Decimus Brutus

Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus

For others with this cognomen, see Albinus (cognomen).

Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus (born circa 85 BC, died 43 BC) was a Roman politician and general of the 1st century BC and one of Julius Caesar's assassins.

Life

Early life

Decimus Brutus was a distant cousin of Julius Caesar, and on several occasions Caesar expressed how he loved Brutus like a son. Ronald Syme argued that Decimus, and not as it was later rumored the more famous Marcus Brutus, may have been the natural son of Julius Caesar.

Decimus Brutus spent his youth mainly in the company of Publius Claudius and Mark Antony. His mother was Sempronia Tuditani, wife of Decimus Junius Brutus who was consul in 77 B.C.E. He was adopted by Aulus Postumius Albinus, but kept his own family name, only adding his adoptive father's cognomen Albinus.

During the Wars

He was a legate in Caesar's army during the Gallic wars and was given the command of the fleet in the war against the Veneti. In a decisive sea battle Decimus Brutus succeeded in destroying the Veneti fleet. Using sickle-like hooks fitted on long poles, Decimus Brutus attacked the enemy's sails, leaving them immobilized and easy prey to Roman boarding parties.

When the Republican Civil War broke out, Decimus Brutus sided with his commander, Caesar, and was entrusted once again with fleet operations.

The Greek city of Massilia (present-day Marseille) sided with Pompey the Great and Caesar, in a hurry to reach Spain and cut Pompey off from his legions, left Decimus Brutus in charge of the naval blockade of Massilia. Within thirty days, Decimus Brutus built a fleet from scratch and secured the capitulation of Massilia.

Ides of March

When Caesar returned to Rome as dictator after the final defeat of the Republican faction in the battle of Munda (45 BCE), Decimus Brutus joined the conspiracy against him after being convinced by Marcus Brutus. However, Caesar continued to trust in Decimus Brutus and even mentioned him in his will.

In 44 BCE, he was made praetor peregrinus by personal appointment of Caesar and was destined to be the governor of Cisalpine Gaul in the following year.

On the Ides of March (March 15), when Caesar decided not to attend the Senate meeting due to the concerns of his wife, Calpurnia, Decimus Brutus persuaded him to go, dismissing Calpurnia's concerns. When Caesar arrived in Pompey's theatre for the Roman Senate meeting, Decimus and the rest of the conspirators attacked and assassinated him. According to Nicolaus of Damascus, Decimus Brutus was the third to strike Caesar, stabbing him in the side.

Consequences and Death

The assassins received an amnesty the next day, issued by the senate at the instigation of Mark Antony, Caesar's fellow consul. But the situation was not peaceful, Rome's population and the legionaries of Caesar's legions wanted to see the conspirators punished. The group decided to lie low and Decimus used his office of Praetor Peregrinus to stay away from Rome. The climate of reconciliation soon passed and slowly the conspirators were starting to feel the strain of the assassination. Thus, at the beginning of 43 BCE, Decimus Brutus hurried to his province and started to levy his own troops. He was ordered by the Senate to surrender his province to Antony but refused. This was the act of provocation to which Antony was only too happy to respond. With his own political situation on the verge of disaster and himself declared public enemy, defeating Decimus Brutus was a way for Antony to regain his ascendancy and get control of the strategically important Italian Gaul.

In 43 BCE Decimus Brutus occupied Mutina, laying in provisions for a protracted siege. Antony obliged him, and blockaded Decimus Brutus' forces, intent on starving them out.

Nevertheless, the consuls of the year, Aulus Hirtius and Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus, marched northward to raise the siege. Guided by Cicero, the Senate was inclined to view Mark Antony as an enemy. Octavian, the nineteen-year-old heir of Caesar, and already raised to the rank of Propraetor, accompanied Gaius Pansa north. The first confrontation occurred on April 14 at the battle of Forum Gallorum, where Antony hoped to deal with his opponents piecemeal. Antony defeated the forces of Gaius Pansa and Octavian, which resulted in Pansa suffering mortal wounds; however, Antony was then defeated by a surprise attack from Hirtius. A second battle on 21 April at Mutina resulted in a further defeat for Antony and Hirtius' death. Antony withdrew, unwilling to become the subject of a double circumvallation as Caesar had done to Vercingetorix at Alesia.

With the siege raised, Decimus Brutus cautiously thanked Octavian, now commander of the legions that had rescued him, from the other side of the river. Octavian coldly indicated he had come to oppose Antony, not aid Caesar's murderers. Decimus Brutus was given the command to wage war against Antony, but many of his soldiers deserted to Octavian. His position deteriorating by the day, Decimus Brutus fled, attempting to reach Macedonia, where Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus had stationed themselves. He left Italy, abandoning his legions, but was executed en route by a Gallic chief loyal to Mark Antony, becoming the first of Caesar's assassins to be killed.

Several letters written by Decimus Brutus during the last two years of his life are preserved among Cicero's collected correspondence.

In literature

In Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Decimus Brutus is mistakenly called "Decius".

In the 1993 Allan Massie book entitled Caesar Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus narrates his story and reason for joining in Caesar's assassination while being held captive by the Gallic chief.