Marcus Junius Brutus (character of Rome)
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| Rome character | |
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| Marcus Junius Brutus | |
| Name | Marcus Junius Brutus |
| Portrayed by | Tobias Menzies |
| Class | Patrician |
| Family | Servilia of the Junii (mother) Cassius (brother-in-law) Cato the Younger (half-uncle) |
| Allies | Gaius Julius Caesar(ep 1-3, 7-10) Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (ep 4-6) Marcus Tullius Cicero |
| Enemies | Gaius Julius Caesar(ep 1.4-6, 1.12) Mark Antony (ep 2.1) |
| Appearances | 1-1 "The Stolen Eagle" 1-3 "An Owl in a Thornbush" 1-4 "Stealing from Saturn" 1-5 "The Ram has Touched the Wall" 1-7 "Pharsalus" 1-8 "Caesarion" 1-9 Utica 1-10 "Triumph" 1-11 "The Spoils" 1-12 "Kalends of February" 2-1 "Passover" |
| Fate | Commits suicide in The Battle of Philippi |
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. The real Marcus Junius Brutus was the most famous of Julius Caesar's assassins, and one of the key figures in the civil wars that followed the assassination.
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[edit] Personality
A haughty and somewhat aloof young patrician; it is unclear which parts of Brutus' actions are done in favor of what he believes or what part of his actions are done in favor of what others expect of him. Brutus appears to lack all interest in politics at the beginning of the series, referring to it as "dull stuff" but his mother's ideals of what is expected of the family normally is the motive for him choosing the right path of the republic. However, he appears to have some of his own ideals of what is right and wrong, especially when he chooses to follow Pompey in the civil war despite his closeness to Caesar and his mother's choice to remain in Rome. Although later in the series when Caesar attempts to send him from Rome, Brutus says that had Caesar asked him for his allegiance "I would have judged you insane, but I would have given you my allegiance because I look on you as my father." Brutus normally finds himself torn between his duty to his family and his love for Caesar.
Although Brutus cares for Caesar, he suffers a significant moral quandary about Caesar's methods. Nonetheless, Brutus is willing to accept the fact that Caesar is the dictator. Brutus' final decision to assassinate Caesar, perhaps his most significant of the whole show, is more based on pique at Caesar's mistrust of him, and massive pressure from his mother, than on his moral principles which he had, absent the other factors mentioned, been ignoring successfully for some time. Even when he does finally kill Caesar; he does it half-heartedly and full of guilt.
Brutus's guilt continues to plague him throughout part of the second season when he begins descending into drunkenness. While in his stupor, Brutus continuously earns the ridicule of others when he tries to explain his part in Caesar's death. Brutus eventually seems to wash away his guilt of killing Caesar by bathing naked in a river and from then on seems less worried about his actions. After raising a considerable army with Cassius, Brutus's spirits rise considerably as they march back to Rome, having apparently come to terms with his role as defender of the Republic. The good humor does not last long however as he is soon defeated at the Battle of Philippi by the combined forces of Octavian and Antony. Unwilling to run when Cassius died, Brutus sadly walks towards the advancing enemy ranks and forces them to stab him to death in a scene reminiscient of the senators stabbing Caesar.
[edit] Character history
[edit] Season One
Brutus is the son of Servilia of the Junii, who is the lover of Gaius Julius Caesar. Brutus is also the direct descendant of Lucius Junius Brutus who founded the Roman republic. His father died when he was a child and was brought alone by his mother, although Caesar appears to have played a large part in his upbringing also. At the beginning of the series, Brutus first appears when he visits Caesar at his camp in Gaul, on the way home from visiting his cousin. Brutus appears to show a very real affection for Caesar, and Caesar appears to reciprocate these feelings and treats him as a father would a son. Upon returning home, his mother demands to know if Caesar asked of her at all; the fact that Brutus humorously teases his mother before giving her the love letter suggests that the affair has indeed been going on for so long that he finds no reason to question it.
While he is blindly loyal to his mother, the two of them often have disagreements, the first of them being over Brutus' career and his unwillingness to uphold family tradition. At a symposium, Brutus tells their friends that his mother is constantly nagging him to attend politics, to which Servilia retorts that it has been his family's tradition and duty for five-hundred-years, nonetheless Brutus appears to reluctant to follow in his ancestor's footsteps saying "It all sounds like dreadfully dull stuff" as well as comically stating that if their senate settled their political disputes by a single combat to the death, like the Germans did, then he would happily go and watch, suggesting that he genuinely isn't interested in politics. Nonetheless, he understands his duty to his family, especially when he decides to leave Rome with Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus when Caesar crosses the Rubicon, despite the fact that his mother decides to remain so that she might see Caesar.
Although he chooses to stay with Pompey and the other patricians who have left the city, including Marcus Tullius Cicero, who is Brutus' friend, and Cato the Younger, he still attempts to be reasonable when it comes to arguments about Caesar. For example, when Caesar writes to Pompey offering a truce, Brutus attempts to convince Pompey and Cato that because of Caesar's clemency in taking Rome by not corrupting his property or killing their friends. When Pompey manages to beat back Caesar armies and the others celebrate their break through, Brutus tells that he cannot celebrate it, telling them "Caesar's defeat if a glory, but I cannot celebrate it; he was as my father to me." Finally, when Pompey's armies are defeated, Brutus and Cicero both decide to surrender to Caesar. When Brutus and Caesar and reunited, while Caesar appears mockingly kind to Cicero, he appears to still show genuine affection for Brutus when he sees that Brutus is truly sorry, and both are forgiven.
