Lucius Junius Brutus ( 6th century BC) was the semi-legendary

founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...

of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

, and traditionally one of its first

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...

s in 509 BC. He was reputedly responsible for the expulsion of his uncle the

Roman king The king of Rome ( la, rex Romae) was the ruler of the Roman Kingdom. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, who founded the city in 753 BC upon the Palatine Hill. Seven legendary kings are said to have ruled Rome until 509 ...

Tarquinius Superbus Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (died 495 BC) was the legendary seventh and final king of Rome, reigning 25 years until the popular uprising that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic.Livy, ''ab urbe condita libri'', I He is commonly known ...

after the suicide of

Lucretia According to Roman tradition, Lucretia ( /luːˈkriːʃə/ ''loo-KREE-shə'', Classical Latin: ʊˈkreːtɪ.a died c. 510 BC), anglicized as Lucrece, was a noblewoman in ancient Rome, whose rape by Sextus Tarquinius (Tarquin) and subseq ...

, which led to the

overthrow of the Roman monarchy The overthrow of the Roman monarchy was an event in ancient Rome that took place between the 6th and 5th centuries BC where a political revolution replaced the then-existing Roman monarchy under Lucius Tarquinius Superbus with a republic. ...

. He was involved in the abdication of fellow consul Tarquinius Collatinus, and executed two of his sons for plotting the restoration of the

Tarquins The gens Tarquinia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome, usually associated with Lucius Tarquinius Priscus and Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the fifth and seventh Kings of Rome. Most of the Tarquinii who appear in history are connected in some way ...

. He was claimed as an ancestor of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

gens Junia The gens Junia was one of the most celebrated families of ancient Rome. The gens may originally have been patrician (ancient Rome), patrician, and was already prominent in the last days of the Roman Kingdom, Roman monarchy. Lucius Junius Brutu ...

, including Decimus Junius Brutus, and Marcus Junius Brutus, the most famous of Julius Caesar's assassins. Traditions about his life may have been fictional, and some scholars argue that it was the Etruscan king

Porsenna Lars Porsena (or Porsenna; Etruscan: ) was an Etruscan king (lar) known for his war against the city of Rome. He ruled over the city of Clusium ( Etruscan: ; modern Chiusi). There are no established dates for his rule, but Roman sources often pl ...

who overthrew Tarquinius. The plebeian status of the ''Junia gens'' has also raised doubts about his position as a consul and the alleged initial

patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

domination of the office. Depicted as the nephew of Tarquinius, he may have symbolized the internal tensions that occurred during the transition between the monarchy and the republic.

Background and historicity

Prior to the establishment of the

, Rome had been ruled by kings. The account is from

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

's '' Ab urbe condita'' and deals with a point in the history of Rome prior to reliable historical records (virtually all prior records were destroyed by the

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

s when they sacked Rome under

Brennus Brennus or Brennos is the name of two Gaulish chieftains, famous in ancient history: * Brennus, chieftain of the Senones, a Gallic tribe originating from the modern areas of France known as Seine-et-Marne, Loiret, and Yonne; in 387 BC, in t ...

in 390 BC or 387 BC). Modern historians have challenged almost every part of the traditional story from Livy:

Overthrow of the monarchy

Capitoline Brutus Musei Capitolini MC1183

According to Roman tradition, Brutus led the revolt that overthrew the last king,

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (died 495 BC) was the legendary seventh and final king of Rome, reigning 25 years until the popular uprising that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic.Livy, ''ab urbe condita libri'', I He is commonly known ...

. The coup was prompted by the rape of the noblewoman

by the second son of the king,

Sextus Tarquinius Sextus Tarquinius was the third and youngest son of the last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, according to Livy, but by Dionysius of Halicarnassus he was the oldest of the three.Roman Antiquities Book 4.69 According to Roman tradition, ...

