The Associates of Brutus: A Prosopographical Study

Abstract

<p>Marcus Junius Brutus is chiefly known for his assassination of Julius Caesar. The consequences of this deed forced him and Cassius to leave Italy and defend themselves in the East against their enemies, the Triumvirate. This thesis focuses on all those who supported Brutus from the time of the Ides of March until the battle of Philippi. These men are collected and analyzed in terms of their interrelationships, and their relations to Brutus against the background of the society and history of Rome. It is argued that Brutus was the leader of a political factio which could trace its roots back to the opposition to Pompeius at the beginning of his career in 70BC. Also many individuals of various former political alliances joined Brutus because the political circumstances of the last decade made it necessary for them to unite against the Triumvirate. In this way, Brutus' associates were motivated by traditional socia-political motives and by situations characteristic of the end of the Republic. All dates are B.C. unless otherwise noted.</p>