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 throug ...
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 Roman mythology, 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 ...
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 a ...
after the suicide of
Lucretia, which led to the
overthrow of the Roman monarchy. He was involved in the abdication of fellow consul
Tarquinius Collatinus, and executed two of his sons for plotting the restoration of the
Tarquins.
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 letter ...
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
Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...
, 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 plac ...
who overthrew Tarquinius. The
plebeian
In ancient Rome, the plebeians (also called plebs) were the general body of free Roman citizens who were not patricians, as determined by the census, or in other words " commoners". Both classes were hereditary.
Etymology
The precise origins of ...
status of the ''Junia gens'' has also raised doubts about his position as a consul and the alleged initial
patrician 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
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 ...
, Rome had been ruled by
kings
Kings or King's may refer to:
*Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings
*One of several works known as the "Book of Kings":
**The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts
**The ''Shahnameh'' ...
.
The account is from
Livy
Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, 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 traditiona ...
's ''
Ab urbe condita
''Ab urbe condita'' ( 'from the founding of the City'), or ''anno urbis conditae'' (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is an exp ...
'' 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 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](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Capitoline_Brutus_Musei_Capitolini_MC1183.jpg)
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
Lucretia by the second son of the king,
Sextus Tarquinius; Brutus was joined in this plotting by among others, Lucretia's father,
Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus and
Publius Valerius Poplicola.
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 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. 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
In Greek mythology, Gaia (; from Ancient Greek , a poetical form of , 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea , is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenog ...
, so he pretended to trip and kissed the ground.
Brutus, along with
Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus,
Publius Valerius Poplicola, 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 his ...
were summoned by
Lucretia to
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
Sextus Tarquinius, 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 historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his t ...
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 coun ...
".
The Oath of Brutus
According to Livy, Brutus' first act after the expulsion of
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 ...
was to bring the people to swear an oath never to allow any man again to be king in Rome.
![François-Joseph Navez001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Fran%C3%A7ois-Joseph_Navez001.jpg)
:
: (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 his ''P ...
(''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, Hadr ...
(''B.C.'' 2.119). Nevertheless, the spirit of the oath inspired later Romans including his descendant
Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...
.
Consulship and death
Brutus and
Lucretia's bereaved husband,
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 his ...
, were elected as the first consuls of Rome (509 BC). Tradition says that this election was conducted by
Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus, 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
The ''equites'' (; literally "horse-" or "cavalrymen", though sometimes referred to as "knights" in English) constituted the second of the property-based classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the senatorial class. A member of the equestrian o ...
.
Later-day Romans attributed many institutions to Brutus, including:
* the taking of auspices before entering office,
* use of the
Curiate Assembly to bestow consular ''
imperium'',
* alternation of
fasces
Fasces ( ; ; a ''plurale tantum'', from the Latin word ''fascis'', meaning "bundle"; it, fascio littorio) is a bound bundle of wooden rods, sometimes including an axe (occasionally two axes) with its blade emerging. The fasces is an Italian symbo ...
between the consuls (also attributed to others),
* expansion of the
senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
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
In ancient Roman religion, the ''rex sacrorum'' ("king of the sacred things", also sometimes ''rex sacrificulus'') was a senatorial priesthood reserved for patricians. Although in the historical era, the '' pontifex maximus'' was the head of Rom ...
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. 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,
Publius Valerius Poplicola.
Tarquinius again sought to retake the throne soon after at the
Battle of Silva Arsia, leading the forces of
Tarquinii 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 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
![David Brutus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/David_Brutus.jpg)
The profile of Lucius Junius Brutus is on a coin that was minted by
Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...
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, and ...
.
Lucius Junius Brutus is prominent in English literature, and he was popular among
British 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
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, and ...
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 times ...
for life, was that he was attempting to make himself a king, and a co-conspirator
Cassius, enticed Brutus' direct descendant,
Marcus Junius Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...
, 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
Nathaniel Lee (c. 1653 – 6 May 1692) was an England, English dramatist. He was the son of Dr Richard Lee, a Presbyterian clergyman who was rector of Hatfield and held many preferments under the Commonwealth of England, Commonwealth; Dr Lee was ...
'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''.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
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 ...
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
Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to:
Age of Enlightenment
* Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...
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 November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, master
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
Jacques-Louis David
Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...
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 Neoclassicism, neoclassical Painting, painter.
Life
Born free in Guadeloupe in 1760 to a French colonial official named Pierre Guillon and a "mulatto" mother, Le ...
depicted the scene of Brutus' sons' executions in grand style in his work ''
Brutus Condemning His Sons to Death'' (1788).
See also
*
Junia gens
The gens Junia was one of the most celebrated families of ancient Rome. The gens may originally have been patrician, and was already prominent in the last days of the Roman monarchy. Lucius Junius Brutus was the nephew of Lucius Tarquinius Sup ...
*
Junius Junius often refers to:
* Junius (writer), the pseudonym of an 18th-century British political writer of strongly Whig principles
* The nomen of the ancient Roman
* or , the month of June on the ancient Roman calendar
* Rosa Luxemburg's ''Junius Pa ...
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
Revolutionaries
Year of birth unknown