; Brutus was joined in this plotting by among others, Lucretia's father,

Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus is a semi-legendary figure in early Roman history. He was the first Suffect Consul of Rome and was also the father of Lucretia, whose rape by Sextus Tarquinius, followed by her suicide, resulted in the dethronement ...

and

Publius Valerius Poplicola Publius Valerius Poplicola or Publicola (died 503 BC) was one of four Roman aristocrats who led the overthrow of the monarchy, and became a Roman consul, the colleague of Lucius Junius Brutus in 509 BC, traditionally considered the first year of ...

. Brutus was the son of

Tarquinia Tarquinia (), formerly Corneto, is an old city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Central Italy, known chiefly for its ancient Etruscan tombs in the widespread necropoleis, or cemeteries, for which it was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status ...

, daughter of Rome's fifth king

Lucius Tarquinius Priscus Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, or Tarquin the Elder, was the legendary fifth king of Rome and first of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned for thirty-eight years.Livy, ''ab urbe condita libri'', I Tarquinius expanded Roman power through military conqu ...

and sister to Rome's seventh king Tarquinius Superbus. According to Livy, Brutus had a number of grievances against his uncle the king. Amongst them was the fact that Tarquinius had put to death a number of the chief men of Rome, including Brutus' brother. Brutus avoided the distrust of Tarquinius's family by feigning that he was slow-witted (in Latin ''brutus'' translates to dullard). He accompanied Tarquinius's sons on a trip to the

Oracle of Delphi Pythia (; grc, Πυθία ) was the name of the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. She specifically served as its oracle and was known as the Oracle of Delphi. Her title was also historically glossed in English as the Pythoness ...

. The sons asked the oracle which of them was going to be Rome's next king. The Oracle of Delphi responded that the first among them to kiss their mother "shall hold supreme sway in Rome." Brutus interpreted "mother" to mean Gaia, so he pretended to trip and kissed the ground. Brutus, along with

, and

Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus Lucius Tarquinius Ar. f. Ar. n. Collatinus was one of the first two consuls of the Roman Republic in 509 BC, together with Lucius Junius Brutus. The two men had led the revolution which overthrew the Roman monarchy. He was forced to resign hi ...

were summoned by

Collatia Collatia was an ancient town of central Italy, c. 15 km northeast of Rome by the ''Via Collatina''. It appears in the legendary history of Rome as captured by Tarquinius Priscus. Vergil speaks of it as a Latin colony of Alba Longa. In ...

after she had been raped by

, the son of the king Tarquinius Superbus. Lucretia, believing that the rape dishonoured her and her family, committed suicide by stabbing herself with a dagger after telling of what had befallen her. According to legend, Brutus grabbed the dagger from Lucretia's breast after her death and immediately shouted for the overthrow of the Tarquins. The four men gathered the youth of Collatia, then went to Rome where Brutus, being at that time '' Tribunus Celerum'', summoned the people to the forum and exhorted them to rise up against the king. The people voted for the deposition of the king, and the banishment of the royal family. The leaders of the revolt were close relatives of the king: Brutus was the king's nephew and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus was king's cousin. The king, who was conducting a war near and camped at Ardea, rushed to Rome on news of the coup, but found the city barred; at the same time, the coup leaders won over the army and then expelled the king's sons. Tarquinius Superbus fled with his family into exile. In the aftermath following the overthrow Brutus is credited by later historians such as

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

as "establishing

liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

and the

consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth c ...

The Oath of Brutus

According to Livy, Brutus' first act after the expulsion of

was to bring the people to swear an oath never to allow any man again to be king in Rome. François-Joseph Navez001

: : (First of all, by swearing an oath that they would suffer no man to rule Rome, it forced the people, desirous of a new liberty, not to be thereafter swayed by the entreaties or bribes of kings.) This is, fundamentally, a restatement of the 'private oath' sworn by the conspirators to overthrow the monarchy: : : (By this guiltless blood before the kingly injustice I swear – you and the gods as my witnesses – I make myself the one who will prosecute, by what force I am able, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus along with his wicked wife and the whole house of his freeborn children by sword, by fire, by any means hence, so that neither they nor any one else be suffered to rule Rome.) There is no scholarly agreement that the oath took place; it is reported, although differently, by

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

(''Poplicola'', 2) and

Appian Appian of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς ''Appianòs Alexandreús''; la, Appianus Alexandrinus; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of Emperors of Rome Trajan, Ha ...