Brutus returns to Rome but receives anything but a warm welcome from his mother, who is ashamed that her son accepted Caesar's mercy rather than take his life as her half-brother Cato later does after losing the battle of Thapsus. As a result of Servilia's coldness and distance, Brutus becomes very demoralized and is no longer as cheerful as he was at the beginning of the series. When Cicero proposes that Caesar be made dictator for a period of ten years, Brutus backs the motion, stating to Cicero just before that "The republic was old and infirm, death can be a welcome release." Caesar offers Brutus rank and favour, making him a Praetor and shows him public affection and friendship in the senate. This makes Brutus' relationship with his mother all the more strained, especially when Servilia writes a "Pro-Cato" notice in Brutus' name.
Eventually, the people become convinced that Brutus will kill Caesar and post graffiti all over the city (although this may have been Caesar's niece Atia attempt to incriminate Brutus, as she had previously done with Servilia and Caesar's affair using graffiti) and Cassius, Brutus' brother-in-law, attempts to convince Brutus that Caesar must die. Nonetheless, Brutus refuses to join a plot against Caesar, saying that he couldn't kill a friend and ignores both Cassius and Servilia's pledges to him. It is only when Caesar attempts to exile Brutus from the city by sending him away to govern Macedonia that Brutus finally sees that Caesar doesn't trust him, feeling hurt at Caesar's actions towards him and disturbed that he would use dictator’s powers to get rid of him. When Caesar explains that it would be foolish to ignore the fact that Brutus was on every wall with a knife at his throat, Brutus replies by saying: "Only tyrants need worry about tyrant killers! And you are no tyrant... haven't you told me so many times?"
After this argument, Brutus agrees to Cassius and Servilia's wishes and plans to assassinate Caesar. While the other senators attempt to come up with ideas to murder Caesar by bribing his cook and poisoning him, Brutus scolds them all saying that the death of Caesar isn't "some cheap murder" and that to make it honorable it must be done by their own hands. Brutus also insists that Mark Antony, Caesar's right-hand man and Lucius Vorenus, the new senator Caesar has appointed, must not be harmed. On the Ides of March, Brutus and the other senators involved in the plot attack Caesar on the senate floor, stabbing him to death. Brutus watches in horror to begin with as the other senators attack Caesar and it is only when Caesar is bleeding to death on the senate floor that Cassius forces the dagger into Brutus' hand and orders him to stab Caesar. Brutus kneels next to Caesar, both of them clearly heartbroken at seeing each other in such a state; he stabs Caesar and he finally dies.
[edit] Season Two
Unable to stand killing a man he once loved, Brutus hurries home and washes the blood off of his shaking hands while Servilia tries to keep him calm. Although Brutus seems confident that the transfer of power will be peaceful, Antony proves otherwise and politically maneuvers Brutus, along with the other conspirators (with the exception of Servilia), to leave Rome. Unwilling to give up, Brutus and Cassius set out to raise an army in Asia Minor but Brutus does so only half-heartedly, still depressed over his involvement in Caesar's death. As a result, Brutus begins to grow careless of his image and becomes a drunken beard-ridden wreck much to the annoyance of Cassius. After washing his sins free in a river, Brutus seems to recover from his guilt and begins to set out with much more rigor.
While in Asia Minor, Brutus receives an urgent message from Cicero: Octavian has taken control of Rome and is using his army to coerce the senators into declaring Brutus and Cassius enemies of the state. Cicero pleads for Brutus and Cassius to take their army and return to Rome in order to remove Octavian, who Cicero guarantees is weak. Overjoyed at going home, Brutus marches his men all the way to Greece before encountering the combined forces of Octavian and Antony. Even though Brutus and Cassius only have 14 legions to Octavian and Antony's 19, Brutus vouches to stay and fight, no doubt aware of his past cowardice. In the following battle, Brutus witnesses Cassius's final dying moments and the utter rout of their army. Unwilling to dishonor himself any longer, Brutus kisses his signature ring (passed down to him from his father by Servilia for good luck) and orders his men to save themselves. Brutus then walks towards the advancing enemy while stripping off his armor. Although the legionaries seem reluctant to attack him, Brutus forces them to strike by slicing the leg of one soldier earning him a number of stabs in a scene parallel to Caesar's death. During the aftermath of the battle, the viewer is alluded to the fate of Brutus's body by a peasant who severs off a finger wearing Brutus's ring.
[edit] Comparison with the historical Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus was the son of Servilia Caepionis and the tribune of the same name. He was the half-brother to Junia Tertia, who married his ally Gaius Cassius Longinus as well as having two other sisters. He was the nephew of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticencis, through his mother who was Cato's elder half-sister. Cato was also the father of Porcia Catonis, who was Brutus' second and most well-known wife (HBO: Rome's Brutus is known to be unmarried). Brutus' relationship to Cassius and Cato is not mentioned, and his three sisters and wife Porcia are omitted from the series completely.
It is known by means of record that historical Brutus' face was heavily poc-marked, though the HBO version has hardly any poor facial features, much less the scarring of pox.
No one has a clear view on what the historical Brutus was really like, although his personality and life is best recalled in Plutarch who describes him as an intelligent and well-read man saying that "There was practically no Greek philosopher with whom Brutus was unacquainted or unfamiliar..." as well as that, "In Latin, now, Brutus was sufficiently trained for narrative or pleading; but in Greek he affected the brevity of the apophthegm and the Spartan, of which he sometimes gives a striking example in his letters."
A majority of historians agree that it was Brutus' wife Porcia, rather than his mother Servilia, who may have persuaded him to participate in the assassination of Caesar.[citation needed]
Historically, Brutus committed suicide after the second battle of Philippi nearly 3 weeks after Cassius' death. In the series the events of the battles are concentrated and his death mirrors Caesar's; he is surrounded and stabbed to death by a throng of enemy soldiers. Interestingly enough, Plutarch recalls that Brutus' brother-in-law refused to retreat and died by charging into the enemy ranks without armour or sword.
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