Marcus Junius Brutus: History's Most Infamous Betrayal

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[michaelsinger]

Caesar’s enemies MASSIVELY miscalculated how his death would be received by the people of Rome.

It backfired spectacularly on them in the end.

[martijnstuart]

Marc Anthony's speech at Caesar's funeral is one of the all time greatest political masterstrokes. He used the plebians love for Caesar and turned it into anger towards the assassins. He masterfully let Brutus speak first and pretty much confess to the murder and turned around and spat in his face. The conspirators were lucky they didn't die right then and there.

[IooCMGooI]

i feel like a kid on christmas when a new ancient roman biographics comes out

[ignitionfrn]

3:30 - Chapter 1 - Early years
7:00 - Chapter 2 - War with caesar
12:05 - Chapter 3 - Sic semper tyrannis
15:50 - Chapter 4 - The liberator's war
- Chapter 5 -
- Chapter 6 -

[devinjohnson]

He’s covered Benedict, he’s covered Quisling, and now he’s covered Brutus. Now Simon must cover the one and only Judas Iscariot.

[twocvbloke]

I've often wondered why some people call their dogs "Brutus", and now I wonder even more considering that a "son" had killed his possible father, much like an untrained dog attacks its' owner...

[KaasIsLekker]

If they used magic spoons instead of knifes ceasear would have never died....

[PhillipPlus]

Glad to see the next video! Could you do videos on Sulla and Aurelian?

[Victor_Andrei]

Caesar wasn't an emperor, at least not on paper, but he did absolutely ace a most important imperial task: naming a good heir.

[redwolfkun]

This video has a few errors and inconsistencies with actual events so just to clarify them - 1. Pompey was never really aligned with a political party however the conservatives had helped him secure a second consulship when they asked him to restore order to Rome when it was being overrun by Clodius’ street gangs.
2. Caesar did not have immunity from his previous consulship alone, consuls, tribunes and other political offices were immune to prosecution for the duration of their terms. This also extended to governorships, after Caesars term as consul he was made governor of Gaul and was immune to prosecution whilst he held the role of governor, this is important.
3. The Senate didn’t want to prosecute Caesar over his war in Gaul (though it was not supported by the Senate) rather when Caesar was Consul of Rome he passed legislation whilst the other sitting consul was exercising his veto, this was illegal within the Roman constitution and made much of Caesars legislation passed during his term illegal. Additionally there were rumours of Caesar using street gangs to effect the outcome of elections during his term and this was also illegal.
4. It was the illegal nature of Caesars proceedings whilst he was consul which is what the conservative faction of the senate wanted to prosecute him for Cato was renown for saying he would personally lead the prosecution against Caesar when he returned from Gaul.
(Footnote - you were only allowed to run for consul every 10 years in Rome after which you be given another governorship)
5. Caesars original term in Gaul was only meant to be 5 years but he had the senate extend it, this would allow him to retain his legal immunity till he was going to run for consul again. The senate agreed (thanks to Pompey) however this would be what lead to the civil war ultimately. Towards the end of his term in Gaul Caesars would request whether he could announce his intention to run for Consul whilst outside of the - (something to mention is that active Generals were not allowed in Rome and to cross the pomerium as a soldier was illegal and punishable by death. To announce his candidacy Caesar would have to enter Rome as a private citizen which would have led to him being arrested.) To this end Caesar requested to run in absentia (basically to announce his candidacy whilst remaining a governor so he would retain his immunity till after the election which he likely would have won.) the senate refused and then begun to argue when his 2nd term as governor of Gaul actually began. This is a long story so to shorten it somewhat, The senate argued that his 2nd term begun when he first requested it and Caesar argued it begun after his first term ended. The legislation was unclear on the act so this became a huge talking for the populists vs the optimates.
6. Pompey was not necessarily Caesars enemy just a political opponent and didn’t immediately renounce Caesar there were several debates to find a solution peacefully where Cicero (a fairly important politician) almost found a peaceful resolution which ultimately fell through. Pompey would be attacked in the street by thugs and retreat inside his house for several months before deciding to face Caesar.
7. Brutus and his conspirators had to only assassinate Caesar because they were portraying it as killing a tyrant rather than a political uprising. Caesars legislation was popular with the plebeian class and his many victories in the field were viewed favourably within the city of Rome.
8. Brutus and his conspirators had initially considered bringing Mark Anthony on board with their plan but were advised against it. He was seen as too loyal to Caesar. During Caesars actual assassination Mark Anthony would be distracted outside the place they were meeting so he couldn’t aid Caesar.
9. Caesar was not killed in the senate house but rather the temple of Pompey - the senate was being rebuilt during that time after being burnt down when Clodius died several years earlier. The Roman senate had been meeting in various places since then which made it hard for the conspirators to lock down a time and place.
10. Most of Caesars wounds were superficial and he would have survived had he received treatment it is believed that a gash in his groin (delivered by Casca) is what led him to bleed to death over a period of time. There is also a possibility that many of his wounds were posthumous as senators may have wanted to play up their role in the death of a tyrant.
Here are some other footnotes that explain a lot more - Caesar and Brutus remained good friends throughout the civil war. Brutus siding with the conservatives was seen more as duty than anything. Caesar was also fairly forgiving to his opponents during the civil war and even wept Pompeys death. The fact that Brutus was being lined up for several key positions by Caesar and even looking at a consulship in a few years was what made Brutus betrayal so infamous. Whether the rumours of Brutus paternity were true or not (there is a possibility they were later invented by Octavian and Mark Anthony to further vilify the conspirators as Patricide was taboo in Rome) the fact remained that he and Caesar had remained close through the entire civil war and Caesar was in the very least a father figure to him. If you want to learn more you can always watch Historia Civilis he does a great job covering the topic. Or read the books by Mary Bird on Rome she goes fairly in depth on the subject matter.

