![]() ![]() The incident kindled the flames of dissatisfaction over the tyrannical methods of Tarquin's father, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of Rome. 510 BC), anglicized as Lucrece, was a noblewoman in ancient Rome, whose rape by Sextus Tarquinius (Tarquin) and subsequent suicide precipitated a rebellion that overthrew the Roman monarchy and led to the transition of Roman government from a kingdom to a republic. Barcelona: Llotja de Mar.Īccording to Roman tradition, Lucretia ( /luːˈkriːʃə/ loo-KREE-shə, Classical Latin: died c. Titian's Tarquin and Lucretia (1571), a depiction of Lucretia's rape by Sextus Tarquinius Willem de Poorter's Lucrèce à l'ouvrage (1633), a less common depiction of Lucretia weaving with her ladies Dead Lucrecia (1804), by Catalan sculptor Damià Campeny. "Even though Suetonius favors the first version of Caesar's death - the one where he falls in silence - the idea that Caesar actually went down cursing Brutus is a Caesar I can believe in.For other uses, see Lucretia (disambiguation). "Teknon means 'kid,' and it's not a biological connection, but derogatory," says Tempest. In Greek, Caesar says, " Kai su, teknon," which translates literally as "You too, child." In Shakespeare's famous play, the line is written in Latin as " Et tu, Brute?" This literally means "And you, Brutus?" and is often taken as a vulnerable question: "Even you, Brutus?" or "You, too, my child?" But Tempest reads it as a curse along the lines of "Back atcha, kid," or "What goes around comes around." No question mark here rather, an exclamation. In the second version, Caesar was more defiant and had strong words for Brutus, the almost-son who delivered the final dagger. In the first, the dictator accepted his murder in silence, burying his head in his toga and collapsing into its folds. The historian Suetonius wrote two versions of Caesar's death. On the Ides of March in 44 B.C.E., Caesar was fatally stabbed 23 times in the Senate. The two daggers on the reverse differ to show more than one person was involved in the slaying.Ĭlassical Numismatic Group, Inc./Wikipedia/Public Domain The front of the coin features a portrait of Marcus Brutus. The Eid Mar ("Ides of March") denarius, issued by Marcus Junius Brutus in 43 or 42 B.C.E. Others argued that Mark Antony was too dangerous to keep alive, and that certainly came back to bite Brutus later." "If we kill Antony, we can't justify it on the grounds of murdering a tyrant. "Brutus said, absolutely not," says Tempest. What about Mark Antony, Caesar's right-hand man should they kill him, too? What do you do when a leader has too much power? Is it right to disturb a state of peace, especially if it leads to another civil war? That's likely how Brutus and Cassius hashed out their 20 or so co-conspirators in the Senate. Instead, it was the custom of the time to ask rhetorical questions to spark philosophical debate. "It's not something you can just drop into conversation - 'Hey, do you want to kill Caesar?'" "How did they identify suitable conspirators?" asks Tempest. "Caesar could say that his side was standing up for the Republic." "Caesar wanted someone with the reputation of Brutus on his side, because it gave him a form of legitimacy," says Tempest. Part of it might have been fatherly affection, but it was also savvy politics. Instead of punishing Brutus for his treachery, Caesar welcomed him with open arms. "It's hard to get behind that as a motive for war," says Tempest.īrutus fought valiantly for Pompey in the decisive Battle of Pharsalus, but as soon as it was clear that Caesar was going to win, Brutus was "the first to defect," says Tempest. Ultimately, Brutus made the difficult choice to back Pompey, who bowed to the authority of the Senate and relinquished his own powerful army, over Caesar who was selfishly fighting to protect his own dignity. ![]() It would certainly make sense that Brutus would side with Caesar, his mother's paramour and protector, over Pompey, whom Brutus refused to even speak with, according to Plutarch. His adversary was Pompey the Great, who sources say was responsible for the death of Brutus' father years before. In 49 B.C.E., Caesar refused to hand over his powerful armies to the Senate, provoking the Roman Civil War.
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