(''B.C.'' 2.119). Nevertheless, the spirit of the oath inspired later Romans including his descendant Marcus Junius Brutus.

Consulship and death

Brutus and

's bereaved husband,

, were elected as the first consuls of Rome (509 BC). Tradition says that this election was conducted by

, who Brutus had appointed as interrex in his position as ''tribunus celerum''. Brutus' first acts during his consulship, according to Livy, included administering an oath to the people of Rome to never again accept a king in Rome (see above) and replenishing the number of senators to 300 from the principal men of the equites. Later-day Romans attributed many institutions to Brutus, including: * the taking of auspices before entering office, * use of the

Curiate Assembly The Curiate Assembly (''comitia curiata'') was the principal assembly that evolved in shape and form over the course of the Roman Kingdom until the Comitia Centuriata organized by Servius Tullius. During these first decades, the people of Rome w ...

to bestow consular ''

imperium In ancient Rome, ''imperium'' was a form of authority held by a citizen to control a military or governmental entity. It is distinct from '' auctoritas'' and '' potestas'', different and generally inferior types of power in the Roman Republic a ...

'', * alternation of fasces between the consuls (also attributed to others), * expansion of the senate in adding the ''minores gentes'', and * dedication of a temple to Carna on the Coelian hill. The new consuls also created a new office of rex sacrorum to carry out the religious duties that had previously been performed by the kings. During his consulship the royal family made an attempt to regain the throne, firstly by their ambassadors seeking to subvert a number of the leading Roman citizens in the

Tarquinian conspiracy The Tarquinian conspiracy was a conspiracy amongst a number of senators and leading men of ancient Rome in 509 BC to reinstate the monarchy, and to put Lucius Tarquinius Superbus back on the throne. The conspirators were discovered and executed. ...

. Amongst the conspirators were two brothers of Brutus' wife, Vitellia, and Brutus' two sons: Titus Junius Brutus and Tiberius Junius Brutus. The conspiracy was discovered and the consuls determined to punish the conspirators with death. Brutus gained respect for his stoicism in watching the execution of his own sons, even though he showed emotion during the punishment. Following this, he either forced his co-consul Collatinus to resign or otherwise had him removed – either because of enmity to his relationship to the Tarquins or due to his lack of harshness in punishing the conspirators – and then presided over the election of a suffect consul,

. Tarquinius again sought to retake the throne soon after at the

Battle of Silva Arsia The Battle of Silva Arsia was a battle in 509 BC between the republican forces of ancient Rome and Etruscan forces of Tarquinii and Veii led by the deposed Roman king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. The battle took place near the Silva Arsia (the Ar ...

, leading the forces of

Tarquinii Tarquinia (), formerly Corneto, is an old city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Central Italy, known chiefly for its ancient Etruscan tombs in the widespread necropoleis, or cemeteries, for which it was awarded UNESCO World Heritage statu ...

and

Veii Veii (also Veius; it, Veio) was an important ancient Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and north-northwest of Rome, Italy. It now lies in Isola Farnese, in the comune of Rome. Many other sites associated with and in the ...

against the Roman army. Valerius led the infantry, and Brutus led the cavalry. Arruns Tarquinius, the king's son, led the Etruscan cavalry. The cavalry joined the battle and Arruns, having spied from afar the

lictors A lictor (possibly from la, ligare, "to bind") was a Roman civil servant who was an attendant and bodyguard to a magistrate who held ''imperium''. Lictors are documented since the Roman Kingdom, and may have originated with the Etruscans. Origi ...

