wondering, Antony followed today’s theme for defeated generals. He, too, committed suicide.)

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