CLAS/HIST1631
Brutus
The Gracchi
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Brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus try to
reform Rome around time of Eunus' slave war
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Reassign 'public' land
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Reduce concentration of wealth in hands of few
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Provide settlement for dispossessed former soldiers
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Basis of the movement known as 'populares'
Both die trying, at the hands of crowds
summoned by senatorial opposition, 'optimates'
Failure to reconcile the differences they brought
up leads to the Roman Revolution, changing
government from rotating magistratices to
autocracy
The Fragmentation of the Republic
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Land reforms proposed by Gracchi violently
rejected
Senatorial elite react against any diminishing of
their authority
Polarization of the ruling classes into Populares
and Optimates
Politicians and others get used to taking sides,
often with bloody results
War Against Allies; War Against
Slaves
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War with Italian allies,
who wanted
citizenship
Only settled through
concessions
Slave rebellion of
gladiator Spartacus,
73-71
Extensive fighting in
Italy
Pompey Magnus 'The Great'
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Consul in 70, before
proper age
Eastern command,
wipes out pirates,
finishes rebellious
eastern monarchs,
captures Jerusalem
On return (61 BC),
senate won't let him
settle army
Julius Caesar
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Related to Marius on
mother's side
Made pontifex (chief
priest) in 73, after
distinguished military
career
Spends lavishly in
government
Provincial governor in
Spain
First Triumvirate
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On return from Spain, Caesar runs for consular
office; can't afford to lose (60 BC)
Allies himself with Pompey
Not an official alliance, due to mutual selfinterest
Sealed by marriage of Julia (Caesar's daughter) to
Pompey in 59 BC
Caesar hopes to have his back covered while in
his province, Gaul
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Caesar in Gaul
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Given provinces of
Gauls, this side and
other side of the Alps
Starts major war,
after almost a decade
conquers all of
modern-day France,
Belgium, even
reaches Britain
Needs continued
power to avoid
prosecution for irreg.
activities in
consulship
Civil War
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Julia dies 54
Pompey opposes
Caesar's run for office
in absentia
Caesar crosses the
Rubicon river
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“Alea iacta est”
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B. of Pharsalus
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Egypt and Cleopatra
Caesar, Dictator for Life
Detail of Text
Assassination of Caesar
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Progressive measures:
calendar, increasing
number of Patrician
families, colonies
Widespread
conspiracy
assassinates him in
Curia, 15th March 44
BC
Conspirators believe
they have restored
Republic; just delay
the inevitable
Caesar's Two Would-Be Successors
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Octavian, his barely-adult nephew to whom he
surprisingly left his wealth and name, adopting
posthumously
Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony), who was his
lieutenant and considered himself the true
successor to Caesar's glory
44 BC's 24 Hour News Cycle
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Compared to most history before 18th C., we
know a great deal about this year
Contemporary letters, sometimes multiple on one
day
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Cicero, hoping to restore Republic, but refusing to get
his hands dirty in assassination
The Turning Tide
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Popular love of Caesar out-weighs respect for
assassins
Antony and Octavian join forces and oppose the
killers of Caesar
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Gradual realization that they are in a corner: see letter
to Brutus on p. 58-59
Brutus, Traitor or Freedom-Fighter?
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Sadly, this flood of information rarely informs
discussion of the people involved
Brutus' life put him in the centre of the conflict
between popularist dictator Caesar and the senate
His personal life with Caesar was so close that the
latters last words were not 'You also, Brutus?'
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They were 'You also, my son'!
Son of Caesar
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Julius Caesar had no male offspring
Brutus might have been destined to mary Julia,
Caesar's only daughter
Brutus was like a step-son, because Brutus'
mother, Servilia, was Caesar's longstanding
mistress
Brutus' uncle – Servilia's half brother – was Cato,
the leading optimate, and a vigorous opponent of
Caesar at every turn
Sic Semper Tyrannis
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Lucius Junius Brutus was the last king-killer of
Rome, and Brutus' ancestor
Brutus studied in Athens and saw the statue of
Harmodius and Aristogeiton
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One thing the defeated Greeks and Romans could
agree on was the evil of tyranny
Brutus' Propaganda in Coin
Optimate Hypocrisy
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The optimates always talked of constitutional
matters, but never lost an opportunity to gain
wealth and power through their position in ruling
elite
E.g., Cato and Brutus' trip to Cyprus to organize
as province
On return, Brutus gets a law decreed that lets him
charge 48% on loan to city at Cyprus
Choosing Sides
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Civil War between Caesar and Pompey of 49 put
Brutus, like many others in hard spot:
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Family ties
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Values
Pompey was chosen as weapon of optimates
against Caesar, who they saw as having 'gone
rogue'
Pompey had been responsible for death of Brutus'
father
Yet nevertheless Brutus chose Pompey's side
Caesar's Victory Over Pompey
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Brutus chose the losing side at B. of Pharsalus
Pompey, Cato decide to go to Africa and continue
fight
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Pompey's killed by the king of Egypt, Ptolemy XIII
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Cato defeated in N. Africa; commits suicide
Miraculously, Caesar decided to offer clemency
to anyone who would return to Rome
Brutus takes governorship of Gaul from Caesar
The War of Words
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Brutus writes eulogy of Cato with Cicero
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Caesar writes anti-Cato in response
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Brutus became literally wedded to Cato: he
divorces in order to marry Porcia, daughter of
Cato
Imagine the dinner-table, with Servilia and Porcia
staring daggers at each other!
The Assassination of Caesar
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Brutus was the man of the hour, egged on by
Cassius
All these personal and self-interested reasons
intersected with political: Caesar had decreed
himself dictator for life
Took place at meeting of senate, but not in Senate
House but rather under statue of Pompey!
The Failing Counter-Revolution
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Cicero says the conspirators had “courage of men
and foresight of children”
Eventually they are driven from Rome and
defeated at Philippi in 42 BC
Cicero is killed by agreement of Antony and
Octavian