, and thereby recognising the presence of a consul, soon saw that Brutus was in command of the cavalry. The two men, who were cousins, charged each other, and speared each other to death. The infantry also soon joined the battle, the result being in doubt for some time. The right wing of each army was victorious, the army of Tarquinii forcing back the Romans, and the Veientes being routed. However the Etruscan forces eventually fled the field, the Romans claiming the victory. Some time during his consulship, he is supposed to have signed a treaty with Carthage and dedicated the Capitoline temple, reported in Polybius. This, along with the unanimous reporting of Roman sources, is the main evidence of his historicity. The surviving consul, Valerius, after celebrating a

triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

for the victory, held a funeral for Brutus with much magnificence. The Roman noblewomen mourned him for one year, for his vengeance of Lucretia's violation.

Brutus in literature and art

The profile of Lucius Junius Brutus is on a coin that was minted by Marcus Junius Brutus following the assassination of

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

. Lucius Junius Brutus is prominent in English literature, and he was popular among

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and American Whigs. A reference to Lucius Junius Brutus is in the following lines from Shakespeare's play ''The Tragedie of Julius Cæsar'', (Cassius to Marcus Brutus, Act 1, Scene 2). : "O, you and I have heard our fathers say, : There was a Brutus once that would have brookt : Th'eternal devil to keep his state in Rome : As easily as a king." One of the main charges of the senatorial faction that plotted against

after he had the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

declare him

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in tim ...

for life, was that he was attempting to make himself a king, and a co-conspirator Cassius, enticed Brutus' direct descendant, Marcus Junius Brutus, to join the conspiracy by referring to his ancestor. Lucius Junis Brutus is a leading character in Shakespeare's ''

Rape of Lucrece ''The Rape of Lucrece'' (1594) is a narrative poem by William Shakespeare about the legendary Roman noblewoman Lucretia. In his previous narrative poem, '' Venus and Adonis'' (1593), Shakespeare had included a dedicatory letter to his patron, ...

'' and in Nathaniel Lee's

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

tragedy (1680), ''

Lucius Junius Brutus; Father of his Country ''Lucius Junius Brutus; Father of his Country'' is a Restoration tragedy play by Nathaniel Lee from 1680. It depicts the life of Roman statesman Lucius Junius Brutus. It was first staged at the Dorset Garden Theatre by the Duke's Company. The or ...

''.Before the Glorious Revolution, Nathaniel Lee's Lucius Junius Brutus was banned in December of 1680 for portraying the Whig cause (Protestantism, no royal prerogatives, encouragement to trade and industry, empire) as Roman republicanism. In ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

'', the protagonist Nanki-poo refers to his father the Emperor as "the Lucius Junius Brutus of his race", for being willing to enforce his own law even if it means killing his son. The memory of L. J. Brutus also had a profound impact on Italian patriots, including those who established the ill-fated short-lived

in February 1849. Brutus was a hero of

republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...

during the Enlightenment and Neoclassical periods. In 1789, at the dawn of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, master painter Jacques-Louis David publicly exhibited his politically charged master-work, ''

The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons ''The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons'' (french: Les licteurs rapportent à Brutus les corps de ses fils) is a work in oils by the French artist Jacques-Louis David. On a canvas of 146 square feet, this painting was first exhibited ...

'', to great controversy. David's contemporary,

Guillaume Guillon-Lethière Guillaume Guillon-Lethière (; 10 January 1760 – 22 April 1832) was a French neoclassical painter. Life Born free in Guadeloupe in 1760 to a French colonial official named Pierre Guillon and a " mulatto" mother, Lethière has been ofte ...

depicted the scene of Brutus' sons' executions in grand style in his work ''

Brutus Condemning His Sons to Death Brutus Condemning His Sons to Death is a 1788 painting by the Guadeloupe born French Neoclassical painter Guillaume Guillon-Lethière (1760–1832). It depicts the legendary founder of the Roman Republic Junius Brutus who overthrew Lucius Tarqu ...

'' (1788).

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

Livius.org: Lucius Junius Brutus
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Junius Brutus, Lucius 509 BC deaths 6th-century BC Roman consuls Ancient Roman generals Ancient Romans killed in action Characters in Book VI of the Aeneid Filicides

Lucius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from '' Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames ('' praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from ...

Revolutionaries Year of birth unknown