[JjackVideo]

I read somewhere that Caesar’s last words to Brutus (‘Kai su, teknon’, literally ‘You too, child’) may have been intended along the lines of ‘See you in hell, punk’, rather than as an expression of shock at being stabbed by one he had treated like a son, because the words ‘kai su’ often appear on curse tablets.

[admiralsquatbar]

Cesar: "I am the Sen..."
Senate: "WRONG!"

[The_Malcontented]

@4:54 So from both dad's side and mom's side, Brutus's family history was all about defending and upholding the Roman Republic and ensuring it stayed republic rather than reverting to being a monarchy, by deadly force if necessary. And he ended up assassinating Caesar. This is the kind of stuff that if it was fiction, people would say "that's TOO perfect of a setup/foreshadowing; that's not believable, " except that this actually happened (well the stuff with Marcus Junius Brutus actually happened; with both Lucius Brutus and Servilius Ahala, no one knows how much is historical and how much is fictional legend. But the important thing is at this time, everyone knew both of those historical events/legends about Brutus's purported ancestors.)

[Grabulstamy]

Desimus Brutus: “ok so show me the new coin, how do I look?”

[CoachTC]

I mean.. surely there is one betrayer more infamous than Brutus. You’re not called a “Brutus” when you stab your friend in the back. Great video! Love me some Roman history.

[kalvds]

Simon - the busiest man on YouTube. Thank you for making this and every other video on each of your channels! Absolute legend!

[k-doggy]

Everybody: How many YouTube channels can a single person possibly have?
Simon: Yes

[theemperorluis]

Would love if you could perhaps in the future do the biographics of Voltaire and John Milton. Love your biography videos.

[lovelessissimo]

I think Judas betraying Jesus is slightly more well known than this.

[mikdan]

Simon: Allow me to introduce you to Magic Spoon
Brutus: Allow me to introduce you to *Magic Knife*